Date: 2009-09-09
From: Hurd Brook Lean-to

To: Katahdin Stream Campground
Miles today: 13.4
Weather: clear sky

I woke up after 7, packed up my things, and went down to the shelter to eat my breakfast with the others. No one was in a rush. I was the first to hit the trail, and enjoyed the peaceful morning alone. I passed a white blaze with a smiley face penciled over it, and felt happy. I was nearing the end! I had almost made it! I decided to listen to my ipod for a bit, and somehow, despite the music in my ears, I heard a rustling sound behind me as I was walking over a wooden plank. I turned around to see several grouse walking from one side of the woods to the other! I turned off my ipod and dug out my camera. Some of the grouse were less scared than others, and did not run away quickly, which made me happy. Still, I wasn¢t able to get any great pictures. I think that seeing the wildlife along my journey was my favorite part of this experience.   In a couple of miles, I reached the sign marking the end of the 100 mile Wilderness! I had made it! I heard cars, and looked ahead to see if I was close to where Erik would park, but I still had to get to Golden Rd. It sounded magical, but I didn¢t even know that I was on it, when I did come to it, as it was an unmarked, dusty, small town road! I saw a small logging bridge to my right and figured that must be Abol bridge- not at all what I had imagined! I waited for a huge logging truck to make its way onto the bridge, before I crossed the road to stand on the pedestrian portion to look at the view of Katahdin. It was a picture perfect day, and the view was magnificent! In just a few hours, I would be at its base!br>      I wandered over to the camp store, which was also smaller than I had expected. I ordered an egg sandwich, which turned out to be a pre-made, processed sandwich that only needed to be heated in the microwave. We were only offered the use of the picnic table outside to eat on, and told not to use the bathrooms or showers, as they were strictly for the campers¢ use. I was disappointed to find this out last night, as I wanted to be clean and fresh for my summit pictures (not covered in eight days of grime). I contemplated paying them $10 for a shower, but didn¢t feel like going through the ordeal when I got there. After I finished my sandwich and coffee, Iron Man came in. I decided to get a second coffee, along with a doughnut. One of the employees couldn¢t believe I wasn¢t buying up the candy bars, as apparently all of the other thru-hikers had headed straight for the chocolate! I didn¢t even feel hungry. I was just kind of bored, waiting for Erik...   After I poured my second cup, I heard a car pull up. I looked out the door to see my car. Erik was here! I went out to meet him and when he got out of the car, I said, ¢I walked here!¢ Then we both started laughing. He had brought some snacks from Millinocket and we joined Iron Man at the picnic table. Then, Andy and Poptart came in.   A little later on, a van drove up to the store and a buzz of activity soon began. Some hunters were bringing in a bear they had just killed and drained to be weighed. We all went over to see what was going on. The sight of the bear made me incredibly sad and angry. Who were these people to take away this innocent being¢s life? They attached its neck to a machine that lifted it up and found that it weighed over two hundred pounds (I¢m sure the bear that stood next to my hammock in the Shenandoahs was well over 400 pounds). The store employee inserted tags into each of his puffy foot pads and I asked her what was going to happen to him. She told me that certain parts of him were going to be mounted and put on display. I had to walk away and try not to think about it to keep from crying.   Erik and I walked over to the bridge to look at the view and take a few pictures. A photographer was lying down, relaxing, as he waited for a group of rafters to come along, that he was supposed to photograph. He started talking to us and encouraged us to take a rafting trip after I finished. We had to go back to his bus to get one of his business cards, and I started to get a little antsy. I still had work to do! I had ten more miles to hike that day!   We saw Iron Man, who had already taken off, in the distance. I had to run after him, calling out his name, as I wanted to let him know that he could camp with us tonight. Erik had reserved a spot, and we didn¢t think anyone else would be at the Birches. I didn¢t want him to be lonely on his final night!   I said goodbye to Erik, and he watched me walk back into the woods one last time. The mosquitoes were huge and vicious in this area, and I had to stop to put on some bug repellant after being bitten several times. I put on my ipod again and hoped these last 10 miles would fly by! They did not... It felt like time was passing so slowly!   At one point, I looked behind me and saw Andy and Poptart looking like they were trying to creep up on me. I asked them what they were doing and they said they were trying to be creepy hillbillies, wanting to scare me. I told them that I didn¢t even hear them because I was listening to my music!    Had I not seen a few people lounging on some rocks ahead of me, I probably would have completely missed this nice spot for taking a break! Iron Man was talking to an older lady section hiker named Honey Bee, and Andy and Poptart had joined them. I decided I might as well relax with them! I think we were at Pine Point, along the Nesowadnehunk falls. We still had six miles to go! After a little more snacking and contemplation, we got up one by one, and got going. Honey Bee didn¢t want Iron Man to leave her, so he slowed his pace to keep her company. I didn¢t think we had any more fording to do, so I was surprised when I came to not one, but two rivers that were tricky to cross! One had the thinnest possible tree trunks laid across, and I had to move across them sideways, as slowly as possible! I was so glad that no one was around to watch me!   The second crossing surprised me so much that I decided the AT must have continued up a hill on the same bank instead. However, I realized that I was no longer on a path and had to go back to the river, where Iron Man and Honey Bee were catching up. Iron Man made it across without any problems, but I found myself getting incredibly scared when I was in the middle of the river, on a rock, without an idea of where I could step next! I made it across, but it wasn¢t easy, and I didn¢t feel at all like an experienced thru-hiker!   I went ahead of Iron Man and Honey Bee and traveled the last few miles alone. Finally, I made my way onto Perimeter Road and came to the sign for Katahdin Stream Campground! It was 5 o¢clock. I wondered how I was going to find the campsite that Erik had reserved and then looked up to see him walking away from me! I picked up my pace and tried to chase him down, but he could not hear me! I found our campsite though, with his tent already set up. I figured he must be going to use the bathroom, so I put my pack down and waited for him. I was done!   He was amused to see me when he returned! While I changed, he went to the ranger¢s office to buy some firewood (which seemed like an odd thing to have to do to me). Apparently, they told him to bring water, as well, saying there was none at the campground! I wandered into the woods to look for a spot for my hammock (this gravel campsite seemed so old-fashion to me!) and heard a stream running down below! Erik returned, after chatting with a man who planned on writing a book about the AT in Maine. I had wanted to symbolically make the ascent to the summit alone and meet Erik at the top, just as Dynamite had done with his family last year, but this would have required a lot of traveling for Erik to get around to the other side of the mountain in the morning. Also, this guy told Erik that Katahdin was not a mountain to be climbed alone, and that there were ¢40 foot crevices¢ that required leaping across! Excuse me...?! My legs weren¢t even capable of leaping and how come I had never heard about this before? Hmmm... Anyway, I abandoned any hope of descending Knife¢s Edge on this journey, as the logistics just weren¢t going to work out.      Erik made a fire, and soon Iron Man came along, wanting to make sure he could still join us. Of course! Erik had brought a pack of hotdogs, as well as the makings for S¢mores upon my request. He also brought me a burrito from Millinocket and a bottle of red wine! But first, I had to go to the ranger¢s office to sign in (something I didn¢t even realize I was supposed to do!). We got there to find another thru-hiker couple that I had never seen before signing in.       We feasted all night and learned a little bit more about each other, and then decided that we better get to bed as we were going to have to get up early tomorrow!