Date: 2015-06-30
From: Potaywadjo Shelter

To: Abol Bridge Campground
Miles today: 34.0
Weather: scattered clouds

This morning at the shelter, Deadline, LittleDebbie, and I formulated a plan. We would each hike to the next shelter 10 miles away and meet for lunch. We also planned to repeat this process at 20 and 30 miles.Deadline left first, in an effort to save time. LittleDebbie and I hiked together and had some nice conversations. The route for today had some climbs, but was also supposed to be reasonable, as far as tread quality.The weather began as cool and dry. Despite the weather forecast that we would hear later, the expected rain held off until late at night. This was a wonderful thing. First at hand was a series of climbs that would take us to a summit where one could see Kahtahdin. The trail then walked us by some amazing ponds and lakes. These spots would have been ideal for a zero (or even a near-o) day. There were perfect camping spots nestled in the soft pine needles of the open forest combined with beautiful, uninhabited beaches.We got to first break at a shelter and began to quickly drink water. The more we could camel, the less we'd have to carry. We ate some snacks and got ready to head out. As we were nearly packed, two older hikers walked up. We exchanged cordials and eventually discovered that they were friends with UncleTom, from the CDT!Small world!! There were lots other hikers out today, many of which were southbound hikers. It was tough to make good time while meeting and chatting with the fellow hikers.The trail itself was mostly comprised of pine needles, old and dense roots, and rocks. Some of the muddy bogs were slow going due to the poor trail condition and the extremely slippery bog logs (the planks sometimes laid down to walk across).At mile 20, we all regrouped and considered our options. It still seemed plausible that we could make it into Abol Bridge. If so, that would leave us with a short 12 mile day for the approach to Kahtahdin.Later in the day after a few river crossings, the trail began to parallel a raging whitewater river. It was incredible with its violently churning water and incredible roar. The cascade angrily found its way down the deep chasm into calmer waters.It was near here that LittleDebbie and I found a large snapping turtle right on the edge of the river. It was beefy!! I did no expect to see a snapper like him at whitewater. We got him to bite a couple of sticks and then moved on.Later in the day, fatigue started to set in. It was most noticeable by missed rock hops and dragging ones toes. I found that I would rock hop successfully, only to fail to lift my foot enough and ultimately dragging it through the mud/water.At the final shelter (and break) for the day, I found two sobo hikers setting up camp. They were quite excited and on day two of their adventure. As soon as I arrived, they asked if I knew Deadline. They then proceeded to tell me that he had gone ahead to Abol Bridge to get beer and a campsite (it is a private campground).While chatting with the hikers, we discovered that I had met one of them in Lima, ID while on the CDT!! Another small world! We talked until LittleDebbie showed up and we walked on.The last several miles became a blur of root and rock hopping. Our goal would soon be reached! We would finish the 100 Mile Wilderness in 4 days. This would also set us up for summiting Kahtahdin on Thursday.LittleDebbie and I got on the roadwalk and I could barely make out a guy in the road that looked like Deadline. It was him and he had gotten beer!! It turned out the store closed an hour earlier than we thought and he had just made it in time.We all spent the rest of the evening celebrating our near-completion of the AT!