Date: 2004-07-30
From: Monson, ME

To: Katahdin
Miles today: 114.5
Weather: overcast clouds

7/25/04 SundayI headed over to the Monson General Store for breakfast, where they had a small cafe in the store. However, this morning the cook who works there decided not to show up, so the grill was closed. Tim, who owns the store, saw that there were some hungry hikers waiting, so he let us cook our own breakfasts, using the pans and supplies in the kitchen. What a nice guy!After breakfast I went back to Lindy's house to pack up and get ready to go, but Tarzan, Mouth, and I ended up hanging out until around one o'clock. Finally I got up the will to break free of town, and I hitched back to the Trail, leaving them to get out if they could. Just after the road crossing to Monson, the 100-Mile Wilderness, a stretch of Trail almost exactly 100 miles long with no paved road crossings. It really isn't that much of a wilderness, but it's still a longer stretch without towns than I've had since entering Maine.There were several more river fords to start out with today. I guess Maine can't afford bridges. They're actually fun to cross, but then you're stuck with wet shoes and socks for the rest of the day (and, if it's raining, for the rest of several days). When I got to the shelter where I stopped for the night, I was the only one there. The previous shelter had been full, so it was strange to see no one there. Tarzan and Mouth didn't show up at this shelter, so for the first time in a long time I had the shelter to myself for the night.7/26/04 MondayI started right off this morning with a range of mountains. First came Barren Mtn., with a rickity old firetower atop it. Yesterday had been crystal clear, but with no mountains I didn't get any views. Today was slightly hazy, so visibility was limited to around 50 or 60 miles. The horizon was just a pale blue blur. The ridge led from Barren Mtn. across several other peaks to Chairback Mtn., and then plunged back down into the valley again. In the valley, after another river ford, was Gulf Hagas, which was supposed to be an impressive canyon. The trail to the gulf was a five-mile loop trail off the AT, so I took a break from hiking to go hiking. I have to admit that while the canyon was okay, it wasn't anything I haven't seen before, and that the AT has some pretty nice river-carved valleys along it already.When I got to the shelter a few miles later and took off my shoes and socks, still wet from the last river ford, I noticed that they smell BAD. All that time being wet is taking its toll. One of my socks is also kind of just falling apart. I'll have to see if it makes it the next few days to finish the hike.7/27/04 TuesdayThe Trail came back up out of the valley this morning for the last real mountain before Katahdin. White Cap Mtn. normally has the first good view of Katahdin, but today it was too hazy to see that far. I could see, however, all of the flat land coming up, which did cheer me up.The shelter had a great swimming hole created by a small waterfall right at the shelter. Mouth and Tarzan were there, and Gentle Ben arrived later, as well as Squid, a long-distance section hiker. We're all gearing up for the end, just a few days away now. The general concensus is that, while we've greatly enjoyed the hike, we're all ready to finish now.7/28/04 WednesdayKatahdin is made all the more impressive because it's the only mountain rising up out of the middle of a surrounding plain. Today we reached that plain. The trail was flat and easy, and the miles flew by. In the morning we hiked a few miles to meet Gentle Ben's father at a road crossing (a dirt road, because this is the Wilderness, but again, it's not really "wild") for breakfast. He'd brought donuts and juice and muffins and coffee. We sat around and ate for a while, then continued hiking along the wonderfully-flat trail.Sixteen miles later we met Gentle Ben's father at another road crossing for dinner. It had originally been planned to be supper, but because the terrain was so easy we got there around two o'clock. He had a table and chairs, and we sat around and grilled food for several hours, then played whiffle ball and frisbee for several more. Finally it was getting late, so we packed up and went on to the shelter three miles further. We passed several lakes, and Tarzan decided to sleep on the beach of one of them instead of at the shelter, but Mouth, Gentle Ben, Squid, and I slept at the shelter.7/29/04 ThursdayToday was the final stretch before summiting. We hiked up a small mountain, around Rainbow Lake, and then up a final mountain, where we got a wonderful view of Katahdin, twenty miles away. That made it feel very real - we were here.We reached Abol Bridge and ate ice cream at the store there until Sam, Gentle Ben's girlfriend, arrived. She gave us a ride into the town of Millinocket for dinner, and then to Gentle Ben's camp ("camp" is a Maine term for a vacation home, usually on a lake) for the night. We didn't stay up too late, because it was an early morning tomorrow....7/30/04 FridayWe woke at four in the morning, because Sam had to get her car in line to enter Baxter State Park. They only allow a certain number of cars in every day in order to limit the number of people climbing Katahdin. This means that people get in line early to wait for the gates to open, which meant we were up before the sun. Yawn.We were dropped back off at Abol Bridge, and we hiked the ten miles to the base of Katahdin in Baxter State Park. This was some of the easiest terrain on the Trail so far, and we finished the ten miles in three hours, very good time. Now we were here: the final ascent.The climb up Katahdin was HARD. It's a 4000' elevation change over five miles, but the first two and the last mile of it are very gentle, making the middle two miles extremely steep. The rocks I had to climb up were often as tall as I am, making a lot of scrambling and real climbing. Yesterday I'd slipped off a wet rock and scraped up my shins, and today they hurt as I climbed. Still, this was it, the last climb, and adrenaline kept me going.Finally I reached the summit, and touched the sign at the top to complete my thru-hike. Mouth, Tarzan, and Squid were already there, and we toasted each other and took a well-deserved rest. Gentle Ben and Sam arrived, and we got a group photo, and individual photos, and then began the steep descent. Even though we were finished we had to keep hiking!At the base of Katahdin, in the campground, my sister and brother-in-law had come to meet me, and had set up a cookout for us. We all rested and ate as much as we could, and then rested some more. As it began to get dark we split up, and went our separate ways. The adventure was over. Georgia to Maine, Springer Mtn. to Katahdin, 2,174.1 miles.