Date: 2010-09-17
From: Long Pond Lean To

To: Third Mountain Trail
Miles today: 14.2

It rained all night. I knew that I had 15 miles to do, so I was up early and out. Several days ago I received an email from a hiker friend from 2008. She said ¢Show those Barren Mountains who is boss!¢ Back in ¢08 I was hiking south with her and my buddies in the Chairback Barren range when I decided that I just couldn¢t do it any more. That is when I went to Cloud Pond Lean-to for the night, then hiked over Barren Mountain to the Bodfish Road, where I walked into Monson and went home. This year it would be different. I even wrote a poem about it:¢Ode to the 100 Mile Wilderness¢Once upon a time you beat meThat is, I allowed you to defeat me.But now I¢m moving forward in strength that is HisBecause in the end, that¢s all there really is.It was still raining and the other hikers were still in the shelter. I told them that I¢d see them up the way. The Barren range is all rocks on the mountains and bogs in between. So I walked through the muddy bog up to the rock climb. First comes the Barren Ledges, a series of rock walls. They are difficult enough in dry weather, but especially slick in rain. I made it through, slipping only a couple of times. Next came the Barren Mountain, which is a tough rock climb. Last time I did this side down, and rock climbs down are always worse than rock climbs up. So I climbed up Barren Mountain in the rain, but found it easier than the last time when I was going the other way. Most of the hikers passed me here. Climbing down the other side, was, of course, much more difficult. I slipped a number of times, but didn¢t break anything, luckily. So I moved on to the Fourth Mountain bog. I heard a scream ahead. One of the other hikers had fallen off a bog bridge into the mud. He was dirty, but fine. I¢ve been there, done that... Now it was time to climb Fourth Mountain. Everyone had passed me now and I was hiking alone, with no one behind me. If I fell, who would find me and help? The sun was trying to come out now, but everything was still wet and slick. The rocks were enormous. Up I went. I was to meet Lion King around noon at a new road between Fourth and Third Mountains. He would take some of the stuff from my pack so I could slackpack over Chairback Mountain to the Katahdin Ironworks Road where he would meet me this evening. I was really looking forward to lightening my pack. The climb was frustrating, but I was doing fine. At the top of Fourth Mountain I came to the spot where we had stopped and taken photos in ¢08. Pleasant memories of that hike came to mind. I loved hiking with Popeye, Grizzly, McGyver, Godzilla, Dwreck, Doc, and the Vermont Mafia. I didn¢t stop, since my camera was dead anyway. Now it was time for the climb down... Down over the monster rocks, still wet from the rain. I don¢t know how many times I slipped climbing down. At one point, I felt a hand reach out and take my arm to catch my fall. No one was there. I know I have a guardian angel watching over me. It was about then that it came to me. ¢I¢ve done this section. I have done a complete hike!¢ I started to cry in relief, knowing then and there, that I would be getting off when I came to the road. But there was no road...I finished climbing down Fourth Mountain and started up Third Mountain. I came to a rock ledge where several hikers, including On the Loose, were having lunch. They saw that I had been crying and asked if I was okay. I told them that I was fine, but that I was finished. They all seemed to agree that was probably a good idea. (I think they thought I was about to have a mental breakdown if I didn¢t get off!) The hike today was difficult for them, and they knew how hard it must be for me, at my age. I told them I was hiking on to Katahdin Ironworks Road, since there was no road between Fourth and Third Mountains. On the Loose said she thought there was a trail ahead that went down to a road. Sure enough, a little ahead, I came to a new sign at a trail called ¢Third Mountain Trail¢. It said that it was 1.2 miles to Chairback Mountain Road. I turned left and hiked off the AT. This trail was the best trail that I¢ve seen in days! ¢They could make the AT like this,¢ I thought. It was a pleasant walk and I kept thinking that I¢ve hiked from Georgia to Maine, from Springer to Katahdin. I did 2089 miles this year. I¢ve done more than 3000 AT miles over the past eight years. This hike tied all my other hikes together. I may not be a ¢thru-hiker¢, but I¢ve completed a section hike. It felt great! I didn¢t have to beat myself up any more. Could I have done another 90 miles? Of course I could have, but I didn¢t feel any need to do so. It would have meant another six days of walking in the rain and cold, hiking alone, and I did not want to do it.   I did not need to do it. I was finished and I was happy to be finished.I met Lion King and told him that I was done. He told me to take a few days and be sure. I said that we could head to Millinocket, where I had mail waiting, and I would think about it. I didn¢t want to regret getting off.