Date: 2006-09-05
From: Abol Bridge - AT Lodge at Millonocket

To: Katahdin Stream Campground- lean-to
Miles today: 0.0

We had a good night sleeping in room 2 which was at the end of a hallway. It has a TV, a stove, but I don¢t think it is in use, and there¢s another bed. Cute place. This morning we spent more time with Don & Joan talking extensively about the lodge and the caf©. Don also greeted hikers who came to stay and made arrangements for their trip home after the 5 to 6 month journey on the trail. I was so impressed with Don as he greeted the hikers and took care of their every need, even to comfort them when they got very emotional when they had to say goodbye to fellow hikers who they befriended and shared their lives with on their journey. One of the most neat experiences of the trail is that you may spend only a week or two with someone you meet on the trail, but you come away with a lifelong friend if you should have to split up for one reason or another. The trail is also the greatest equalizer of people that I know of. Navi and I went to the caf© for breakfast and I was very surprised to see the inside of the caf© had changed very drastically from when I last visited it in 02¢. I didn¢t see anything that had to do with the trail at all. Everything was gone. In 02¢, Moonchild, Two Step, and I had eaten here and enjoyed the atmosphere of some of the d©cor. The feeling of the woods and the AT were all around you. The feeling is no longer there. We spent some time looking around the town since we may be moving here in the very near future. Then we went food shopping and then headed to Baxter State Park to meet the with the gang at the Katahdin Stream lean-to. We ended up going to the Birches to tell the gang they could come to the lean-to for the cookout whenever they were ready. The gang I speak of is, the Professor, Rocky & Swamp Fox, and Slow Walker. We had a great time cooking hot dogs on a campfire, some drinks, and the best was making smores. We spent the rest of the night talking about our lives. The Professer is a retired professer from the Kentucky University. I¢ve had the pleasure of meeting him at The Cabin in Andover at ( Honey & Bears ). We constantly have met in towns, campsites, and in shelters. I really do hope we summit on the same day. Slow Walker is from Ireland, but resides in Chicago, and is a retired surgeon who specializes in gunshot wounds. He is a very upbeat and cheerful person who is a pleasure to be around. He always has a smile on his face. Rocky is a nurse, and Swamp Fox is a retired civil engineer. They are a very fun couple to be around. One of the other great things about the trail is that you never know who you could be sitting there talking to. It could be a millionaire, a lawyer, a tax collector who could be out on the trail, looking for you. That is where your trail name comes in handy. Ha!!!!. ¢ Just Kidding.¢ I also love the trail to extend my trail family. You never know when or where you may meet a hiker you may have only spent a day or two with. We met Rocky & Swamp Fox at the Dutch Haus in Montibello in 05¢ on a 300mile section of my hike. Hopefully we will summit tomorrow. You can feel the excitement building as we talked about our journeys up to this moment in time. I wonder if any of us will get any sleep tonight? What an exciting 0 day.