Date: 2012-08-28
From: 2169.1 Abol Bridge Private Campground

To: 2179.1 The Birches Shelter
Miles today: 10.0

A pleasant transition day from Abol Bridge Family Campground into Baxter State Park to the Katahdin Stream Campground (KSC). We heard from Johnathan the day before that Houdini who I met and hadn¢t seen since the Blue Ridge area was going to have trail magic today at the KSC. He and several others had finished Monday and rather than leave right away, wanted to come back today to support others. Andy and I stopped at the KSC around 3:00. Eves (park ranger) logged me into the yellow pad register for NOBO thru-hikers, we paid the Birches overnight fee and walked back over the Katahdin Stream foot bridge to one of the picnic pavilions. Houdini (N.J.), Meat and his Dad (Indiana), Banjo and Danish (a young German who broke two bones in his leg just days ago) all drove up and started to set up the grill. We were having hot dogs, beverages and the fix¢ins. We visited a bit then walked down to the Birches to set up. It was an unsettled weather day after raining hard during the night and again this morning. It was windy and cloudy ¢ not a good day to finish. Bandaid and Laces (sectioned from Harpers Ferry) had just finished the Katahdin ascent that the section. They had come into the KSC earlier when we were there reporting that it was tough going up there above tree line. The peak is at 5,200. We were back for our hot dog dinner visit around 4:30.   Frodo showed up with his Dad from Texas. Frodo and his brother who also came out to witness his finish will be going up tomorrow like our-selves. Then Semper Fi came down off of the trail. I had passed him several times but we had never met. He reported how wild (hard to stand) it was on the peak. After the visit we retired to our Birches ¢digs¢. Just as we settled in about 7:30 I heard a car at the dirt road. Sure enough it was Johnathan coming by with a carrot cake that he had made to celebrate the hike near completion and as an award along with a State Park patch for presenting my match book (really for following the Leave No Trace principles). Extremely nice. He said that three more people from Abol Bridge were still hiking in and expected that night. Butterfingers, Flint and Gork arrived about an hour later. Johnathan certainly made the ¢end¢ of my journey extra special. This afternoon at the trail magic dinner Sandra came over too. Andy and I had passed she and her husband Craig in the 100 mile wilderness last week. They have hiked the AT twice, live near it in Maine and are trail maintainers. Nice to hear her stories. Craig plans to hike up to Baxter Peak tomorrow as well. They feel it most likely will be the last time up since they are ¢getting on in years¢¢¦but still going strong!).And Eves at the KSC was very helpful and fun to chat with. He grew up in the area and grew up hearing Chimney Pond Tales. We learned about the wandering spirit of the mountain, Pamola, who according to the Penobscot Indians is part moose and part man. There is a shelter at Chimney Pond in the cirque where story teller Leroy Dudley told fireside tales of Pamola. There is a book of the tales.   Illustrations were originally done by the person who did Bambi for Disney. One of them is in the office. And finally for today, the trail was enjoyable with two river crossings ¢ the lower and upper forks of the Nesowadnehunk. The first required water shoes. The second we rock hopped. We hiked over to ¢Big Niagara Falls¢. The water was fairly strong along these and the Penobscot because of the rain the night before and morning. Daicey Pond has old classic cabins ¢ something to investigate for future park visits. It was too cloudy to hope for the classic Katahdin view with Daicey Pond in the foreground today.Ascent 568 Descent 75 Duration 5 hr 00Mins