Date: 2003-09-10
From: Abol Bridge campground

To: Katahdin Stream Campground (The Birches)
Miles today: 9.9
Weather: clear sky

Wow¢¦ I¢m sitting, writing in my journal at the end of a great day. I¢m in a shelter at the base of Katahdin¢¦ It¢s so unreal, a mountain away from the dream of a life time. 5.2 miles left of a 2,172.6 mile odyssey (OK, 10.4, I have to come back down¢¦ Or do I?). It only becomes real, when the rangers and people at Katahdin Streams start congratulating us, and we are handed an application to become an ¢Appalachian Trail 2000-miler¢.¢¦ Wow! Nothing left but a simple 5.2 mile, 4,100 foot climb tomorrow (they saved the best for last). But I¢m ahead of myself here, back to our hike. Last night was cold, but mostly peaceful (you could hear a few logging trucks go by), the moon was almost full, and shining on Katahdin. I woke up early, around 5AM, looked out at the night and went back to sleep, but excitement wouldn¢t let me slumber, I was up and packing by 6:15. My tent was wet with condensation, my sleeping bag damp, but my spirits were dry, there was Katahdin¢¦ Once I got packed up, I headed to the camp store for breakfast, donuts and Danish, and COFFEE, lots of COFFEE! This was a good way to start the day, with coffee and donuts, a chair to sit in, and warm sunshine. Did I mention that I saw a bear today? OK, so it was dead and in the bed of a pick up truck (the campground is a game station, where hunters check in their kills). It was a little bear, shot by a couple big hunters, they must have been so brave (not¢¦), but at least it wasn¢t a slow fat Zoo bear, like the only other bear I saw on this trip. We hit the road towards Baxter a bit later (yes, the trail is on the road for a bit), and cruisdalong some pretty sweet, flattrail along the Nesowadnehunk river for about 4 miles. I was constantly looking around for moose and bear in this section, because it was flat (and I wouldn¢t trip), but no luck yet. When the trail left the river and headed up hill along the Nesowadnehunk stream, we took a nice break in the Sun along the stream (there were some big flat rock sections to lay on). After our break, we headed North towards Daicey pond (off the AT on a short side trail), where we planned to eat lunch by the Pond. Daicey Pond is supposed to be one of the best views of Katahdin (we weren¢t disappointed, it was awesome). It was a great day to hike, and great terrain to hike over, rivers, streams, ponds, water falls (Little and Big Niagra), and sweet smelling Piney woods. We were in Baxter State park, Katahdin was in sight, the Sun was out, but we were near the end of our journey, so it was a bitter sweet moment. We walked out on the pier, took pictures of ourselves in front of the Pond and Katahdin, then we relaxed and ate lunch, quiet, absorbed in our thoughts. Now for the last push to Katahdin stream campground, these are our last miles with a full pack, our last backpacking on this trip, because tomorrows ascent of Katahdin will be a day hike. And as I expected, lots of ponds, but no moose¢¦ Sigh, it looks like I am going to get shut out in the (live) moose and bear department. I think that maybe Moose and bears aren¢t real, somebody made them up to excite hikers, well at least you can¢t prove they exist by my experiences (LOL!). The last 2.5 miles went quick, we were at the campground checking in with the rangers before we knew it. We registered at the ranger station and headed down to the ¢Birches¢ shelters (for thruhikers only) for our last night on the AT. My shoulders are glad that they won¢t have to carry a full pack again, but my brain is still excited, and refuses to accept that my hike will end tomorrow. An anti climax, we were at the shelter, just sitting around. Wench fell asleep sitting at a picnic table, I dried out my sleeping bag and tent and sat around reading and eating more snacks. A while later, Thirsty Boots and Tom hiked in, they told us that Mama and Papa Wench were in the campground looking for us. They had been there for an hour asking hikers if they saw us (and the hikers said no, we were ahead of them). They didn¢t realize we had already gotten there, and they were wondering why no one had seen us. Thirsty Boots told them we were probably already here at the Birches and came over to find us. So we walked back to the campground area and met the Wenches, drank soda and talked to all the hikers that came by. Later, everyone gathered at Shelter 12, where Aloha, Coffey, Corpus, etc were staying and ate, drank and talked. We all knew it would be our last night on the trail together, and we were all too excited to sleep anyway. I partied until almost 7PM, then went back to the Birches to get my headlamp, and my dinner, and I was going to cook it in the main picnic area while I waited for Shari to show up (she flew into Bangor today). As I was walking up the driveway of the ranger station to the road the Birches shelter was on, I saw a car go by, tap their brakes, then continue. After I got my stuff and headed back towards the campground, I saw Wench and my wife walking towards me (yup, it was her in the car). So we went back and partied some more. Hmm.. Who was there? Wench, Hotdog, Mrs Hotdog, Coffey, Aloha Anne, Coffeys son Matthew, Old Corpus, Vermont Pete, Gutsy, Tom, and Thirst Boots. Later, Shari headed back to the hotel, and I went to the Birches to try and sleep. Hard to believe, it¢s my last night on the trail, tomorrow we climb Katahdin! I stayed awake for a while, I kept thinking about tomorrows hike. What would it be like? Would the weather cooperate? What would it feel like when we got to the Sign on Baxter Peak? Well it will be an exciting day, and even better because Papa Wench is hiking it with us! So I tossed and turned all night with dreams of Katahdin in my head, until I finally couldn¢t stand it any more and got up at about 5:30 to start our biggest day. Life is good!