Date: 2009-09-26
From: Wadleigh Stream Lean-To

To: Hurd Brook Lean-To
Miles today: 19.6
Weather: clear sky

Another pristine day on the A.T.! Cold this morning, in the 30's, but warmed up into the 60's by noon. Clear sky .... not a cloud to be seen. Absolute calm .... no wind whatsoever. Lakes/ponds were smooth as glass.Last full day of hiking. Maine has been simply gorgeous hiking. Not easy though. Only 3 miles left in the 100-mile wilderness after today. Woo-hoo!There were a couple of amazing views of Katahdin today. I'm not done yet, but I have a feeling that the views today of Katahdin from Rainbow Ledges will turn out to be my favorite.Sitting on Rainbow Ledges, you can see Katahdin clearly and unmistakenly! Wow! And its framed on either side by a forest of pine trees that are on Rainbow Ledges. So it looks "framed" or as if you are seeing it through a window.So there I sit on Rainbow Ledges looking at the "picture" of Katahdin like a little boy would look at a picture on his bedroom wall of some place he wants to go someday. I want to go to Katahdin!! To me, Katahdin is a great place to end a hike of the Appalachian Trail. The Trail starts on a mountain, and is a hike of a mountain chain, so only fitting it should end on a mountain .... Katahdin .... meaning "greatest mountain" to local indians. And Katahdin is neat because it is a lone mountain in the middle of flatland, so you get to look at it, unobstructed by anything, for a couple of days as you approach .... letting your imagination wonder what summit day will be like each time you get another view. Pretty cool! The A.T. plaque at Springer Mountain describes the Appalachian Trail as "a path for those seeking fellowship with the wilderness." Of course, I've been thinking about those words for 6 months now. I can say I have never been more at peace in my life than during my daily hikes out here. Now that I know how that feels, I'm hoping I can bring it into my "normal" life, even though it will be a totally different environment.Out here, nature does its thing untouched by humans. And during this hike you get to "just be" .... just like the animals. It really is just you and mother nature.New subject: I always understood that the white blazes would be extremely important during snowy conditions .... can't see the trail. It never crossed my mind that they would be helpful in autumn also, when leaves hide the trail. This happened a couple of times in the last couple of days.When you read this next part, don't worry. I will totally enjoy the next couple of days, and "just take it all in." But a thought was going through my mind today that I want to capture. Remember, I'm type A! When I entered the Air Force, I went to Basic Training (boot camp) at Randolph AFB in Texas. Each training squadron had a big sign outside its buildings with the squadron logo, squadron identification, and a motto for each. My training squadron's motto was "It's not where you've been that counts, it's where you're going." I've always loved that motto .... keeps me from resting on my laurels, and keeps me looking forward. Big question! What's next for Mark Allen? Bison is done in 2 days!! I can't begin to tell you how blessed I feel to have had this opportunity.With that, I plan to just totally relax and enjoy the next 2 days .... summit eve and summit day!!I do look forward to getting back to the "real world", reinvigorated/recharged, and getting into something new.Awesome day on the A.T.!