Date: 2014-07-22
From: US2 gorham, vt

To: full goose shelter
Miles today: 21.4
Weather: light rain

When i got all packed and left the hotel i started thinking about getting to maine. It was only 16 miles to the borser and i would surely be there today. It was a bit emotional, not gonna lie. True enough i was happy and excited to be getting to the place i have been telling everybody im heading to but it was a bit sad too somehow. I always knew there would be an end to this adventure but this makes the light in the tunnel. The end has been so far off for so long i never really thought about it. I also felt surprised about getting here. Who would have guessed that i would be in the 15-20% that make it? Well with all this stuff swimming in my head i did what any other thru hiker would do, i stopped at mc donalds for a big breakfast with hotcakes. I sat and ate and loved the sugary syrup made from natural and unnatural flavoring. My next plan was to stop at the cumberland farm store to get a couple snacks then hitch back to the trail. I had gotten what i thought i needed the night before but it seemed a bit light so i wanted to be safe with my snack allowance. As i was walking down the sidewalk a suv pulls up and asks if i need a ride. Hells yes i do! It was a nice fella near my age named eric that works at the white house hostle. He says he always picks up hikers, i couldnt be more glad with my timing. The only bad thing was that i didnt want to ask for him to stop for me to get a couple snacks so i just went with it, maybe i should go on a diet anyway. We talked on the way, he told me of getting lyme disease. It affected him really bad, he was in a wheel chair for a while even. He said after four months he thought of polishing the gun, im glad he didnt. He is now mostly recovered but still has a limp six months later. He showed me around the hostle, i wished i had listened to violet and stayed there. It was a super nice place and really friendly. Hind sight shouldnt be so good. Oh well i live by my choices. Some good some not so good. I thanked him for the tour and said i would recommend the place to the sobos. I was off and heading to maine. Not being up in the whites proved to be much hotter with more humidity. I missed the whites. A long steady climb up mt hayes had me dripping and ready to take a break. Hazy view over to the big mountains made me think, holy cow, i was over there? Sometimes when i can look back and see the mtns i have been over i think that. Then i went up and over cascade mt where i came to a guy hiking south so i asked if he was a southbounder. He never stopped hiking and with a pause after my question he said no. Another pause. 'im a HIKER'. And he walked on. My 'what the hell?' face showed up. Mark that one down in the weird file. Back down in the valley i got to a nice spring for some water. Two other nobos were there, trip and cabo. First of all, springs are the best, im always so glad to come to one and rarely pass one up. As i was getting water we introduced eachother. Trip said 'youre lunch?' Yup, im lunch. His wife had picked 5 people to read and mine was one of em, i was the only one still going. Is that good? Is mrs trip the kiss of death for a thru hiker? Should i ask her to stop reading until i finish? Nah. Keep reading mrs trip, thanks for travelling along with me. They took off while i filtered my water. I rested there a bit getting ready for the wocket ledges. I caught back up with them going up the ledges so we talked again for a bit. I asked trip some questions about the pacific crest trail that he hiked a couple years ago. They both seemed like good fellas. On i went passed them to the top of the wocket ledges then down todream lake. It would be my dream to own a lake like this or a place on a lake like this. Perfect wilderness lake surrounded by big rocks and pines. Rugged and pretty all in one. After dream lake i met up with pelzer and union jack getting some water. I had figured they were way ahead of me never to see them again, funny how you just never know. Pelzer and union jack were the last people to pass me while i was hiking (remember how i just said something about that in yhe last entry?). I was talking to a sobo at the gentian pond shelter when they showed up again but i left looking for the border and i think they stayed. I had one more big old hill in the way. Mt success. Seemed fitting, successfully getting to the last state. I clumb it and on the other side in the valley there she was, the sign. I was about to cross into maine. This is big. I was so happy to be here. I know the cat is not in the bag yet but its a hell of a milestone. I took plenty of pics and i think i did a fist pump right out loud! I had a little party right there on the trail. I still had about five more miles to go so i got back on my horse. I clumb mt carlo then the goose eye mtns. The west peak was a bit rough and the jagged east peak wasnt much better but it was a short climb. Then the goose eye north peak, they must have been running out of names. One more mile to the shelter, good thing cuz i was gettinh tired and it was getting late. Just as i was heading down i got a look at the sunsetting. It was gonna be real pretty and i wish i could have stayed but i did not want to do this last mile in the dark. I got to the campsit to find a full house. Lots of people in the shelter and lots of people tenting too. I found a crooked little spot that was plenty good enough, set my stuff down, went to fetch some water and started cooking while i set up my house. It was getting dark as i ate, long day. My first night in maine, wow. I crawled in my tent and got under the covers thinking about how nice the maine air is. This night nobody has it as good as me. Its just not possible.