Date: 2011-08-03
From: Abol Bridge Campground

To: The Birches
Miles today: 9.9
Weather: light rain

Today, August 7, I will enter the final 4 journal entries ¢ August 1, 2, 3, & 4. ¢ MaryOnce again I awoke to the sound of rain on my tent, so I tried to roll over and go back to sleep. This didn¢t work because my mind was thinking of our final days. It soon stopped and Mammoth and I were up and packed in a jiffy now thinking about breakfast at the camp store. We got fresh cooked breakfast sandwiches, Danish, and several snacks for today and tomorrow. Fig & Duck came in very hungry after a couple of tough days when their dog got injured. Because they spent more time in the 100 mile wilderness than they planned they were down to a jar of crushed red pepper and 2 tea bags as they described it. Apparently they had found some oatmeal somewhere and had eaten it for the last four meals. Mammoth and I left them as they re-supplied their bodies and packs and we started up the last 10 miles to the base of Katahdin. We joked about the big bad wilderness and wild Baxter State Park because we had seen so many people and so many road crossings in both. In hindsight maybe it wasn¢t good to joke because the mosquitos came out and seemed to revel in the gobs of repellent I put on. Next of course it started to rain, and when I was making the first river crossing my foot slipped off a rock and I went up to my knee in the river. This meant I got to squish with every other step for the next couple of miles. As we approached Katahdin Stream Campground I saw Mary, Kyle, and my parents waiting for us. They were staying in Millinocket for our finish tomorrow and came over for a visit today. We tried to check in with the ranger, but he was nowhere to be found, so Mammoth and I set up our tents at the Birches and we all decided to go into Millinocket for dinner rather than sitting around a wet tent site for six hours. I was surprised to learn that ¢Comanche¢, who I had hiked with early on, had come up to finish with Mammoth and I. He had to get off trail back in Erwin, Tennessee. We stopped by where he was staying but he was out looking for us, cell phone service is very limited, so it is hard to communicate. We ended up in Millinocket at the American Loggers restaurant where we had an excellent meal. Afterward we went down to the AT Caf© to look around. The Caf© is run by a thru-hiker and when you finish you sign ceiling tiles which are put up later. We looked around a while at all the tiles and AT artwork, and decided to come back tomorrow to sign the tile. We finally got hooked up with ¢Comanche¢ and it was great to see him again. He had brought some trail magic consisting of beer and snickers which we brought back to the Birches. When we got back Fig & Duck, and Diva were there all intending to summit tomorrow. Mammoth made a great fire out of wet wood and we all sat around until quite late reminiscing about the trail and talking about life after the trail. It was a nice way to spend our last night on the trail, but when it started sprinkling we all retired to our tents or shelters quickly. I doubt I¢ll sleep well tonight thinking about tomorrow. We are all hoping the weather will clear.