WHL HAS A LONG HISTORY WITH HIKERS ON THE AT
During the 1920s 30s and 40s, in the early days of the Appalachian Trail, Maine’s 100-Mile Wilderness was anything but.
There were 11 logging or sporting camps along the way and the trail was routed through or near all of them. Each night was spent in comfort with a roof over your head and a hot meal in your belly. One of these places was White House Landing - where hikers actually stayed inside the White House.
Most of the camps closed after WWII. Today only 3 remain: Rainbow Lake Camps (owned privately by Webber Oil Company) Nahmakanta Lake Camps (also privately owned and not open to hikers) and White House Landing, where hikers are welcome with open arms.
That wasn’t always the case. After 1950, when the landing went to private ownership, hikers were not permitted to stop at WHL. It wasn’t until 1999, almost 50 years later, that we re-opened our doors to all of the grateful hikers.
From 1992 until 1999 we operated as a traditional sporting camp. With no road access, electricity or amenities that many people look for, it was tough. We persevered through the years, at times wondering why we do it. Boat access was also hard. All supplies, propane tanks, and guests had to be shuttled 10 miles one way up the lake. A logging road was put in near us in 1996 and we were granted road access. Things began to improve but it was still a tough industry in which to perservere.
In 1999, my dad AKA “poopajack” decided to hike the AT. Wanting to understand why a 65 year old man would do such a thing, I read through the collection of books that had inspired his hike. That was when it dawned on us that we were actually located in the middle of “the” 100-Mile Wilderness - not even being conscious of the past history WHL had with AT hikers. We decided, with some encouragement from my dad, to open our doors to these hikers. From that moment on, we have never looked back.
Easy to please and extremely appreciative, hikers are now our most reliable and most loved guests. We are better people because of them. We work hard for them 14 hours, 7 days a week for 5 months. No days off, no employees and we still have a smile, albeit a tired one, on our face at the end of our long shift. A testament to this is that many of the hikers we have met over the years have become our friends.
SPECIAL HIKERS
At White House Landing, we average around 850 hikers each season - each unique.
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The 100-Mile Wilderness is a melting pot of hiking humanity from all walks of life, from all over the world, each with their own story to tell. Several of them we see year after year. One who we will never forget is Wu-Li, who passed away in April 2008. He was a special man whom we first met on his thru-hike in 2002. Every year after, Wu-Li undertook an anniversary hike of the 100-Mile and returned to the summit of Katahdin on October 13th, the same day as on his initial thru-hike.
For Wu-Li, hiking wasn’t just a hobby - it was a spiritual awakening with a focus on life and how to make it better for himself and his loved ones, Wu-Li always sent us journals and photos from his hiking adventures in France and Spain, the island of Shikoku in Japan, and the southwest coast of England. We keep these journals for any visitors who wishes to read them. When he passed away, Wu-Li was undertaking another hike - this time researching his family tree while walking the Virgin Mary Trail from Austria to Poland. One consolation was that he was doing something he loved at the end.
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Wu-Li has the distinction of being the only hiker that Linda baked an apple pie for, serving it ala mode. In honor of this good friend, October 5th is Wu-Li Day at White House Landing with free homemade apple pie with vanilla ice cream for those who happen to be here that day.
We highly recommend going to Wu-Li’s website walkingwuli.com to see photos and read his uplifting journals. His son Bob has kept it going - allowing others to be inspired by Wu-Li’s story. Happy Trails Wu-Li!