Date: 2008-09-25
From: Abol Bridge Campground

To: Katahdin Stream Campground
Miles today: 9.9
Weather: overcast clouds

Today was pretty much one of the most amazing days on the trail. We all really seemed to savor today as it is our last "real" day on the trail. It started out by nobody rushing away from the campsite. We all woke up around 8ish and slowly got going. We joked around and talked while truly enjoying each others company. Then Powder River said.."MOOSE" so we all ran over to his site and looked out into the stream... sure enough a cow was walking out into the marsh. She kept looking over to her left, and moments later a big bull moose was spotted off on the side. We watched them and photographed them for a long while. Eventually they both laid down and that was that. Compared to last nights dead moose, we all thoroughly enjoyed seeing live ones. It was a really special way to spend the morning.    Eventually we all got packed up and left the campground. I was last to leave as I needed to use the pay phone to call my Dad and make sure he knew where to pick us up. Tomorrow is the big day, and it is really tough to think that. After a bit of road walking I was on the trail. I reached the information board for Baxter and all the crew was there waiting. We were going to finish this hike together, how cool is that? So we took off taking our time enjoying every bit of the hike. We walked next to the Penobscot and took several breaks. Then S. Forecast and Kyanite got crazy and took a swim in the freezing stream and falls. The rest of us enjoyed the sunny rocks. It was pretty warm today, but very enjoyable. Later on we hit another area of water falls and rapids. I have always said that one thing I wish I would have done more on this hike is swim... so Here I was getting pretty warm from hiking and the sun, so I too decided to take a dip in a nice little pool. Brr it was freezing but felt really good once you got out. I showed off some pretty sweet belly flops and princess dives for the rest of the crew. I got a few laughs and enjoyed the moment. Where else could I do something like this?   We then stopped at Daicey Pond, it was a short blue blaze up a hill, but it was well worth it. We got our lovely group shots and enjoyed playing "set the camera and run." (Note to you all, one camera at a time usually works better than 3 haha.) It was hard to peel ourselves away from there, so I joined Brown Bag on the Library porch and sat in a sweet old rocker.    Eventually I made it to Katahdin Stream Campground. Usually thru hikers stay in the Birches but since it was only a Thursday and the campground wasn't that busy we were able to stay in the regular part. BB, Moonshadow, S. Forecast, and myself all got a shelter together, while Sunkist and Kyanite got a campsite. Once we reached the 4 person shelter we quickly discovered that we were not all going to fit due to the largeness of their sleeping pads. So BB decided to stick with SK and KY. We were also interviewed by National Geographic. They are doing a documentary about the AT as a national park, and will be following another hiker up tomorrow. It was great to watch each other freak outa bit on camera, while we answered pretty simple questions. Who knows if we will make it into the video, regardless it was fun.   We had a great fire and even were graced with some chips from Hot Cheese and Bird Bath's friends. We made s'mores and pretty much pigged out. Then a car drove by with it's brights on. We were getting blinded. I had mentioned something to Moonshadow about them jokingly, then a lady came running up out of the car yelling "SUN BEAM!" Haha, it was my good friends from school Alicia and Chantrell. I was so surprised to see them. They had driven up, maybe skipped a bit of school and were going to spend the night and hike up tomorrow. What an awesome gift! Kyanite joked about how much money I had paid these actors to be my friends haha. I was pretty stoked at this point and we spent the rest of the evening telling old stories from the trail. Trail stories much like fish tales seem to never get old and change in time haha. I am sure going to miss them though.   Tonight I am wrapped up in my sleeping bag, thinking back on the last 2,171 miles. Tomorrow, I will be summiting Mount Katahdin, coming back down... and my thru hike will be through. Someone wise once said to me "You're not a thru hiker till you are THROUGH hiking." I have been thinking of this a lot lately. I am nearly through, I have had nearly 6 and a half months to figure out what is next. I have not really thought about it. I don't know what is next. I am not sure how it will be to wake up and not have to hike somewhere. Or have to pick out what clothing to wear. Life is going to be different, much more complicated and I truly will miss the simplicity. Yikes.. I hope I'll be able to sleep tonight. Good Night Katahdin..... tomorrow we shall meet again.Sun Beam