Date: 2003-10-10
From: katahdin stream campground

To: hurd brook lean-to
Miles today: 13.4
Weather: broken clouds

i was awake with the sun, but slow to get everything packed up and start hiking. still sore from all of the climbing yesterday, i took my time making breakfast. i finally left the katahdin stream campground at eight o'clock. from there, it was a nice stroll through the woods to a place called the daicy pond campground.from the dock at daicy pond is where many people take that "postcard" picture of mount katahdin. the mountain reflected in the pond is supposed to look pretty amazing. when i was there it was still too early in the morning to get a good shot. the sky was hazy and the light wasn't quite right.moving on, the trail wound its way down to the banks of the nesowadnehunk stream (good luck pronouncing that one), which it followed for a few miles. now, where i come from, when someone says the word stream they are usually referring to a nice, little body of water, meandering slowly and lazily down a mountainside. sweet, simple, pleasant. a stream. a stream in maine is nothing to mess around with. a stream in maine would better be called a river. fast, big, scary. a river. i think i'll change the nesowadnehunk stream to the nesowadnehunk river. there, it's done. there is no longer a nesowadnehunk stream, but there is now a nesowadnehunk river. i guess i should write somebody a letter telling them of the name change. who do i see about something like that? anyway, i had a pleasant walk beside this raging stream. i met two northbound hikers, father and son, uncle bob and wu-li. wu-li thru-hiked last year and uncle bob had come out to join him for the last hundred miles. this year they were out doing an anniversary hike. they were planning on climbing katahdin on the same day as last year. i thought that was pretty neat.the nesowadnehunk river fed into the west branch of the penobscot river and the trail now followed its banks almost all of the way to abol bridge. near abol bridge is an information board for hikers that are entering baxter state park. when i walked up to the kiosk there were two hikers sitting there with what appeared to be a park ranger. the guy in uniform stood up as i approached and said that i must have gotten turned around because katahdin was that way (pointing behind me). i said, yeah, but georgia is that way isn't it? (pointing in front of me). of course, they all asked if i were serious and i told them that i was. for some reason or another people just seem to have a hard time believing that someone would be starting a hike this time if year.the guy in the uniform turned out to have thru-hiked last year, going by the name poptart, and was now working for the matc (maine appalachian trail club) and baxter state park as a liaison, of sorts, for hikers entering the park. he was there to answer any and all questions that they might have. i sat and talked with poptart for over an hour. hikers came and went. he told them what they needed to know about entering the park, answering any and all questions that they might have.at noon, poptart and i walked to the store at abol bridge campground and got some lunch and sat at a picnic table. we traded names of hikers from last year- knowing many of the same people. ah, the hiking community. so big, and yet, so small at the same time.it was almost two o'clock by the time i started hiking again. so much for hiking twenty miles to the rainbow spring campsite today. instead, i decided that i would hike 3 1/2 more miles to the next shelter.i got to the shelter fairly early in the afternoon and spent a long time reading through the shelter register. the last shelter for northbound thru-hikers. the register was filled with deep and profound reflections of what the previous 2,150 miles had been like. people were saying good-bye to the trail and to other hikers. happiness, sadness, joy, anger- it seems like almost every emotion imaginable was poured out on these pages. since i was only twenty miles from katahdin, i didn't have anything quite so deep or profound to say.a handful of northbounders showed up at the shelter- monk, scabs, rif-raf, viking, blip, and last minute, were the names i caught. monk said not long after arriving that he hoped i knew that they were going to give me a hard time for A) being a southbounder, and, B) starting so late. i told him i figured as much.one thing i am going to be missing out on by hiking when i am is the community and comradery that exists between hikers. it can definitely be good to have other hikers around. of course, hiking by myself can and will also have its advantages as well. i'm kind of curious to see what those advantages might be.