Date: 2023-09-17
From: ME Route 15

To: ME Route 15
Miles today: 0.0

Today was a really good day! Even though the power was still out when we woke up, we were quite productive. We planned the last 8 hiking days of this trail! We enter the 100 mile wilderness tomorrow, so we needed to get our resupply situated for the 8 days. Halfway through the 100 mile wilderness, there¢s a road that vehicles can access, so we paid for a food drop to take place then (that¢ll be on Thursday). We have a lot of river crossings that may not be passable, that we are worried about, because we are expecting about 2¢ of rain tomorrow night into Tuesday. This really puts a damper on things, but we keep telling ourselves we are almost done. It¢s hard to feel motivated to walk, because we are so tired of walking and feeling tired all of the time. But we¢ve got this along with a ton of support from others! We also FaceTimed my mom, so that we could pick out some clothes for her to bring us to wear when we are done. It¢s so crazy to think I can wear more than one outfit over the course of 5 days! HA!Soon before we left to go to hostel Shaw¢s for our resupply box and food drop, the power came back on! We were so thankful for that, because we really needed our items to charge. Capt. Bill drove Moose Jaw, Little Bear and I to take care of our food drop. While at Shaw¢s, we saw GOAT! We were so happy to see her! Unfortunately, she sprained her ankle pretty badly in Stratton, ME that she¢s in a boot. She decided to skip the section from there to the base of Katahdin, and to summit Katahdin with her Tramily on the 22nd. She¢s in really good spirits about it, but it took her awhile to get there! We were so happy to chat with her before she goes back to Canada!After we were done taking care of our food drop (our food drop is basically packing a five gallon bucket full of food for the second half of the 100 mile wilderness, so that someone can hand it to us in 3.5 days), Capt. Bill took us to the ATC building to meet Wendy. She gave us really good information on fording rivers. Always face up stream to better brace yourself. Unbuckle your pack. Shuffle sideways and always have three points of contact. If the river is above your knee or you throw a stick in the river and it moves faster than what you can walk, do not ford the river. These are really good tips! There are areas in the 100 mile wilderness where we will come across streams we cannot ford. Finally, Capt. Bill took us back to where we were staying at his place. This place is WAY nicer than Shaw¢s. I almost don¢t want hikers to ruin it here! HA! But there are definitely hikers who like it peaceful, and that¢s exactly what this place is! Capt. Bill took Moose Jaw and I out on Moosehead Lake on some kayaks. We paddled around the lake for about an hour to an hour and a half! It was so much fun! We even got to see a gorgeous sunset!! Captain Bill used to do this all of the time on the coast of Maine before he retired and moved more inland. He was in the tourist industry. We got to see several mountains that you can only reach to by a boat, and many of them you can go camping on! They are never booked up,¢¦ well you don¢t exactly reserve a spot anyways. It¢s so beautiful and awesome up here!! Moose and I had a marvelous time!! This place is so special and has so much potential! We definitely wish Captain Bill best of luck!After we kayaked, we ate more spaghetti and root beer floats. Then we showered and got around for bed. We still have to pack up our gear, but we will do that in the morning. We are so excited to be done, but kind of dreading the walking. HA!