100 mile AT wilderness section

I am planning on hiking this section in early August. I need your opinion. Is there a difference or advantage to which direction one hikes it?? For example; the packs are heaviest in the start of the trip so difficulty of terrain could make a difference,which parking lot is most secure to leave a car 8 to 10 days,does one lose the wilderness experience going against the flow of hikers, etc.

The more difficult terrain is in the southern end where you're crossing over mountains. The northern half is flatter, passing by lots of lakes and ponds. You'll have to decide for yourself whether you'd prefer to tackle the tougher southern end right away so you can cruise through the end.... or whether you'd prefer to have an easier "warm up" by cruising through the northern half first. (This assumes you are not counting Katahdin in your 100-Mile Wilderness trek...)

When I hiked the 100-Mile Wilderness, I parked my car on Golden Road for a week without a problem.

For what it's worth, I headed north... didn't see very many people at all, though it was pouring rain most of the time. A friend was a day ahead of me and competing for space at the same shelters I had all to myself a day later. It's all about where you are in the bubble, I guess.

If you have multiple people and only want to take one car, I'd highly recommend what we did -- we parked on Golden Road and took a Katahdin Air float plane ride to Spectacle Pond. It was few years ago so maybe things have changed... but it cost only a few dollars more per person than a shuttle ride from Golden Road to Monson. Since it rained most of the trip, the flight was one of the few places where I had any views so it was worth every penny.

Enjoy!

- Ivy

Its easier North to South as the terrain is a lot easier for the first few days. Unfortunately, the north end around the lakes, is probably the best place to laze around and enjoy the area, most folks being early in the trip will tend to walk by those places as they are trying to keep a schedule. Therefore hiking south to north allows you to get most of the trail behind you and take your time near the end.

There is a lot to be said to make arrangements for a food drop at the Iron Works. I think Boarstone on whiteblaze.net does this service, not sure what it any it costs.

The southern 40 miles are hilly, northern 60 are flat.

We did it south to north, but we added the 15 miles from Abol Bridge to the summit of Katahdin (and, of course, the 5 miles back down ). After you've done the hard work early, you can cruise and really set your own pace through the flats. (Flats, as in "a couple of 11 year olds with full packs had no trouble with a 14 mile day.")

Thanks!

Thanks for all your advice guys. I really appreciate it. I'll post a trail report of my adventure. I do have another question though, how is the fishing in those lakes? Is it worth paying the 50 dollars for the fishing license?

My son and I left my car at Monson and hitched back when we finished the trail. Rides were really easy to get most of the way. We did it that way because it seemed easier than driving to the north end, hiking south and then returning to the north end for the car. There were other people headed the same direction. It was easy to adjust our pace to end up at the shelters other folks were at or to avoid them.