Date: 2005-09-01
From: Abol Bridge

To: Abol Bridge
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

Although it took a little while to get a hitch yesterday, and we ended up having to do it in two legs with two separate rides, we did finally, thankfully, make it to town. We got a homey room at the Katahdin B&B, had a fine meal at the Scootic Restaurant, showered, did laundry and breathed a long sigh of contentment and relief when we finally settled down for the night in the cozy bed.        It was hard not to feel a little ambivalent though. We just had to get out of the rain. Everything in our packs had been soaked through. For the first time on the entire trip, the pack covers were not match for that rain, which it turns out were remnants from Katrina. I felt a little guilty also that we could just stick out our thumbs, pay our nickel and find reprieve from the storm while all those people in the South won't know such reprieve for who knows how long. Watching the news last night was quite a shock. Difficult to really comprehend what we were seeing.        We had a lively breakfast with the inn keepers, Rodney and Mary Lou, and the other guests. They were all pride and congratulations over out accomplishments. While it felt food to receive the warm praise, for some reason it was a bitter-sweet feeling.        The cab arrived at 9 and we were eager to hike the 10 miles from Abol Bridge to the Birches at the foot of Katahdin. If all went as planned, we'd be summiting tomorrow!        Despite the gloriously beautiful day, all did not go as planned. When we reached the Abol Bridge convenience store, we saw several other hikers there including SWIFT and three section hikers finishing their last section of trail. We were incredulous when we found out the mountain and all trails to it are CLOSED due to water. There's just so much water pouring off the mountain and in the trails that apparently it would be a danger to the hikers and the trails to pass. We couldn't believe that even the trail from Abol to the Birches was closed, but that's what the ranger told both SWIFT and one of the section hiker guys.        So, despite the picture-perfect weather, today will be one last zero day. This is the first zero day that I actually wanted to hurry up and get through so that we could HIKE! So close, but so far! Our tent site is right on a pond/tributary of the Penobscot looking directly out at Katahdin, the mountain is reflected in the water as a mirror-perfect image. It makes my heart ache with both sadness and joy.        We went in to town (Visit #2 to Millinocket in so many days) with the section hiking guys and had meal #2 at the Scootic. When we returned to the campsite at Abol, there was a message in the dirt from Humpty-Dumpty! I never imagined he'd be there looking for us, and I was so, so disappointed to have missed him.        We consoled ourselves later by roasting hot dogs over a very difficult fire. Gravity performed a certifiable miracle getting all that wet wood to ignite. But a couple of hours, half a bag of charcoal and half a container of lighter fluid later, we had a fire.        Hopefully tomorrow the trails will be open and we can hike the 10 miles into the park. We're meeting Gravity's parents in town. So we won't be staying at the Birch's Lean-to for our final night. We're excited to see them though. They've really been a big part of this adventure and it will mean a lot to share this big finale with them.