Date: 2003-07-05
From: Camp at Abol Bridge Campground

To: Mount Katahdin -> home
Miles today: 20.3
Weather: light rain

Last Day! Wanting to get a very early start I was up at 3:30 am this morning. Even so, I didn¢t start hiking until just after 5 am.         I was really moving along and had some sort of eye mess up because I turned onto the Abol Stream Trail and followed it until I hit the Baxter State Park boundary. Once I figured out the mess up, I turned around and retraced my steps to my wrong turn. I did see a big doe at less than 5 yards on the walk back so not all was lost¢¦        I continued on to the Katahdin Stream Campsite in Baxter State Park, arriving at about 9 am. I registered with the ranger who said I was the 6th or 7th Northbound thru-hiker to finish in 2003. I asked about water and he said ¢From the stream¢. That was a surprise, but I still had some Aquamira left for water treatment so the stream would do.        I started up the Hunt Trail/AT at 9:28 am. I hiked to the bridge crossing Katahdin Stream and got water. I was carrying 1.5 L + a 20 oz Coca Cola to celebrate my finish. The day looked to be hot and I expected to need that much water at least for the 10 mile round trip. (It rained all last night and was foggy all morning but the fog looked like it was to burn off.)        I continued my hike up, passing 30-50 day hikers. Some asked if I was a thru-hiker and their congratulations spurred me on. Once above treeline, the hike became a rock scramble with 12 inch iron bars embedded in the rock on some difficult sections. This was the most difficult ascent on the AT (as least for me)!        Once I neared the top I started moving as fast as I could. I guess I didn¢t expect to get emotional about the finish but I did. I practically ran the last 200 yards up to the Katahdin summit sign and had to lean on the sign to catch my breath and fight back the tears. Even with the last few buggy, hot days the finish was like nothing yet. All 97 days of hiking led up to this moment. It was hard to believe that it was over and it was only 12:15 pm.        I had my celebratory Coca Cola and some Cheese Doodles which I had been carrying since Monson. I asked one of the 10-15 people at the summit to take some summit photos for me. Hopefully I got at least one good one.        After spending 12 hour at the top, I headed down. The descent was tougher than the ascent. On the way down I got congratulations from most that I passed on the way up. One group offered me a ride back to MA on their way back to NJ if I waited around until Monday. I appreciated the offer and kept it in the back of my mind just in case I couldn¢t make it back before.        I made it to the trailhead at 3:29 pm. I had expected to make it back in 5 hours instead of 6 so the time was a little slower than expected, but still pretty good given the difficulty of the terrain and the fact that I was carrying a pack.        I gave myself a cat-lick bath in the privy with my bandana and a bottle of water I got from the stream. I then changed into my clean shorts and semi-clean long sleeved polypro shirt.I walked out to the dirt park road and started hitching to the right. The guy who stopped to pick me up said I was going the wrong way to get to Millinocket, ME. So I turned around and started walking, hitching the other way.        I got a ride in the back of a pickup truck part of the way with a guy who was taking his family swimming. I then got a ride from a park ranger to the gate. The ranger at the gate got me a ride with two girls from the park trail crew to Millinocket.        In Millinocket, I stopped at McDonalds, got a hamburger and Coca Cola. I called home to let my mother know that I was finished and going to try to get home tonight.        I then walked down the street and tried hitching across from the Best Western for about 20 minutes (it was 6 pm by the time I gave up on hitching). I went to the desk at the Best Western and asked the best way to get to Bangor because I wanted to get home tonight. She called a cab for me to get to Medway.        When the cab arrived I asked how much to get to Bangor, ME. He said ¢80¢. I thought about it for about 2 seconds and said ¢take me to Bangor¢. The driver exchanged cars as the car he had was only suitable for local use. We were on our way.        We arrived in Bangor at around 8 pm. I paid and went to the rental counter for a one-way rental. The Hertz guy said he had nothing for tonight but the bored looking Avis guy got me a car to go one-way to drop off in Marlboro, MA.        I called home to let my mother know I was on my way.        After a stop at Burger King for something to eat and drink, I headed out. I drove through a nasty thunderstorm early on in the 4 hour drive, but even so made it to my parents' house just after midnight (12:15 am).        My mother was waiting up for me. She made me some food and gave me a congratulations card.        I took a shower and we talked for a while until about 2 am. My feet were a mess from the pounding and the wet walking of today (wet grass gets your feet just as wet as walking through a stream), plus the prior two days. I could barely walk once I took off my shoes.        15.1 mile to the summit of Katahdin, 5.2 miles down ¢ 20.23 miles total