Date: 2017-08-09
From: Antlers Campsite, ME

To: Rainbow Stream Lean-to
Miles today: 21.7
Weather: few clouds

8/9/17, Rainbow Stream Lean-to, MEMiles hiked: 1841.8, Miles to Katahdin: 30.1, Miles to go: 348.0Last night, after posting my blog and going to sleep for a bit, I was awakened by the bright light from the full moon shining in my tent. I decided to get up and look at the moon rising over the pond. As I walked down to the shore of the pond, I realized that Odin, Big Style, and Teabag were still sitting by the fire. They were waiting to see the Persied Meteor Shower. It turned out the moon was too bright to see them; however, I hung out for awhile by the fire. As has been the case every evening this week, we started reminiscing about the trail. We all had our journals (mine on my phone, the others' on paper), so we started picking random days and everyone would read their entries. After several different days, someone suggested three days ago. That was the evening that I had sat on the shore of the pond with Odin and Big Style drinking tea and watching the loons. Two things struck me about our entries from that day. First, in fine British form, Big Style described me as a "lovely man", which really touched me. Second, we all three commented on what a special experience it was. I was glad to see that they both felt it was as special as I did. I thought maybe I was just being a sentimental old man.  Today was another good day on the trail. We awoke to clear skies and dry trail. We had a 21.7 mile day planned, so I got up early and was on trail by 6:15 AM to get a head start on the group. The majority of the trail was flat today, so I made good time. I didn't even fight it this morning. I immediately applied DEET to keep the swarming mosquitoes away. It was a couple hours before the Feathers and Wild Thing Express came chugging past me, with Scout close behind. I came upon them taking a break a short while later and stopped to visit with them for a bit before we started back up and they soon left me in the dust. I passed several people on the trail today, going both north and south. I had imagined the 100 Mile Wilderness as a remote, desolate section of trail. It turns out that the closer we get to Baxter State Park, home of Mt Katahdin, the more crowded the trail is getting, with NOBOs, SOBOs, section hikers, day hikers, and various hiking groups. We hiked for several miles this morning along the shores of Nahmakanta Lake (for some reason, the past couple of ponds have been called lakes). It's huge and beautiful, with several sand beaches.  The ponds have been my favorite part of hiking in Maine. As I was passing one beach, I heard Wild Thing call my name. He, Feathers, and Scout decided to have lunch on the beach rather than at the next shelter, as planned. I joined them on the beach. The water was so inviting that, after checking for leaches, we went for a swim. It was wonderful to rinse the accumulated dirt, sweat, bug spray, and grime off of my body. After swimming, we sat on the beach soaking up the sun. Feathers had The Beach Boys on his playlist on his phone, so we even had beach music. It was another of those special moments that will stick in my memory. I have really enjoyed hiking with the Fellowship the past few days. After our beach party, we got back on the trail and immediately started climbing Nesuntabunt Mountain. Of course, the other three quickly left me behind on the climb. This was our last mountain before Mt Katahdin. Luckily, the climb wasn't too bad, although Waldo and Teabag did blow past me on the climb. At the summit, we got a good view of Mt Katahdin, which was 16 miles away as the crow flies but still over 30 winding trail miles away. Although the swim and sun had invigorated me for the climb, I soon found my energy flagging. I still had over six miles to hike and, as Wild Thing would say, I was "totally nackered". I think the cumulated fatigue of several days on trail without a break, combined with a caloric deficit due to having to carry several days' worth of food leading to smaller meals, has finally begun to catch up with me. Luckily, we will have a shorter, relatively flat 15 mile hike to Abol Bridge tomorrow, where there is a restaurant and convenience store where we can calorie load. We are all low on food and are actually more excited about Abol Bridge than Katahdin at this point. We are camped at Rainbow Stream Lean-to tonight. It looks like a tent city. There must be 30 people here tonight. I'm hoping we will be able to get a spot at one of the two campgrounds at Abol Bridge tomorrow.