Date: 2014-09-28
From: Rainbow Spring Campsite

To: Abol Bridge Campground
Miles today: 11.4
Weather: clear sky

I am beginning to get used to the 5 AM alarm and getting organized for the day in the dark. I have my cereal concoction ready in a covered plastic bowl that spends the night in one of the odor proof bags, along with the coffee packet and the Emergen-C packet. All I need to do is add water to it and then stir up the cold coffee. I get that ready and let it sit while I begin packing up, doing as much as I can without getting out of the sleeping bag. Then I eat, emerge from the warm bag, put on my hiking pants, stuff the bag in its sack, and begin packing the pack. By the time I get out of the tent to begin taking it down, it is sufficiently light to turn off the headlamp.This morning, we were on the trail by 7. It ran along Rainbow Lake, sometimes at lake level, and sometimes higher, and then climbed Rainbow Ledges. We stopped at the top about 10 and had a first small lunch, sitting on rocks on the bedrock summit with beautiful views to the south. Another blue sky day, with temperatures in the 60s and even 70s down low. On the north side of the Ledges, we had another spectacular view of Katahdin. What an amazing mountain, the way it rises more than 4000 feet from the low surrounding woods and hills to a rocky, bare top with a craggy ridge going off to the west. We will have our work cut out for us Wednesday.Again, the trail did not offer easy footing, but we made it to the Hurd Brook Lean-to, 7.7 miles from our starting point, a few minutes before 12. I filtered water, and Journeymen heated me enough to hydrate my last Mountain House beef stroganoff. He cooked mac and cheese for himself, and we chatted with some other thru hikers nearing the end of their journeys. One said he envied me for still having more trail ahead of me.We left at 1:15, and we emerged from the 100 Mile Wilderness onto Golden Road near Abol Bridge over the Penobscot River a bit before 3. I did not know quite what to expect, but we found a one-lane bridge with a pedestrian walk, another amazing view of Katahdin, and the small Abol Bridge Campground Store and restaurant. We went in and signed up for a campsite, ate ice cream, set up our tents, and, finally, took showers ($0.50 for 6 minutes). It felt so good to get clean after 8 days in the woods.Next on the agenda was food, and we went into the restaurant end of the store building. It turns out they are closing the restaurant for the season after tonight, so we, who had eaten most of our food, were lucky. I had a burger, fries and orange juice. Since the store did not have much that would do for tomorrow's lunch, we got ham and cheese panini sandwiches with cole slaw to go, and I bought some candy bars, two packets of oatmeal for breakfast, and a Bass Ale for tonight. More ice cream. And back to the tent.The food is organized, and given that I slept little last night, I'll turn off the headlamp and hope to do better tonight. We have 9.9 miles to do tomorrow to get to Katahdin Stream Campground. I don't expect Lee much before 4, but we'll have a chance to scope things out and maybe get Journeymen's tent set up. Hope we beat any rain. We are planning to go to Millinocket for dinner but have to be back before the park gates close at 8:30.