Date: 2005-08-14
From: Hurd Brook Lean-to

To: The Birches Campsite
Miles today: 13.7
Weather: overcast clouds

Miles hiked today : 13.713.4 AT miles + 0.3 mile of side trailI woke up this morning at 5:30 a.m. and took my time packing and eating breakfast. Opa, Michael, Sean, and I hiked out as a group at 6:40 a.m., though Michael and I soon moved ahead of the pack. At 7:30 a.m., as I was stepping off the last bog bridge, I slipped and fell on my back with my legs hanging over the bog bridge. Fortunately, the ground was soft and I wasn't crossing a swamp. Cha-ching, fall #43. At 7:35 a.m., I reached the sign marking the North end of the 100-Mile Wilderness. It stated that one should have at least 10 days of food before entering, as there were no place to resupply until Monson. At 7:45 a.m., I reached Abol Bridge, which crossed the West branch of the Penobscot River and also featured an excellent view of Katahdin in the background. I was pleased to see that I'd hiked 3.5 miles in 1 hour, 5 minutes.At Abol Bridge, I waited for 5 minutes with Michael until Sean and Opa caught up. Upon their arrival, I walked over to the camp store to buy donuts and soda, as well as some postcards. Unfortunately, the payphone was out of order, so I couldn't check my e-mail or voicemail to see whether my Mom had been able to purchase a bus ticket for my trip from Bangor to NYC.I sat at a picnic table for 55 minutes, during which Humpty Dumpty showed up with sodas and candy bars. He was present to help out another thru-hiker, Rhino, who needed somebody to watch his dog, Ronja, while he was in Baxter State Park, which does not allow dogs.At 9:00 a.m., 0.7 mile after Abol Bridge, I crossed into Baxter State Park and reached an information board which had a sign-up sheet for The Birches Campsite. After reserving a spot, I moved on and hiked as quickly as I could. At 10:00 a.m., I reached Nesowadnehunk Falls and watched a group of rafters practice sliding down the smooth, shallow rock slope. When I reached the upper fork of Nesowadnehunk Stream, I found that the footbridge was missing, probably wiped out by a fierce storm. I carefully crossed on some logs and continued up the trail.At 11:00 a.m., I reached the side trail to Big Niagara Falls, dropped my pack, and walked 150 feet to check out the view. The falls was about 20 feet tall and had a tremendously high volume flow. After 20 minutes, I hiked on to Daicey Pond Campground, arriving at 11:45 a.m., and at 12:30 p.m., I reached the Katahdin Stream Campground.I registered at the ranger station, paying $9 to stay at The Birches Campsite, and I was surprised to learn that I was thru-hiker #113 to register this season. I was thru-hiker #88 at Harpers Ferry, which means that I must have slowed down quite a bit to allow 25 thru-hikers to pass me. I left the ranger station at 12:55 p.m., reached The Birches Campsite at 1:00 p.m., and settled in to cook lunch.After lunch, I journaled, read for a bit, and relaxed until dinner time. After dinner, I read and relaxed some more until I was tired enough to fall asleep. Today marks 5 months on the trail and tomorrow is the big day. The weather forecast for tomorrow calls for partly cloudy skies, which is better than earlier predictions of a 50% chance of rain. I'll be up early, as usual, and heading to the ranger station to grab a daypack, which is the prescribed gear for climbing Katahdin. Apparently, the rangers don't want people climbing and descending sketchy rock scrambles with bulky long distance packs. I've hiked every step up to this point with my own fully loaded pack without blue-blazing, so I'll allow myself the luxury of a daypack for the final 5.2 miles.Bedtime at 8:35 p.m.