Date: 2017-08-10
From: Rainbow Stream Lean-to

To: Abol Bridge, ME
Miles today: 14.9
Weather: light rain

8/10/17, Abol Bridge Stealth Site, MEMiles hiked: 1857.2, Miles to Katahdin: 14.7, Miles to go: 332.6I was up and out of camp by 6:00 AM to hike the 14.9 miles into Abol Bridge for lunch. Wild Thing, Feathers, and Teabag left at the same time and I never saw them again. We had heard that the trail today was muddy and boggy, so I wanted to have time to make it through the last of the 100 Mile Wilderness and still reach Abol Bridge by lunchtime. As is often the case, the description of the trail was overblown. There were a few muddy sections; but, in general, the trail was quite mellow. There was only one small climb to Rainbow Ledges, where I had a beautiful view of Mt Katahdin. I was glad to see that the summit was absolutely clear and cloudless because I knew that 1st Sgt was up there working his way to the summit today. I hope it stayed clear for him. I knocked down the hike by 11:30 AM and made it to the Abol Bridge campground, where there was a restaurant and convenience store. I had fried chicken for lunch and ice cream for dessert - a good start at knocking down the caloric deficit. There are two campgrounds at Abol Bridge. They are both full. Abol Bridge abuts up to the boundary of Baxter State Park , where you can only camp in designated campsites, all of which are over 10 miles away. Luckily, the Gutthooks App listed a stealth site just outside the park that turned out to be perfect. We set up a nice little tent city under the power lines about 0.2 miles from the campground. Wild Thing, 4WD, and I went back to the restaurant for dinner. One of the advantages of doing this hike as an older hiker is that we have more disposable income than the kids, who all ate dinner at the stealth camp. As we ate dinner, more and more thru hikers continued to emerge from the 100 Mile Wilderness. By the time we returned to our tent city, it had swelled to close to 20 tents. We are still ahead of the Bubble. I can't imagine what this place will look like in two weeks.  Baxter State Park is too small and remote to handle the huge influx of thru hikers it has seen in the past few years. Especially when you consider that thru hikers are only a small portion of the people who visit Baxter.  They are doing their best to handle the crowds in the most equitable manner possible. For example, they provide a small campground, called the Birches, exclusively for summiting thru hikers. However, it can only accommodate 12 hikers, which is why I had to scramble last weekend to make arrangements for the Fellowship last weekend before we entered the 100 Mile Wilderness. I suspect that we will see the northern terminus of the AT moving in the next few years. I'm glad I was able to do the hike while Katahdin is still the climax of the journey. Tomorrow, we have a short, sweet, 10 mile hike through Baxter State Park to Katahdin Stream Campground, where we will apply for our thru hiker permits at the Ranger station to hike up Mt Katahdin on Saturday. We then will catch a shuttle to Wilderness Edge Campground in Millinocket and prepare for our summit on Saturday. Woo hoo!