Date: 2007-09-12
From: Abol Bridge Campground

To: The Birches
Miles today: 9.2
Weather: scattered clouds

Today it was cool rainy and cloudy. I hiked solo to the Birches. It was nice to hike alone. I walked along a relatively flat trail, but it was very rooty and rocky in some spots.    The trail followed along Nesowadnehunk Stream for quite awhile. It was nice to listen to the water as I walked. I feel very somber. I am trying to take it all in. I know this is the last part of the trail, and I want to remember every part of it. I am trying to observe everything, every sight, smell, sound. I stop often and take pictures. I notice how large the trees are here, none of them have been "taken" for their wood in Baxter State Park. This park is unusual in that the land was donated as a perpetual trust to the people of Maine by Governor Baxter. His goal was to place preservation of natural rescources as a priority over their recreational use. There will never be any paved roads or commercialism in this park. The attitude is one of protection of the natural features and wilderness, as well as the visitor's wilderness experience. This is a very special and unique gift to the people of Maine and they treat it as such.      I walk along and reflect some more. This is so strange to describe. Almost like graduation from high school. Remember? You are so excited to move on to the next part of your life, but you don't want to leave your friends behind? You promise to keep in touch...but will you as the years roll by? You want to hold onto the good times, the memories, the woods, the trail. But all good things must come to an end. On I hike.       I stop and look at the river. Just then an eagle is spooked from a tree and flies upstream. Too late to get a picture. He was beautiful though. I come to a part where I have to cross the stream, but I don't see the trail on the other side. Just then Little Red and Wolf come by. We ford the stream. I hike the rest of the way in with them. They will be summiting tomorrow, and we agree to go together so we can get some photos.       We reach the ranger's station and register for our summit. We are encouraged to take a day pack, snacks, flashlight, and raingear. The weather report calls for a class 2 day, even though it will be sunny and clear. A perfect day. Winds will be 10 to 30 mph...so that is why it is considered a class 2 day. Works for me.      We head to the last shelter we will be staying at on the AT and we make our "last supper". The mood is good. Ox and Nuclear are in the other shelter. We joke and reflect and exchange addresses. It seems so sureal to all of us.   We ask each other what we are going back to? How do we think we will adjust, if at all? Will people even care that we hiked 2175 miles? Or will it just be life as usual, hurry up and get out of the way?      Barry Manilow shows up...he is grinning ear to ear as he just summited. We congratulate him and ask him all about it. We chat for quite a while and the sun sinks low and the air gets quite a bite to it. We start to crawl into our sleeping bags to stay warm. The last little bit of light disappears, and we soon drift off to sleep.       Tomorrow is the big day. The day every one of us thought about for the last 2170 miles. Back in March when the air was cold and everything was brown and wet from melted snow and our feet were still soft and tender. We all had the dream of climbing Mount Katahdin in our hearts. Now the reality is here. We've made it. Five miles of trail left.