The Hundred Mile Wilderness has been a route on my mind the past few years. Hiking the section on my northbound thru hike of the AT last year cemented the idea of running it as I fell in love with Maine and found the HMW to be especially stunning. While coordinating a supported HMW attempt is particularly challenging, I'm lucky to have an incredible group of friends who were down to join on this endeavor as my crew and pacers.
At 4:02AM on Friday, June 27 Scott and I started from ME15. Rivers were low as it had been a hot and dry week+ which made for relatively easy crossings. Scott ran with me to Long Pond Stream, where on the other side I met my crew and picked up MJ who would join me over the Chairbacks. After crossing the West Branch of the Pleasant River I picked up Ben, who paced me over the Whitecaps. The crew met us again at West Branch Pond Road where I again picked up Scott for a cruiser 6.5 mile section. The 6.5 mile section turned into a 13 mile section when we learned via inReach that the crew couldn't make it to the next road crossing due to road conditions. Luckily Scott had enough supplies to keep us moving and the crew was able to find their way to Jo Mary Road. The sun set on the section with Scott and after a quick stop at Jo Mary Road, Ben, Kait and I took on the first night section. Kait had the section map on their watch and luckily kept us on course in the hard-to-follow terrain. We made decent time to Nahmakanta Lake where MJ and Scott hopped back in to pace. As forecasted, it began to drizzle around 1AM and the rain would continue for the remainder of the effort. I had been struggling to stomach food since the Whitecaps and toward the end of the section with MJ and Scott, I realized there was no way I'd make it through the final 17 miles if I wasn't able to eat more. At the final aid stop I took some Pepto and ate some soup with rice. However soon after Scott and I started the final section I began to feel weak and knew it was absolutely crucial to eat as much as I could to keep going. I was also a bit worried about the constant rain and my body temperature. The Pepto worked and my stomach stopped doing flips, but I was still having a really hard time swallowing food. I was able to eat just enough to keep going and didn't lose any consistency in pace surprisingly, but mentally I had shut everything out except for making it to Golden Road. Scott was incredible through the final section making sure I was taking in small amounts of food every few minutes and keeping up with liquid calories. At 9:36AM on Saturday, June 28 I crossed Abol Bridge.
My favorite part about this style of effort is that it takes a team that's all in to make it work. This effort would not have been a success without the crew being as in on this adventure as I was (word has it they laid their sleeping pads over sharp rocks on logging roads to protect their tires while getting to some aid stops). I also would like to thank Xander and Lydia for fielding my questions and Xander for giving me logistical feedback in putting this effort together.