Date: 2004-09-13
From: Safford Notch Tent Site

To: West Carry Pond Lean-to
Miles today: 12.2
Weather: overcast clouds

I am a very happy hiker! Today I passed the 2000 mile mark, finished the western Maine mountains and ran into some awesome Trail Magic.At 7am I started up Little Bigelow Mountain. It is a string of peaks with dips between very like the ridge walks on the AT south of New Hampshire. In each dip were blueberries and not knowing how many more I would see, I was constantly grabbing a handful. More and more are shriveled and some bushes have even shed all their leaves leaving just the bare twigs hung with berries. There is no doubt that autumn was rushing towards us.A little past the middle of the ridge I came to a big "2000" made of pine twigs placed along the Trail. I had come 2000 miles! Woohoo! As soon as I came to a blueberry I held it up, said "To 2000 miles" and ate it as a toast to the event.The descent down to Little Bigelow Lean-to was long and moderately steep with many ledges to step down, so it required some care. I stopped there for lunch and water. According to the profile the rest of the way down was just as steep but to my delight it actually was a smooth almost level path. The last time I saw one of those was coming into Gorham. Now I was in a REALLY good mood.Coming to East Flagstaff Road I decided it was just the sort of place Trail Magic appears; remote enough to be left alone by nonthruhikers but easy enough for Trail Angels to get to. So I kept my eyes open. At the parking area across the road were big cloth signs with the words "Hikers, come see what we have. Incredible Trail Magic". I went in and was amazed! There was a cluster of plastic chairs and a long table under a row of canopies on and around which was almost everything a thruhiker could possibly dream of! I have seen whole Trail Towns with less to offer.The founder of the feast was 2000 thruhiker Walkin Home. He showed me around and asked if I wanted one cheeseburger or two. I settled into a chair. It seems he has done this every year since 1998 except the year the thruhiked and every year it gets better. Talk about Trail Angels!A large cup of coffee, two tasty cheeseburgers, a plate of nice pasta salad, some carrot sticks, a slice of cake and a pint of orange juice later I made my very grateful thanks. I waddled back to the Trail stuffed to the gills as Walkin Home wished me a Class 1 day at Katahdin. If I had been happy before, now I was positively euphoric! It is amazing how getting stuffed with food makes every problem disappear and leaves one ready to conquer the world.Now there were just two foothills and six miles left to West Carry Pond Lean-to. The birds were pretty quiet now but the squirrels more than made up for it. They chatter furiously, chase each other about and I could swear they were throwing pinecones at me from the treetops.There was a brisk wind blowing in off the lake with waves coming in like ocean surf. Filling my waterbag without getting totally drenched was an interesting challenge. I finally found a small pool cut off from the rest of the lake by a line of rocks. Standing on a large rock above the spray, I held my bag between two rocks and let the surge of water each time a wave came in fill it up.Papa Bear and Badger were there as well but tented, leaving me the whole shelter to myself. I fixed my usual ramen with peanut butter for supper. After two cheeseburgers, protein was not a worry!I am thrilled to be here. The dangerous climb up out of Pinkham Notch up to Wildcat Ridge had been quite a shock and for days I had wondered if staying on the Trail was worth the risk. I had been SOOOO tempted to give it up and go home. But now I am through the mean mountains of western Maine and have just one easy day of hiking ON LEVEL GROUND before the canoe ferry ride across the Kennebec River. There were days when I did not think I would EVER get this far and now here I am. Nothing lies between me and Mount Katahdin that can hold a candle to what I have already through, so I am excited to see it through to the end. I am REALLY one happy hiker.165 Miles left to go!