Date: 2014-08-07
From: Spaulding Mountain Lean-to

To: Stratton Motel via ME 27
Miles today: 13.5

One of the last three town stops on the trail - under 200 miles left of the AT! Soon it will be in the 100 Mile Wilderness and then Mount Katahdin!Aiming for town today I left camp on my own and passed a plaque marking the last section of the AT to be completed linking GA to ME - making the AT whole! A quick pause there and then moving on down towards another river fording - a rocky steep down especially after it started sprinkling! It was a slow start to the day as I was still not feeling particularly strong - tired for some reason and I hope to try some options in town!Crossed the river without getting wet - a flimsy springy board across the river gave a path but it was a little wobbly! The climb up to South Crocker was nice at first and then became fairly steep up to the summit - still having trouble climbing up hills! I feel like I need to use twice the energy to do the same climbs as before - I cannot explain it yet but I hope it passes! I was fairly tired at the top of the hill so I stopped and ate lunch at a fogged in viewpoint - nice to sit down and relax.After lunch I headed up to North Crocker and passed a gentleman who told me of a birthday party at the summit - even said there may be cake! I reached the summit and found the group of 15 year old girls enjoying the summit and speaking in another language! I wished the girl a "Happy Birthday" and moved on - no cake for me. Not to be confused with..."cake".Now for the long down to Stratton - hoping to beat the rain down! Making much better time on the way down and ran into a fellow thru-hiker named Puma Ghostwalker - apparently he has his own show on the Discovery Channel about tracking pumas and bears and helping relocate the animals to protect those living out in the country. A very interesting fellow and I talked to him for some time before we both decided to head on down - heard the thunder getting closer.Made it to the road and time and had a great surprise - trail magic! Miles to Go was offering many hiker snacks and small gear items along the road and Politician, Pyro, Zachsquatch, and Rosie were enjoying the magic as well. Miles to Go hiked the trail last year with his fiancee and proposed to her on Avery Mountain - how awesome is that!The rain started coming down and he shuttled Puma, Politician, and myself into town and wished us luck on the trip - what a nice guy! I checked into the hostel and settled in out of the rain. The hostel was a nice clean place and it was a quiet place with only Birdman and One A Day staying as guests - I even had my own room for sleeping! Used the evening to try out some different tasks - good meal, good sleep, and good hydration while relaxing the entire evening. I had a great meal at the White Wolf Inn and enjoyed the delicious Wolf Burger - try it if you stop in Stratton! Also ran into Cowgirl and her friends at the restaurant - she was doing well and her friends were helping support her through Monson! Very nice of them!Watched some Lewis Black in the evening and made plans to do a long day with Birdman - needed to get closer to the ferry since the times are not as long as I thought! Hopefully the steps I took tonight will keep me energized throughout the long day!