Slackpacking Maine

In 2019 I did the slackpacking Georgia trip to complete the southern end of the AT. It was fun being able to hike some of the northern end of the AT as well.

Great guides, hostel, and hiking friends

This Maine hike trip was wonderful! We had a great group of ladies from 3 states, all ready to put in those wild and rocky Maine miles. It was a challenge at times, due to unexpected warm weather in Maine, but we thoroughly enjoyed this authentic AT experience.

I enjoyed seeing a part of the country that was new to me. The guides and participants were all very enjoyable.

It was a wonderful area for hiking, and the guides and ladies on the trip were interesting and supportive.

Hiking with a group of interesting and supportive women. Excellent trip organization.

It created a very supportive environment and I had the most perfect roommate for me.

The accomplishment.

The beautiful and daunting Maine Wilderness was wonderful to experience and staying in Millinocket, a small, remote town was wonderful.

Great group of women, excellent food, fantastic guides.

Loved the hike to the waterfalls and the hike up Mt Katahdin. I really liked having Jamie and Danya as guides since they knew so much about the trails and hiking on the AT. Loved listening to there experiences with hiking on the AT and running the AT lodge.

Camaraderie among participants, lodge hosts, & guide. Moved me closer to my goal of day hiking as much of the AT as I can.

It was as if a group of hand picked friends had signed up for this trip! Also, the knowledge of the onsite guides Danya and Jamie and their love for Maine was really cool!

The support given to one another. Tons of laughter

Guides Group Bucket list

Exceeded them. Best trip I've ever taken in my life.

Leigh and Gina were wonderful guides, our group of women were fantastic, and pushing far outside of my comfort zone and succeeding...priceless.

It exceeded my expectations.

This trip far exceeded my expectations!

This trip exceeded my already high expectations. Excellent guides and a group of fun, smart, interesting and accomplished women who love adventure and the outdoors, plus my most physically challenging AGC experience to date in the extraordinary beauty of the 100 Mile Wilderness and Baxter State Park. That boulder scramble up Mt. Katahdin was really something!

Highlights - Guides were fantastic. The AT trail was beautiful and Mt Katahdin summit was a real accomplishment. Failures: There was no physical recovery day within the 6 days and 80 or so miles of hiking. I am very fit at 64 years old but a down day to recover would have made my post recovery from the hike shorter.

Great guides! They were knowledgeable, compassionate, and fun! Great ladies to travel with. The Katahdin hike was definitely something I’ll never forget.

Summiting Katahdin!

Walking in the Maine woods. Swimming in the lakes. Climbing katahdin. Experiencing the Appalachian trail cult. Meeting interesting people.

summiting Katahdin! hearing more about AT life and experiences camaraderie with my trail mates little stops during our hiking days and the FOOD!!! ok, all of it!

These were the highlights of my trip: the wonderful gals and guides who were on the trip; having either Leigh or Gina stick with me in the rear, since my pace was considerably slower than the younger gals'; seeing moose at Sandy Stream Pond and bear and cub on trail into Roaring Brook from Chimney Pond; beautiful trails and scenery every day; accomplishing a significant section of the ME 100 mi; Slackpacking as opposed to backpacking presents a bit of a time problem in that the hiking starts later and ends perhaps earlier in the day, and thus puts pressure on one to hike at a faster pace. Would that there were a hot air balloon to carry our overnight gear that would float above us as we hike! To be honest, I was not conscientious about specific training during the winter, such as indoor bike riding, which has helped me in the past. It would have in retrospect been very helpful.

lodging was nicer than I expected, everything else was as described in a good way!

Far exceeded my expectations. Six really great days of hiking. A perfect itinerary. Beautiful scenery. And I made it to the top! I'd wanted to do this trip for several years now and I'm so glad I finally did.

Summitting Katahdin. Could not have done it without Leigh and Gina's expert guidance. The entire itinerary was well organized and planned. The meals were delicious, wholesome and fresh. The accommodations were very comfortable. Everyone was friendly and welcoming. Met some wonderful people and had a memorable time.

Hiking to the top of Katahdin, the beauty of the 100 mile Wilderness, the great mix of people on the trip along with our aweome guides.

Some of it was out of your control - eg excellent weather. Beyond that just very well crafted access to 100 Mile Wilderness which is not easy to slack pack at all.

The highlight was a successul climb to the Baxter Peak summit on Katahdin and completing the entire mileage of this 5-rated trip. I was personally disappointed that the Applachian trail was so similar to hiking in the woods that I do at home. I expected more vista points out into the mountains. I would have been happy with a shorter trip focused on the Katahdin hike, along with a 7 mile warm-up hike day and the Pollywog hike to get a view of Katahdin from a distance. The Baxter State Park hike at the base of Katahdin would be a nice warm-up hike if the trip was shortened; ponds and waterfalls were nice to see. The extra days of the week-long trip are useful as insurance for good weather for the Katahdin hike; I suggest being very upfront about switching the Katahdin day to earlier in the trip for good weather.

The highlight was making the top of Katahdin! Just the daily wonderful hiking in the Maine Woods was wonderful.

Long hikes, scrambling,lively conversations

In no way should my comments be seen as negative. The trip, as always, was perfectly executed. The guides were amazing. The location was great and all the women were friendly. Having said all this, this trip was the most difficult and painful of any i have taken.

I guess the highlight for me was that I was able to do the hike and enjoy it. I went back and forth as to whether to proceed given a knee ailment and was uncertain that I was ready to do the hike. I modified my participation but I think every day was a successful one for me.

Great hikes, great food, great company

Loved the morning rituals of early coffee and breakfast and then getting in the van..... The dinners were nutritious and healthy . The overall organization of the whole week was great. There was no hick up

I realize that to some degree the lengths of the days was dependent on forest access roads, but I felt that the easy-hard-easy-harder-easy-tough sequence was great. We were ready for Katahdin when it came. I expected a tough trip and was worried about whether I could complete all of it -- but the pre-trip and day-to-day coaching once on the trip made it not only manageable, but fun to achieve. The guides took genuine pleasure in our efforts. Encouragement is always good, no matter our age : )

guides, activity, scenery, food, etc resided on third floor, which was OK but steps a bit tricky and trek to bathroom "eye-opening" at 2am

Meeting new women and hering/sharingstories

Excellent guides