Tony's Hiking Adventure

Human Nature Hostel, Roxbury, ME

Human Nature Hostel
Human Nature Hostel

Mile 1,925.0 
Elevation 1,495 
Miles Hiked 4.8 

I was up early and ready to go by 7:00 AM.  Another hiker (Redbone) and I have decided to head for town and lick our wounds from the last couple of days.  I personally had a more difficult issue to face – what to do about my leg and the strained hamstring.  Everything I’ve read about the injury says to stop doing what I’m doing.  Unfortunately that’s not easy when you’re in a remote mountain area.  You and that 32 pound backpack aren’t going to get someone to carry you out.

The climb off Mahoosuc Arm started with an ascent of over 600 feet to the 4,065 foot summit of Old Speck.  The last hundred feet or so up to the summit were especially treacherous.  Because I’m unable to use my right leg to lift myself, I’m constantly using my left leg.  That doesn’t always work, though.  The last part of the climb was up a vertical rock face.  I found myself scraping my legs on the rocks as I made the climb.  That was not particularly helpful on the sharp rocks, and I cut up my legs pretty bad, but I made it up to the top.

From the top of Old Speck, a descent to 1,495 feet was necessary, and it was a steep descent.  I went really slow because of my leg, but other than the pace, the descent went well.  It was mostly over rocks and boulders but no vertical climbs as I had feared.  The further down the trail I got, the more day hikers I met.  Some freaked out about all the blood on my legs, which I thought was pretty funny.  I finally reached the bottom and a parking area on highway 26 at 12:45.

Redbone was settled on going into Bethel, but I wanted to go to the hostel close to Andover, ME.  As I was preparing to begin hitchhiking, a guy came up to me and asked if I need a ride.  He was not going all the way to Andover, but he’d get me close, so I took him up on his offer.  I got dropped of at a trailhead on Andover Road.  The hostel picks up there at 4 PM.  It was just 1:00 PM.  This is a very remote area and there was almost no traffic.  Two cars passed but they were full.  Then a truck approached and stopped.  They took me into Andover where I stopped at the general store for some Gatorade and a hamburger.  The hostel shuttle wouldn’t come by for more than 2 1/2 hours, so I relaxed until then.  All in all I made pretty good time getting here.

Hard to see but those are wild strawberries growing in that vegetation on the grounds of the hostel. 

The hostel owns 42 acres of land.  They’re growing some veggies out there.

One of the hostel dogs.

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2 responses to “Human Nature Hostel, Roxbury, ME”

  1. hello from hostel in the forest, was recommended this by your parents, Im Matthew Piepenbrok. im managing HITF for summer through fall but first heading to India for a consulting gig would love to come up and experience your space this fall into winter.

  2. Tony says:

    Hi, Matthew. I think my blog post might be a little confusing. I don’t own or work at the Human Nature Hostel. In 2019 I was a hiker on the Appalachian Trail and stayed at the hostel for a couple of days. The people at the hostel may be a little difficult to contact and it is a guessing game from year to year whether or not they will be hosting hikers in a given year. They do have an Instagram account and information comes up when you Google them.

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