FKT: Gwenn Stratton - Loopin' The River Wild - 2021-06-26

I started this hike with a bit of anxiety, knowing I would be by myself and spending a large majority of the tim in the Wild River Wilderness.  This area is less popular and many of the trails are overgrown and not maintained.   But I love wilderness areas and the solitude they provide so I drove to the Baldfaces parking lot to put some miles and elevation under my feet.  It was dark when I started and as the sun started to slowly wake up, I was stuck in the clouds without much of a view.  But when I broke treeline on the Baldface Cirlce trail, I broke out above the clouds and was treated to the most beautiful sunrise and undercast on South Baldface.  I took some of the best pictures I have ever taken!  After crossing over the summit of North Baldface, I jumped onto Eagle Link trail and headed down into the Wild River Wilderness.  This trail was overgrown and there were many spots where you really had to pay attention to find the old worn path hidden under all the greenery.  Luckily, I was able to stay on track without issue.  From Eagle Link I jumped on the Wild River Trail to connect with the beautiful Rainbow Trail (one of my favorites).  I followed Rainbow Trail up to Carter Dome then hiked the ridge from Dome all the way to Shelburne-Moriah, hitting all of the Carters and the Moriahs along the way.  After crossing over the summit of Shelburne-Moriah I jumped on the Shelburne Trail and headed back into the Wild River Wilderness.  After crossing the Wild River (which was very low at the time) I jumped onto Wild River Road to connect to Basin Trail.  I hiked up the steep Basin Trail to the summit of Mount Meader, then down Meader Trail and back to my car.  I saw a lot of friendly faces.  Some I knew and some I met for the first time.  But for the majority of the day, I saw hardly anyone.