Date: 2023-09-14
To: The Birches
Miles today: 109.8

Google Photos Photo AlbumDay 92Shaw's to Long Pond Stream Lean-toAT miles 15.1Miles hiked 15.1This was our first day in the 100 Mile Wilderness. Exciting and scary at the same time. There's a sign that says you should bring 10 days of food because of the remoteness of the area. Shaw¢s and some other hostels offer food drops along the way but the Silver Back, Firetower, 007 and I decided we¢ll carry all our food. We plan to hike it in 6 days but just in case we are bringing 7 days of food. Our packs are heavy and packed to max capacity. I can¢t imagine the size of a pack carrying 10 days of food. Mine is definitely the heaviest it's been so far.We started off the morning at Shaw's chatting with other hikers while waiting for Poet's legendary breakfast of home fries, eggs over easy, bacon, and blueberry pancakes. We were not disappointed. The talk in the hostel during breakfast centered around the impending hurricane and the water crossings. Far Out had already posted the high water crossing detours. Poet continually reminded everybody to update their apps while they had wifi.After breakfast there were last minute gear checks and paying our tabs then loading our packs in the shuttle vehicles. Nervous anticipation was in the air. Poet was involved in helping to rescue an injured hiker most of yesterday so this was really our first chance to meet him. He thru hiked the AT several years ago and got his trail name for his ability to write poetry. He is very charismatic.When we got to the drop off he didn't just drive off and leave us. He gathered us together and gave us a very inspiring pep talk that he ended by reciting a Haiku he wrote in the last log book on his thru hike. I wish I could remember the Haiku because the gist of it is that, ¢When offered the chance to drink from the cup of life, drink heartily.¢ He then took a group pic of us and shook each of our hands congratulating us on making it this far then wishing us a safe journey calling each of us by our trail names. It was a very emotional moment. The weather forecast called for clear skies but it rained the first five minutes we were in the parking lot. Typical. Once on trail the trail was a wet mess. There was no avoiding the mud pits and stream of water running down the trail. We were going to have to earn every mile in the Wilderness.Shortly after starting our hikes we passed Spectacle Pond and had to ford the outlet stream, the source of much of the water flowing down the trail. Soon after was the ominous 100 Mile Wilderness sign warning hikers to not underestimate the difficulty of the coming approximate 100 miles of trail. We are advised to carry 10 days of food and supplies. Hopefully my 7 days of food will be one day too many. Time will tell.About a mile later I passed Bell Pond. So far, despite the crappy trail conditions I¢m liking this section of trail. It¢s beautiful in a rugged sort of way with lots of moss covered logs, big trees, and open forest. A couple miles later is the Leeman Brook Lean-to. Time to get rid of breakfast and eat a morning snack.  Back to hiking I¢m soon at North Pond which I recognize as being a frequently photographed site along the trail. I take my pics then move on. There's another stream crossing, North Pond Brook, that¢s made a little deeper due to a beaver dam and all the recent rain. Far Out says it¢s possible to cross with dry feet. Not today.There¢s a stream crossing coming up that is probably not fordable. About an hour after crossing North Pond Brook I can hear a faint roar off in the distance. The roar grows louder until I can finally see this huge mass of water pounding down the mountain. I¢ve reached Little Wilson Falls but there¢s nothing little about these falls. The crushing power of the water crashing down the mountain is almost terrifying. I follow the trail down to where the stream crossing is supposed to be and the river is violently flowing. No way am I going to attempt to cross that. Time for the reroute. The reroute seems like freshly made trail in places and is a pain to hike but the woods are beautiful. Along the route is a wooden cross with a person¢s name and a date. I took a pic so I could later go back and see what happened. It turns out she was a teacher chaperoning a school trip. She fell and hit her head, dying from her injuries. Very sad and I imagine it was a very traumatic experience for her students and colleagues.The trail came out in a clearing next to the river where there was a picnic table near a parking lot. A great place to stop for water and lunch. By now the skies were clear, the sun was shining and it was a day made for being outdoors. After lunch I followed the reroute down a dirt road. This was the Wilson Stream Campgrounds. There were drive-in and hike-in camping spots along the way. Stones were sticking up here and there along the road and lots of big mud puddles from the rain. I was walking along daydreaming, listening to music, and looking at the scenery when all of sudden I found myself diving into one of those mud puddles having caught my toe on one of those protruding stones. Great. I dried off my stuff the best I could, brushed off my ego, and got back to hiking. I passed a very nice looking privy and stopped in for a break. They even had toilet paper in there. Who knew there would be trail magic in the 100 Mile Wilderness!The dirt road eventually came to a paved road where I could cross the river on a bridge and begin a long trudge to the trail. I can walk all day on the trail with minimal to no foot pain but walking on pavement is another story. I crossed some railroad tracks and passed some houses. Surprised people live seemingly in the middle of nowhere. Walking on a road made me notice that nobody else was around. Hiking alone seems so normal on the trail. This road seemed to go on forever. I passed a hunting lodge that was kind of creepy. The guys who were there just looked at me, lone hiker, without offering a greeting of any kind. I waved but there was no response. Then, on the front porch was a big Confederate Flag. In Maine? Creepier still. When I mentioned this to other hikers they all had the same reaction as I.There were occasional log trucks that rolled by and those guys were more friendly. I was looking at Far Out trying to figure out how much longer I had to road walk. On the app it looked like the road continued straight until it ended in the woods. OK. I put my phone away and kept on stepping, walking right past a road intersection. The app looked like it was straight so I kept straight. For some reason, after about a mile I decided to check again because I thought surely, by now, I should be in the woods. Nope. I was going the wrong way. I turned around and started backtracking and sure enough, I should have taken the turn. I learned later that evening that Silver Back, Fire Tower, and 007 had made the same mistake but caught it sooner. I marked that turn for any hikers who may come behind me.The new road came to a parking area which had a trail at one end. Well, I say trail but it was anything but. It was actually a swamp. The mud was at least knee deep (that was as deep as I ¢tested¢ it.) I tried real hard to not sink in the mud but it was a futile, frustrating experience. Finally, I¢d had enough and I turned and started heading uphill through the woods until the mud stopped. Then I got out my phone and plotted a course straight towards the shelter we planned to stop at and bushwhacked towards the shelter. I soon came to a trail. A very nice trail. There were almost no roots, no rocks, no overhanging vegetation. No way was I going to pass this up. I started up the trail. If my calculations were correct I figured this trail would intersect the AT at some point. It did. About .25 of a mile east of the shelter. Back on the AT of course, it was the same old muddy, rocky, rooty story. I made the short wade to Long Pond Stream Lean-to in about 15 minutes. The shelter area was also pretty muddy and wet. Silver Back, Fire Tower, 007 and a SOBO hiker were already ¢1camped there. The SOBO was just starting the trail. We were all thinking this was kind of a late start but his presence turned out to be a gift to Silver Back who¢d broken another trekking pole. He should consider a career as a product durability evaluator. The SOBO had also broken a trekking pole and was going to ditch his poles in favor of using a homemade hiking stick. Once again, say it with me : "The trail provides."007 made his traditional evening campfire and we sat around in the smoke avoiding the mosquitoes and eating dinner. There weren¢t many great places to pitch my tent but I was able to find a place between a couple of mud puddles that worked well enough.Tomorrow we hit the Chairback Mountain Range. The first of the last two mountain ranges before Katahdin. If my estimation of Jose Frio¢s progress is correct, Jose should be climbing Mt. Katahdin tomorrow as well.Day 93Long Pond Stream Lean-to to Pleasant River CampsitesAT miles 15.7Miles hiked 15.7Today we were tackling the first of the two mountain ranges in the 100 Mile Wilderness. The Chairbacks. Though they were relatively low in elevation they woukd prove to be a bit challenging based on comments by past thru hikers. We also wanted to make it to Pleasant River Campsites to put us in position to ford the West Branch of the Pleasant River before the water was too high. We were figuring the incoming hurricane (Hurricane Lee) would bring a lot of water. The road walk around would add another day to our hike.  The morning was kind of gloomy looking but cleared up by mid-morning. About an hour into the hike we were afforded awesome views of Lake Onawa while going over Barren Ledges on the way up Barren Mountain. On the climb up the ledges we passed the 2100 mile mark which was an arrangement of birch branches. Silver Back, 007, and Firetower had missed the sign so they hiked back to find it. I sat on a nice overlook eating a snack. I called the AT Hostel in Millinocket and made a reservation for the hostel and a shuttle ride after my summit. I also made plane reservations for mybreturn to Charlottesville. This was likely the last cell service I would have until Nesuntabunt Mountain where I was supposed to call to verify that I was still on schedule.The next hour was a rocky climb up Barren Mountain. There was an old fire tower at the summit but it was off limits. It looked rickety enough that I likely wouldn¢t have climbed it even if allowed.Next up was a very long bog bridge leading just below the peak of Fourth Chairback Mountain. The mountains are numbered. Sort of. Next up was Third Chairback. Climbing up the ledges the trail passes the site of a plane crash that happened in 2018. A father and son were flying in supplies for their cabin when they crashed due to poor visibility. Miraculously they were both able to hike down the mountain the next day. The top of Third Mountain was exposed granite with more great views. Continuing on I passed West Chairback Pond and crossed West Chairback Stream. The next climb logically should have been named Second Peak but instead it was named Columbus Mountain. This was one of those climb, climb, climb, climbs that resulted in stupendous views of, wait for it, mostly nothing. Just more forest. When is a tree not a tree? When it is a view. Hiking on.The map made it look like it would be downhill all the way to the campsite even though Chairback Mountain was in the way. Hiking over Chairback was reminiscent of hiking in New York where the trail went up every possible up and down every possible down no matter how much out of the way those ups and downs were. While this is good for building strong legs, improving cardiovascular health, and lengthening the trail, there are times that we hikers would appreciate a flatter, smoother section of trail. But then the trail would be easy and we would be bored.It was starting to grow dark as I was hiking through the pine forest between the Chairbacks and the Pleasant River. There was the glow of an amazing sunset through the trees. The trail came out on what appeared to be a construction site on a forest road. It was getting too dark to see what they were constructing so I continued on. The trail seemed to follow an old road bed and it was pretty wet going. When I finally got to the West Branch of the Pleasant River I was at an impasse. My headlamp did not reach the other side of the river so I wasn¢t sure where to go and couldn¢t tell how deep the water was. A few steps in the current didn¢t see so bad. After a few minutes of trying to figure out what to do I decided to message Silver Back. While I was fumbling with my Garmin I noticed a headlamp bobbing through the trees on the opposite bank. It was Silver Back. He had estimated that I would be at the river about that time. He used his headlamp beam to guide me across the river. The crossing wasn¢t too bad. It was only waist deep in the deepest spot and I sort of sideways shuffled across facing upstream.Finally on the opposite bank, we hike the short distance to our campsite. Cliff was there just finishing up dinner. Firetower and 007 were camped in another part of the campsite. I pitched my tent, got water and ate dinner. We planned for a very early start the next morning hoping to be able to ford the East Branch of the Pleasant River before it got too high to safely cross.Day 94Pleasant River Campsites to Mountain View PondAT miles 18.0Miles hiked 18.2Tropical Storm Lee day. We were all up early trying to pack before the rain started. Firetower and 007 were farther inside the campsite and we stopped to say good morning to them before we headed out. They said something about taking a logging road to stay off the mountains during the storm. I paid a visit to the privy and it was pretty gross and the home to a family of huge garden spiders. Guess I'll go dig a hole. Later on Silver Back told me he too passed up on the privy in deference to the grossness and resident arachnids. We were hiking by 7:30. Maybe not early for some but certainly early for us. The weather seemed fine and were it not for prior knowledge of the incoming storm we would have been in for quite a surprise.Early on was fairly easy hiking both weather and trail-wise. We passed through the Hermitage, a stand of old growth pines. A very impressive forest making for a nice hike. Next we passed the intersection of the trail to Gulf Hagas. Another hiker had shown me videos of the area when i was back in Connecticut. I had looked forward to making that side trip but today was not the day. Hopefully another time. About 9:30 the wind started picking up and it began spitting rain. I made it over Gulf Hagas and West Peak Mountains in pretty good time. The wind and rain were increasing slowly and steadily in intensity. All that was missing was dramatic background music. I passed two NOBOs on the way up Hay Mountain. We talked for a minute at the peak then got moving. Today was not a good day to stand around talking. There was an unusual sense of urgency to everyone's hikes today.I passed two more NOBOs, Pot Roast and his hiking companion, on the way up Whitecap Mountain. By this time the wind was really howling and the rain was coming in hard waves. On a clear day hikers look forward to summiting Whitecap because of the fantastic views of the surrounding area and Mount Katahdin. Today, the summit was terrifying. The wind was blowing so hard that it was almost impossible to walk and it was blowing hikers off the trail. As in one step I was trying to move forward and the next I was airborne. Luckily I landed on my back in the fragile alpine vegetation and didn't get blown off a ledge. Getting up in the raging wind was a struggle. I really wanted to take pics and a video to document the event but the Weather Channel crew was not on site and I didnt want to mess up my phone. My fingers were so cold they were numb and I could barely grip my trekking poles. The rain was hitting my exposed skin feeling like I was being stabbed by little needles. I had the hood of my rain jacket cinched up around my face such that I could only see out of one eye. Even after getting below treeline I had to continue fighting the wind and rain. Hiking as fast as possible to get to the shelter and temporary relief from the weather. I tried stepping on a boulder to hop across a big puddle. Instead I slipped off and landed smack in the middle of the puddle. There were a few recent blowdowns over an already densely choked trail making me have to climb over and threw. Where I could I either moved them off the trail or broke them up so other hikers could get through easier.Finally, I arrived at Logan Brook Lean-to. Cliff was already there. Silver Back had been and gone to the next shelter. Two SOBOs were there who had decided against hiking in the storm. Eventually all the NOBOs I had passed were at the shelter. Pot Roast had also enjoyed the same airborne experience as I. All of us were shivering and unable to open our packs. The SOBOs thankfully helped us get food out and our stoves lit so we could cook some ramen and warm up. Cliff asked if I was staying at that shelter but there was no way I was going to leave Silver Back hanging. It was 3.6 miles to the next shelter. As I was getting my stuff ready to leave, Cliff checked to make sure I was really good to go. I assured him I was and he took off. I pretty much took off at a run and soon caught Cliff. Together we ran up the trail just to get warm. We got to the East Bank Lean-to expecting to see Silver Back. Fire Tower and 007 were there and they had not seen him. I checked my Garmin and he had left a message saying he was sticking to our original plan and had already crossed the river. I started putting on my backpack and Cliff followed suit. We were off to the river. The "real" crossing was doable but very sketchy. There was a place upstream that looked like a rock hop. The rocks were barely submerged and visible. I went first and made it to the next to last rock, celebrating before crossing the finish line. I slipped on the last rock going in the drink up over my waist. I almost lost one of my trekking poles but was able to snag it with a desperate lunge. Anything that might still have been only damp was now thoroughly soaked. Cliff was right behind me and I told him to avoid that rock. He replied, "I gotcha buddy!"A short hike and creek crossing later we made it to Mountain View Pond with no more incidents and found Silver Back who was happy to see us. This was not really a camping area so we went off in search of a flat, not flooded place to pitch our tents. Each of us found a spot then got out of our wet clothes and into dry clothes and crawled into our tents. I was again shivering and having a hard time using my fingers. I managed to make a huge pot of hot chocolate with a candy bar melted in it to speed the warming process. The hot chocolate took the edge off the chill. I rolled up in my quilt then passed out. We survived.Day 95Mountain View Pond to Potaywadjo Lean-to AT miles 17.6Miles hiked 17.6I woke up around 6 AM but wasn't looking forward to putting on my cold, soaking wet clothes. So I put off the inevitable until 7:00 when I surrendered to the call of nature and extricated myself from my warm tent. After my morning ritual I ate a quick, cold breakfast and started packing up. Warm food could wait until later. I figured the fastest way to get warm would be to get moving.   Silver Back stopped by to see if I was up and to tell me about his hammock ripping and nearly dumping him on the ground. Say what? Now there was the worry of a sleep system since he didn¢t have a tent or sleeping pad. I had some dental floss he could use to try sewing his hammock back together. He said that Cliff had rolled out at 7:00. Silver Back left about 8:15 and I wasn't far behind. I desperately needed water so I stopped at a spring to tank up.Boardman Mountain was the only climb for the day and wasn't too bad. Fire Tower and 007 caught up with me on the descent so I jumped on the NOVA train and we were rolling. We stopped at the Cooper Brook Falls Lean-to for lunch. The river came crashing down a long falls in front of the shelter and the power of the water was scarily impressive.  I finished lunch before them so I took off expecting them to catch me. The trail was very boggy. In dry weather this would have been a very fast hike. There was an unexpected river ford that looked a little scary but I was able to make it across without incident.I came to Jo-Mary Road which was where the hostels dropped off food buckets for hikers who had chosen that option. There were a lot of day hikers in the parking lot. Hiking on the trail skirted along Cooper Brook. About an hour later I came to another logging road. Treats and Barbie and some other hikers were there taking a break along with another hiker I¢d never met before, Shooter. Treats and Barbie had not seen Shooter since North Carolina. I ate a quick snack then got back to it eventually coming to a deep, fast moving stream full of large boulders. It didn¢t look particularly safe or fun to cross there so I started looking for a better route. As I was figuring out the ¢best¢ place to cross I saw two hikers upstream who were trying to cross on some downed trees. I joined them and we figured out how to traverse the twisted mess of blowdowns. Having made the other side we looked around trying to find the trail when we discovered we were on an island. Luckily we found another circus aerial act of blowdowns to cross. We didn¢t quite make the opposite bank but we only had to wade through mid-shin depth water.Another hour or so up the trail I got to Antlers Campground catching up with Silver Back, Cliff and two other hikers. Silver Back and I took off together and crushed the 3.5 miles to Potaywadjo Spring Lean-to. As we came into the campsite a section hiker who was setting up his hammock asked if either of us were Silver Back. That was weird. Very weird. Another hiker had heard about Silver Back¢s hammock situation and that he didn't have a sleeping pad to sleep on in the shelter so the hiker left his pad in the shelter for Silver Back. A few minutes later Cliff showed up and said he'd leave his tent and sleeping pad at Abol Bridge if necessary since his wife was meeting him there and he wouldn¢t need his tent any longer. I went off to the big, spring-fed pool of water to fetch some water then went to set up my tent. Silver Back started sewing his hammock with some dental floss and was able to make his hammock usable. Hopefully it would make it to the end of the trail.Fire Tower and 007 arrived while I was setting up my tent saying they tried to catch me and couldn¢t believe how fast I must have been moving. Fire Tower offered his sleeping pad to Silver Back saying he'd also leave his hammock at Abol Bridge. The hiking community is amazing at how they are so quick to help each other out. Treats and Barbie and Shooter followed by some section hikers arrived soon after.As Firetower and 007 went off to get some water a couple of chipmunks jumped on their packs looking for a free meal. I whacked one with my trekking pole and I guess they decided it would be best to steal food someplace safer. I was still a little bitter about my hip belt pouch being chewed through back in New Hampshire and was looking for revenge where I could find it.The section hiker was a guy from Texas out exploring the possibilities of a thru hike. He said he was having the time of his life but had a lot to learn about hiking. 007 made his evening campfire while we all fixed dinner. The Texas guy didn¢t want to intrude but we convinced him and the other section hikers that they were all welcome to hang out with us. We sat around the fire talking about our hikes and eventually the conversation turned to food. If you could have anything in the world to eat right at this moment, what would it be? What food do you like the most on the trail? What food do you never want to eat again? The section hikers were amazed at how hungry we all were and how much food we could eat. Hiker hunger is a real and powerful thing. Then the section hikers started asking myriad questions about our hikes, amazed at what we've been through and how close we all seemed.Soon enough the fire died down and it was dark and getting cold. When it's dark, hikers sleep. Except when we¢re still hiking.Ugh! Some hiker came in late just as I was turning in and looked at the shelter like he was going to stay there. I think it was full with all the section hikers and 007. This was a very large and open area with room for many, many tents and hammocks. This guy chose to set his tent up close to mine. Usually not a problem. But! He had a serious snoring/mumbling in his sleep problem. Think of the old Popeye cartoons when Popeye snored. It was constant, painful, and irritating. Sometimes he would stop snoring and would mumble these unintelligible sounds then there would be a moment of silence then back to snoring. I considered pushing the SOS button on my InReach to request they airdrop a C-Pap machine for him. He was so loud that the others camped there heard him as well. Along with all that racket there was the spooky calls of loons on the nearby pond. Then a Barred Owl flew in and started announcing his presence. Too bad I was so tired. I could have recorded all this and named it Nightime Sounds on the AT. I got almost no sleep.Day 96Potaywadjo Laen-to to Rainbow Stream Lean-to AT miles 18.2Miles hiked 18.2We planned to hike 18 miles to Rainbow Stream Lean-to, our last stop in the 100 Mile Wilderness. Today we should also finally get a view of Katahdin.  After a fitful night of the snoring camper, loons off in the distance, and the Barred Owl visit it was time to pack up and eat breakfast. Treats and Barbie had woken very early and cleared out, possibly before first light. We all commented on the late arriving hiker and his strange sounds while eating breakfast. He was still making his loud, nocturnal sounds even as we ate. He was still asleep in his tent when we left.I jumped on the NOVA train again this morning and we were flying up the trail. Fire Tower remembered to take the blue trail at Deer Brook which was really a large pond where we got our first view of Katahdin.  Hard to believe we're closing in on our goal. As excited as I am I can't imagine what those finishing their hike in a few short days are feeling. We took some pics then headed back to the AT.Back to hiking (almost trail running) we passed the group of section hikers from our last camp. We wished our new friends well and they did the same in return. Shortly after that we came to a stream crossing with an aluminum set up steps on the opposite bank. Pretty soon we rolled into the Wadleigh Stream Lean-to for lunch. Silver Back was just finishing his lunch as was Treats and Barbie and Shooter. We took a nice lunch break then it was time to get to the summit of Nesuntabunt Mountain where we had to confirm our reservations and shuttle for the AT Hostel after our summit. Silver Back had just come down as we started up. 007 and Firetower didn¢t stay long since they were getting picked up at Abol Bridge by 007¢s dad. I called the hostel then called Robin since I had cell service. It started raining on my way back down the mountain. The forecast was two inches of rain in the next 24 hours. Not fun but if it means good weather for our final summit then so be it. It was a relief to be hiking alone as 007¢s and Firetower¢s 20 something year old legs were putting a hurting on my 60 something legs. Still I averaged a respectful 2.5 miles per hour to camp. As I came to Rainbow Stream Lean-to I saw there were hikers everywhere. Where did they all come from? For days I saw mostly the same six hikers plus the occasional section hiker. I would guess there were at least 20 hikers camped here including those in the shelter. I found a hopefully well-drained spot for my tent and went off to fetch water. The rain was coming down pretty good now. Another night cooking in the tent. I actually used my trekking pole to hold one of the flaps up and heated my water in the vestibule.  Didn¢t want to risk catching the tent on fire. As I'm eating backpacking food my mind is at the Abol Bridge camp store buying a root beer, chocolate milk, honey buns, cheetos¢¦ hiking burns serious calories and the hiker hunger is going full blast now.  Well, the patter of rain on the tent is making me sleepy. That and I didn't get any sleep last night. Tomorrow is our last day in the 100 Mile Wilderness. As much as I'd like to sleep in, I'm going to try to wake up and get going early to make it to that camp store sooner.The rain was coming down pretty hard most of the night. Thankfully my tent seemed to be doing its job.Day 97Rainbow Stream Lean-to to Abol Bridge CampgroundAT miles 15.0Miles hiked 15.2Last night the rain very slowly increased in intensity through the night until it was pretty solidly coming down by 5 AM. I briefly considered getting up and trying to hike by 6:00 but I was warm and my clothes were cold and wet so I pulled my quilt up over my head and went back to sleep. I woke up again at 6:00 and noticed the floor of my tent was wet and my quilt was damp. Dang. I felt under my sleeping pad and could feel a puddle of water forming. At least my clothes were already wet so no harm there. OK, now it's time to get going. I cold soaked some oatmeal and hot chocolate mix while I started packing. I ate my oatmeal and some pop tarts, guzzled down a liter of water and headed out. I stopped by Silver Back¢s hammock and told him my tent got wet so I was hiking out and I'd meet him at the Abol Campground camp store.Rainbow Stream was very close to the shelter and the trail crossed the stream on two long, fallen logs. That was the best part of the trail for the next 10 miles. With two inches of rain in the past 24 hours, coupled with the tropical storm, the trail was either a stream (sometimes knee deep) or a mud pit (sometimes to mid-shin) or both. Considering that the trail was hugging the banks of Rainbow Stream and Lake for about seven miles didn¢t help matters. There were several streams that on a normal day were probably inconsequential. Today some were waist deep rivers. I lost track of how many streams I forded along the way. Mostly, I just put my head down and hiked.Finally the trail moved away from Rainbow Lake and the trail seemed to be slightly less wet. I started climbing up towards Rainbow Ledges, a granite section of trail which was like hiking up a waterfall. Coming down the other side of the ledges I heard another hiker and was soon passed by Shooter who also was not wasting any time on the trail. He was out of sight in no time. The rain stopped and the sun was trying to come out as I came to Hurd Brook. I crossed the stream and made a brief snack stop at the Hurd Brook Lean-to, the final shelter in the 100 Mile Wilderness. There was a hiker napping in the shelter who woke up when I got there. He told me a story of getting stuck in the river while trying to ford one of the streams. It was a terrifying tale that made me glad I¢d taken the road walk around. The trail now passed through a very open pine forest and even though it looked flat on the map the trail was really a series of rolling hills. The threat of sunshine didn¢t last very long and it once again was raining, albeit a light rain. I was only about three miles from the road. A little less than an hour later I came to the southbound 100 Mile Wilderness warning sign. Not much longer to the store. For most of today¢s hike I was thinking of chocolate milk and a honey bun to keep me driving forward and take my mind off the unpleasant, challenging trail conditions.   I popped out of the woods on the Golden Road and was immediately assaulted by black flies and gnats. There was a red pickup track parked near the trail intersection. Not sure which way to go I pulled out my phone to consult Far Out. In the midst of trying to shield my phone from the rain while swatting at the annoying flying bugs a lady got out of the truck (more on her and the truck later) and told me which way to go and how far the store was. Like she had a 6th sense.In a few short minutes I was standing in front of the store. I dug out my wallet and went inside. There, all alone, nestled in its box was a honey bun. Not just any honey bun. It was one of those 750 calories iced honey buns! And they had lots of chocolate milk and root beer. I made my purchase then went outside and began consuming my prizes. I wondered where Shooter might have gone to and also was wondering how far back Silver Back was. I had made it through the 100 Mile Wilderness in 6 days surviving rain, flooded rivers, a flooded trail, and a tropical storm.Silver Back arrived about an hour later and we registered for our campsite. We went to set up then came back to the store for more food. Treats and Barbie showed up and rented one of the cabins and offered us spots in the cabin. I was fine staying in my tent. Shooter had been waiting around the corner of the store under an awning having read the sign on the store door telling hikers not to hang out in front of the store. Oops. Nobody seemed concerned that I sat in front of the store eating for an hour. Guess they appreciated my business. The third time we were in the store for snacks a park ranger introduced himself to us. He was the famous Donald Duck (his trail name). He is the ranger that greets hikers when they enter Baxter State Park and explains the process of getting a permit to summit Katahdin and helps with reservations to camp in the park. His day off was tomorrow so he gave his talk to all of us hikers gathered at the store along with our registration cards.After setting up camp we went back to the store to find something for dinner. While I was in the store I saw a hiker outside who looked vaguely familiar but I couldn't place him. Silver Back cooked his dinner and went outside. When I finished heating my dinner I went outside to sit on the front stoop and eat. Silver Back was talking to a couple of guys and said to come over an meet The Keeper and his brother. The Keeper was retired Army. His brother a retired Marine. Here's the cool thing. The Army guy did a yoyo hike in 2016 to raise awareness of veteran suicides. His trail name is Keeper. During his hike he carried the name tapes of vets who had committed suicide. He even tried to commit suicide himself during his hike at the Rainbow Stream Lean-to where we camped the night before. When he pulled the trigger his gun misfired so he considered that a sign and he buried the gun and continued his hike. They were making a movie about his hike. The lady who gave me directions was Momma Bear who met Keeper early in his hike. She and her husband helped him out since he had no clue about how to thru hike. They became close friends and have stayed in contact all these years. She is in the movie and they were using her truck since it was the right year vehicle. The hiker I recognized was not a hiker. He is actor/producer/director Angus Bennefeld who is playing The Keeper in the movie.  We sat and watched them film while we ate and they were all super friendly to us. We were all trying our best to behave when the brother came over and was telling us how important it was to stay quiet because the microphone they were using is so sensitive. He went on to say he found that out the hard way when he farted while they were filming. Needless to say we all busted out laughing. Fortunately the director seemed to have a good sense of humor. What a wonderful experience. Even though the rain was supposed to be over by 4:00 it continued raining into the night with 20 mph wind gusts. It was a bit drafty in the tent but I slept well.Day 98Abol Bridge to The BirchesAT miles 10.1Miles hiked 11.1Today was the day we had to jump through the final hoops to be able to summit Katahdin. Our goal, and the goal of most NOBOs is to stay as close as possible to the Hunt trail. This involves some prior planning, good timing, and a bit of luck.  There are essentially two options for pre-summit camping in Baxter State lPark (BSP). One is Katahdin Stream campground and the other is the Birches. The Birches is the cheapest option at $10 but is limited to 12 campers. Katahdin Stream holds more campers but costs more money.  There is a kiosk at BSP to register for the Birches. First 12 to sign up. The catch is that you have to be present to sign in and signing in starts at 7:00 AM when the ranger shows up and you need to take a photo of the sign-in sheet after 7:00. At 9: 00 AM the ranger takes the list to the ranger station at Abol Stream. Also, you have to check in with the ranger by 9:00 to verify your reservation. None of this makes sense when you try to read and follow the directions but it works pretty smoothly when actually going through the process. We all found all of the rangers to be very helpful in making sure everybody has a place to stay.Silver Back and I were up uncharacteristically early and wasted no time getting to the kiosk. We arrived about 615 and were the 4th and 5th hikers to sign in. Then we waited until 7 for the ranger to show up. He was actually early and said we were good to go. Still, we all dutifully waited until 7 to photograph the sign-in sheet then beat feet back to the campground to pack up and eat breakfast at the little camp store. I went to pack up my tent so was late to breakfast and missed the good stuff. I still managed to put something together. Breakfast consumed, last minute snacks and a sandwich, chips, and soft drink purchased and we were on our way to the Birches, about 10 miles away. At first the trail was pretty nice, with the exception of some blowdowns from the storm. Silver Back and I threw the ones we could manage by ourselves off the trail. When we weren¢t doing trail maintenance we were practically running down the trail.The trail followed the West Branch of the Penobscot River and was a very nice hike. I had to stop to answer the call of nature and to take a couple of pics so got behind. We passed two big waterfalls, Big and Little Niagra. Whoever named them had a huge imagination because they are nowhere near the magnitude of the real thing. Still impressive though. Then I caught up. Repeated the process and got behind again. When I caught up again I saw a bunch of hikers looking at something very intently so I went into stealth mode thinking there must be a moose. Nope. A raging river we had to ford and they were trying to find a rock hop. It soon became apparent that we had to get wet. So, one by one we forded the river. This ford was waist deep in fast water with big boulders.So much for dry socks and semi-dry shoes. Silver Back and I were rolling again and passed more hikers. Soon we were at a second stream but this time we were able to do a rock hop so once again we were off and hiking fast. We covered the 10 miles in just under three hours. No rangers were at the ranger station so we went on to the Birches to claim our tent and hammock spots. We were the first to arrive so we got our choice of where to set up. After setting up we headed back to the ranger station. We signed in the log book and watched other hikers arrive.The ranger finally made an appearance and told us to go get settled in at our campsites and she would come around and collect our fees and issue our summit permits. We all wandered back to where we belonged and ate, hung wet stuff out to dry, ate some more, started repacking for our summit hike, and ate again. Then, with a zero percent chance of rain in the forecast and with our stuff scattered everywhere. It started pouring. The next flurry of activity was hikers trying to get their recently dried out stuff out of the rain.I threw my stuff in my tent and crawled in after it. In no time I was asleep.  While I was napping the rain stopped. I heard excited voices in the shelter next to my tent and crawled out to see what was up. The ranger had made her appearance to fill out our permits to summit Katahdin. While she was taking care of others I went to the stream to fetch some water for dinner and breakfast.  S-water and Loverchild were in the shelter next to my tent. They were also trail runners and were congratulating the ranger on her finish in the Barkleys Fall Classic. So there was much talk about trail running and racing. The ranger was considering sending in her entry for the Barkleys Marathons and is hoping to at least get selected as the sacrificial lamb (Laz always picks one good runner who he's sure won't be able to finish the race. A little Laz humor. Watch the documentary or a YT video about Laz and the Barkleys and you'll understand.) I paid my money, got my permit, ate a snack, and went back to bed. Tomorrow was the big day we¢d all been working towards.Hiking the Dream!