Destinations & Things To Do
The Rangely & Saddleback Perfect Storms (ECT Day 199)

- Hiked Today: 11.5 miles
- Appalachian Trail (1,977.2 – 1,988.7)
- Total Hiked: 3,921.9 miles
- Total Paddled: 99.5 miles
Weather: 60-80°F, sunny with clouds, rain and thunder late afternoon, then clear
Elevation: 1,577 – 4,120 feet
South Hwy 4 Dispersed Site to Poplar Ridge Shelter Sites
I felt quite accomplished to have gotten these 11.5 miles today. Going into today, it was particularly unknown how it would turn out. I schemed for a combined town resupply visit and return to trail to cover a challenging section. And, the forecast was iffy. So many different things could go awry. But here’s how it went down…
I had just a short hike down to Maine Route 4. There, I was surprised to find it didn’t look great for hitching. Based on comments, it seemed like folks had no problem getting rides, but I was seeing a winding and very fast road with little area for cars to pull off.
Welp, it didn’t matter what I thought, one of the first vehicles stopped for me, pretty much still in the road. Today it was Jackie, a 2020 (I think) AT hiker, who saved me. She was planning to do a trail run at the trailhead I popped out on, but went out of her way to bring me to the grocery store! So very kind. I offer cash for gas money and just to say thanks to every driver that stops for me, but so far on the AT nobody has accepted.
I was charging my power bank outside the building super early, which was what I was hoping for. I needed to get a full charge on it again before heading back to trail. The store opened at 7:00 am and I was lined up waiting like folks used to (still do?) for Black Friday deals.
There was a cooler of sodas at the trailhead and even though it was morning, I couldn’t pass up such generous trail magic. A little pre-7:00 am Coca-Cola classic never hurt anyone. Probably.
I hung out at the Rangeley IGA until 12:30 pm ish. Leaving, my pack had truly transformed into The Hulk again. To understand why, I think we need to take a look at this quote from the movie The Perfect Storm. I promise, it explains everything…
“Look, look at this. We got Hurricane Grace moving north off the Atlantic seaboard. Huge… getting massive. Two, this low south of Sable Island, ready to explode. Look at this. Three, a fresh cold front swooping down from Canada. But it’s caught a ride on the jet stream… and is motoring hell-bent towards the Atlantic. What if Hurricane Grace runs smack into it? Add to the scenario this baby off Sable Island, scrounging for energy. She’ll start feeding off both the Canadian cold front… and Hurricane Grace. You could be a meteorologist all your life… and never see something like this. It would be a disaster of epic proportions. It would be… the perfect storm.”
– Todd Gross (the TV meteorologist in the movie The Perfect Storm)
You could be a thru-hiker all your life and never see something like this. It would be a disaster of epic proportions! Dun, dun dun.
Ok, so for me… 1) the last stretch I felt I didn’t have enough and was doing some super rationing (didn’t want that to happen again), 2) I came into the store ravenously hungry (never a good idea), and 3) the store was a bit on the pricey side so I went for deals not thinking of weight (amateur mistake). There you go, the perfect storm. Maybe a stretch, but that’s where my brain went 🤦😅. As evidence, I submit that the bag of animal crackers I purchased was 1 lb in and of itself!
I also ate a massive amount of food at the store including this coffee flavored milk, which was very scrumptious (basically one of those Starbucks cold drinks), and nearly all of these four cinnamon rolls.
I got a ride back with a guy named Peter. He spotted me sitting next to the power outlet and was already bringing two other hikers back to trail, Pancakes and E.T. The timing was perfect, so I took him up on his kind offer.
Back up at the trailhead, those two guys started trekking, but I sat down to have lunch. Soon, a camper van pulled up. I had talked to the owner when down at the store. This was Angelica and her husband John is thru-hiking too and she’s scooting along in the van for support. Quite the demanding job, lots of logistics and then finding things to do in the meantime as well. She generously offered me some cherries and I ate my messy sub sandwich too. We had a nice chat.
I got hiking at 1:30 pm. After crossing the road, I started down the wrong path, but thankfully figured it out quickly. Then, it was up and I certainly felt the return of the Hulk. The first 3 miles weren’t so bad, but after Eddy Pond, things went up to 4,120 feet Saddleback Mountain. I had been dreading the climb, but it wasn’t as gnarly as expected. Swampfoot and Pony Boy passed me by. They can really fly, particularly my on the uphill I’ve noticed. They just go!
There was a short side trail that was supposed to lead through a series of boulders and tunnels, similar to Mahoosuc Notch the other day. I wanted to check it out, but ended up taking the wrong side trail. It was short but very steep up and I got myself peeved a bit. I never did find the “caves” as they were called, but afterwards reflected that my little side trip was neat nonetheless. See, I found Mufasa’s Pride Rock and a little tunnel…
After Swampfoot and Pony Boy passed, I spotted some sunglasses in the middle of the trail. Usually with this kind of stuff I leave it or hang it up to be more visible. You never know if someone might return for it or which direction the owner had been going, north or south. I had a hunch these were one of those guys’ though, so carried them for when I’d see them next.
Going up, I started to get views looking back away from the mountain…
Off to what I thought of as southeast there were some particularly dark clouds coming closer to. They didn’t seem like they were going to hit; I thought I might miss the storm. Well, I’ve never been good at predicting things like this and when I was fully up in the alpine zone, I heard the the first round of thunder. Not great!
Although I still felt the main body of the storm was going to skim by, I got nervous and started speed hiking in hopes of getting up and over the top, down to the lower elevation saddle. The trail dips between Saddleback Mountain and the next mountain called, The Horn. There, I hoped there might be some tree cover. The peak just kept growing though. As the rain started spattering me sideways, my anxiousness grew with it, but I kept trudging in fast-walking mode.
The thing is, this mountain has a pretty lengthy exposed area. It reminded me of Moosilauke actually. And in better weather I would’ve taken my time and marveled at is magnificence. Today though, several more rounds of thunder sounded distantly as I continued overtop. Thankfully, after twenty minutes or so (?), it seemed like it was lessening and the rain too was becoming lighter.
I found Swampfoot and Pony Boy in the saddle, but by the time I reached them the sun was beginning to break back through again and we all felt safe to keep hiking. We walked some together, but I just couldn’t keep up with the youngins. It does seem like our bigger scale planned pace for the last chunk of the AT might be similar though, so might be seeing more of them.
I was pretty spent from trying to outrun the storm. I debated setting up early at a different camp than my goal, but ultimately kept going. At 7:15 pm, I arrived, once again being welcomed by Swampfoot and Pony Boy who were already set up haha. That’s when I remembered the glasses and found out they were indeed Pony Boys Oakley’s.
Rather than sleep in the shelter, I moved on up the hill to some sites and made camp. It was a bit lumpy and I’m beginning to think there isn’t a place in Maine to tent without tree roots sticking up! Still, happy for any place to rest after another big day on trail
Thanks for joining on the journey! It means a lot that you took the time to read up on these adventures. If you want to help kids get access to the outdoors, a cause that means a lot to me, please help me in supporting Outdoors Empowerment Network! The “Tip Author” button is a direct link to my fundraising page. Y’all are truly amazing. Thank you!
Destinations & Things To Do
PCT SOBO DAY 28 – A Sluggish Day

Day 28
Start: Stealth Site, mile 443.7
End: Tentsite, mile 470.5
Miles hiked: 21.6 miles, 26.8 trail miles
After our headache of a night last night, Sun and I slept in a bit and didn’t leave camp until around 7:30. The mosquitoes were a bit better this morning; they didn’t attack us with as much fervor as yesterday, even when we stopped for water at a lake.
The lake, Junction Lake, was such a serene place. Little baby ducks swam in groups across the water while the morning sun warmed the air. At one point, the mother duck came squawking in, flying this way and that way across the pond, throwing water in all directions. I’m not quite sure what the drama was about, something to do with the baby ducks, but eventually it was resolved since the squawking stopped.
This morning, Sun and I were moving pretty slowly. We were both tired from the night before. My pack felt unusually heavy and I missed the spring I had in my step on that first day out of town. A couple of miles later we reached Blue Lake, but it was a bit too early, cool, and windy for a swim. It was a beautiful spot though. The NOBOs we passed said it was an excellent swimming spot.
Sun and I climbed slowly up, taking a lot of breaks, almost one every 1.5-2 miles, which wasn’t really our style. I guess we had bitten off more than we could chew yesterday. We topped our climb of the morning and enjoyed the snippets of cell service and the warmth of the sun.
Then it was miles of downhill, passing a few NOBOs on the way. Our progress was further slowed by the huckleberries that lined the trail; I got a bit behind because they were so good!
We finally reached a parking lot with picnic tables and a pit toilet and decided it was the perfect place for lunch. Sun was hoping that we would find trail magic again, but no such luck despite all the cars that passed by on the gravel road. Lunch felt a bit more civilized this time since we had real tables to eat at instead of a bare patch of ground. Out big debate was whether to continue 12 miles on the trail to reach our goal campsite or take the 10.5 Panther Creek road walk alternate. If we walked the trail, we would have to climb with a long water carry and dry camp. But if we took the road, we could save a few miles and camp with water. We couldn’t decide what to do, so we decided to leave it for after our lunchtime rest.
Sun allocated 30 minutes for a nap while I relaxed in the shade. When nap time was up, our answer was clear: the road walk!
As we started down the road, we were immediately sidetracked by all of the big, juicy huckleberries that lined the road. We lost at least 30 minutes because there were so many to pick. We also found blackberries that tasted like candy. Yum!
As we walked, cars passed in either direction, but we still didn’t find the magic we had hoped for.
After a number of miles and a number of breaks, we reached Panther Creek Falls, one of the attractions of this alternate. A quick detour, they were worth the walk. Eventually, we were pooped and more than ready to be done with our long day. As we passed the Panther Creek Campsite, full of casual hikers and campers, the smell of hot hamburgers wafted over to us. If only we could have one!
After a few more minutes, we found our site and squeezed our tents in with a couple who were almost done with their section. After dinner, we had just enough time to get a few camp chores done before the daylight started to fade.
And that’s a day in the life of a PCT SOBO hiker!
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Destinations & Things To Do
Japanese travelers losing interest in Kyoto, top sightseeing spots slip behind Nara at peak season

Kyoto may be the historical heart of traditional Japanese culture, but current conditions are making it a less attractive placer for locals to visit.
Aside from maybe Tokyo, there’s no other city with more of a “must-visit” reputation than Kyoto for travelers to Japan, who flock to the country’s former capital to tour its historic temples, beautiful gardens, and otherwise get a glimpse of Japanese traditional culture. For a growing number of Japanese travelers vacationing in their home country, however, Kyoto is becoming a city they feel like they can leave off their itinerary.
Tokyo-based data/research organization Blogwatcher recently released the results of its analysis of travel patterns during Japan’s 2025 Golden Week holiday season, which straddled the end of April and beginning of May. Examining mobile phone location data, Blogwatcher determined that there were significant drop-offs in the number of Japanese visitors to five of Kyoto’s most famous sightseeing spots compared to just two years prior. Japanese visitors to Fushimi Inari Shrine plummeted by 40.4 percent compared to 2023, and both Kiyomizudera Temple and Kinkakuij/the Golden Pavillion’s numbers of Japanese visitors fell by roughly 25 percent. Shimogamo Shrine and Byodoiin Temple both had slight upticks in Japanese visitors in 2024, but reversed course in 2025 and had approximately 10 percent fewer domestic visitors than they’d had at Golden Week in 2023.
▼ Byodoin’s Phoenix Hall is so famous that it’s even depicted on the 10-yen coin.
It’s not hard to imagine what’s discouraging Japanese travelers from visiting Kyoto. The weak yen continues to make Japan more affordable for foreign travelers to visit than it’s been in a generation, and with so many of them including Kyoto in their Japan travel plans, the city’s attractions are crowded and its hotels expensive. The Kyoto Tourism Association’s data shows that through the first five months of this year, the average price per night for a stay in a Kyoto hotel is around 50 percent more than it was just two years ago. Those cost increases are relatively easy for inbound foreign visitors to soak up as they leverage the favorable exchange rate, but for Japanese travelers, who are already getting hit in the wallet by rapidly increasing consumer prices without equivalent wage increases, the idea of paying inflated prices to go someplace clogged with tourists is no doubt feeling like a less enjoyable way to spend their diminished disposable income.
However, as Kyoto is looking like a less attractive destination for Japanese travelers, they’re becoming more drawn to Nara. Blogwatcher tracks domestic visitor numbers for 33 of Kyoto Prefecture’s top temples, shrines, and historical tourism sites, and 37 in Nara Prefecture. During Golden Week in 2023, Japanese travelers showed an overwhelming preference for Kyoto, with its top sights receiving nearly 70 percent more Japanese visitors than Nara’s. In 2025, though, more Japanese travelers visited Nara’s major sights than Kyoto’s.
Japanese visitors to major temples, shrine, and historic sites during Golden Week
● Kyoto 2023: 746,000
● Nara 2023: 446,00● Kyoto 2025: 559,000
● Nara 2025: 561,00
It could be argued that Japan is still in the middle of the initial wave of its inbound tourism boom. Residual pent-up international travel demand and the weak yen are doing a lot to make the country a trendy and affordable choice for visitors from abroad, but it’s still not entirely clear whether their intense interest is going to be permanent. As a result, it’s likewise too early to say whether huge crowds and high prices have turned Japanese people off to the idea of traveling to Kyoto entirely, or if they’re simply putting their Kyoto plans on the back burner for the time being. After all, if the shrines and temples you’re going to see are already centuries old, holding back for a year or two to see if the tourism congestion has settled down doesn’t seem like all that long of a wait. For the time being, though, it really does look like Japan’s travelers aren’t nearly as excited about the idea of visiting Kyoto as they were just a short while ago.
Source: TBS Cross Dig with Bloomberg via Golden Times
Top image: Pakutaso
Insert image: Pakutaso
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Destinations & Things To Do
The Bodacious Bigelow’s (ECT Day 201)

- Hiked Today: 21.1 miles
- Appalachian Trail (2,012 – 2,033.1)
- Total Hiked: 3,966.3 miles
- Total Paddled: 99.5 miles
Weather: 52 – 75°F, mostly sunny, some clouds
Elevation: 1,150 – 4,145 feet
Cranberry Stream Campsite to West Carry Pond Shelter
For some reason the charge on my power bank seemed to diminish quicker than normal over the past couple days. I still have a few days to go before my next stop, so today I went into extreme battery saving mode. I even went as far as turning my phone off whenever possible, but afterwards I wasn’t sure if that was helping or causing it to drain just as quick/even more quick.
Thus, you’d expect not as many photos for today, but I struggled to stop myself. It was an all-time wonderful day and that causes me to want to have the phone out documenting all the fun stuff.
Bodacious: “very large or important, or something people enjoy or admire.”
– from the Cambridge Dictionary (https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/bodacious)
Leaving camp, straight away I was hiking up. The end of the day yesterday was more downhill and flat-ish and set me up at the foot of the Bigelow’s. The climb was ok, definitely lots of trippy roots but not as steep as some other spots…
The photo above was taken right before popping out to a marvelous viewpoint. I got a kick out of the giant monolith type boulder and then was blown away when the view of Horn Pond and The Horns presented itself…
I thought the trail took me over both of the Horns, but just South. To get to North Horn it was a 0.2 mile side quest. I stuck to the white blazes and got some views looking back on the way up.
Atop South Horn there was another spectacular overlook and I sat down for second breakfast. Hikers Bookends and Ain’t Right joined too. The weather was once again premium and I soaked up the moment…
The next few miles were top-notch. Some of my favorite of the entire Appalachian Trail. It was down and then up to a ridge line topping the West Peak of Bigelow Mountain and then Bigelow Avery Peak. The massive Flagstaff Lake sat to the north and demanded my attention.
Sitting with the other hikers at this summit, I said something along the lines that this is more than a view, it’s a whole experience. What I was trying to get across was that it was 360 degrees, a whole scene, and as much as I try with photos and vids, being there in person is the only way to sense the grandeur. Sorry y’all. But alas, I did try to showcase the beauty nonetheless.
Before heading down into the trees again, I got a view of Little Bigelow Mountain where I’d be heading.
The rest of the day’s hike was less glamorous, but after Little Bigelow it was more cruisy. I came close to getting a good slow-motion vid of this giant Pileated Woodpecker, but pretty blurry…
Around 6:00 pm or so, I was internally thinking maybe I’d be able to push on further than my original goal. It never happens haha. Especially when I’m stopped for wonderful trail magic! Walking into a parking area, which later I’d find out was not even on the trail, I met Lebowski. He’s a 2021 (?) AT hiker that planned to set up the next day and chef tasty foods up for hikers. For me, he offered a beer, a chair, and some honey buns! It was nice resting and chatting with him.
Moving on from that, I was thinking I had about 6 miles of flat left to hike. The mileage estimate was accurate, but I underestimated the grade and there was not one, but two blips uphill I had to get over. Hence, I was exhausted and spent like normal by the time I reached camp at West Carry Pond Shelter.
I filled up with water straight from the lake. It was post-7:00 pm arriving here at West Carry Pond. Again with the ponds though… looks like a lake to me folks. Will the madness never end?
In my tired and hungry state, finding this glorious sight at the shelter was almost too much for me…
I mean, don’t they look like the most pristine and delicious chocolate chip cookies ever? I am a cookie monster and devoured several in quick succession.
I was the only one at the shelter and I still went for the tent. I set up and ate in record time. Going back to the cookies though… I didn’t feel right leaving them out for the bears to munch on. So, I ate them all! J.k., j.k. haha. I did eat a lot, but at least for the evening, I kept them safe by putting the whole Tupperware in my food hanging bag…
The loons sang me a lullaby as I drifted off to sleep. What a day! Another in the top 201 of the ECT I’d say 😎.
Thanks for joining on the journey! It means a lot that you took the time to read up on these adventures. If you want to help kids get access to the outdoors, a cause that means a lot to me, please help me in supporting Outdoors Empowerment Network! The “Tip Author” button is a direct link to my fundraising page. Y’all are truly amazing. Thank you!
This website contains affiliate links, which means The Trek may receive a percentage of any product or service you purchase using the links in the articles or advertisements. The buyer pays the same price as they would otherwise, and your purchase helps to support The Trek’s ongoing goal to serve you quality backpacking advice and information. Thanks for your support!
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