9/10/01
It is impossible to capture in words the emotions I felt this morning as I packed my gear in my backpack and dismantled my tent. I fought back tears as I thought about the end of the journey. I soon put my thoughts of contemplation behind me as Priceless, Finn and I ate breakfast at the lean-to before starting another monster day of hiking to put us into position to summit Katahdin tomorrow. Phantom left ahead of us, then Finn and I started with Priceless a little behind on the trail. The first seven miles meandered along Rainbow Lake, with lots of small ups and downs just to remind us that flat is not flat on the AT, even when the profile map shows otherwise. I stopped at the end of the lake to filter water before continuing on the next two miles to the top of Rainbow Ledges. Priceless, Finn and I stopped at the Ledges for lunch and to gawk at an incredible view of Mt. Katahdin which towered above us in the near distance. What a mountain! I couldn't imagine being a south bound thru-hiker and finishing my hike at Springer Mtn. in GA after seeing how majestic and imposing Mt. Katahdin was, standing before me. As we sat eating, the crew caught up to us and spread out on the rock to each lunch, as well. The crew included Leslie, Long Shanks, Blur, Smitty, Fiddlehead, Smiles and Cy. Their plan was to hike a shorter day into Abol Bridge and to summit Katahdin on Wednesday the 12th. Since we had a lot of miles to go, I took off shortly after finishing my lunch to catch up with Phantom, who I knew was somewhere ahead of us. I hiked the next and final six miles of the wilderness alone, enjoying the peace and serenity of the quiet woods with all of their beauty around me. Around 3:30 I reached a sign which marked the end of the wilderness. A quarter mile later I reached Abol Bridge, which crosses the Penobscot River. I saw Phantom a half mile away on the road, so I hiked toward him, finally catching up.
The view of Katahdin from the bridge was spectacular. I paused there and took a couple of photos before restocking my food supply at the Abol Bridge campstore. Phantom waited for me there while I ate some snacks and enjoyed a soda. A few minutes later Priceless and Finn arrived at the campstore. Phantom and I were both anxious to keep hiking as we didn't want to reach Daicey Pond campground late since it was our last night camping on the AT. We left Priceless and Finn behind at the store and found our old cruising mode for the next four miles, which we covered in an hour and ten minutes. At the confluence of the Penobscot River and the Nesowadnehunk Stream we took a little break, then resumed our late afternoon hike. A half mile later we entered Baxter State Park, as marked with a boundary marker. The trail ascended abruptly in places as we followed the stream past waterfalls to the Daicey Pond campground. The campground was littered with overnight guests milling around the pond. We checked in at the ranger station where we were assigned to the shelter area designated for long distance and thru-hikers. Grasshopper, Greenlight, Bad moon, and Redneck were at the Daicey Pond shelter when we arrived. Redneck and Greenlight were surprised to see us, but happy that we would be summiting Mt. Katahdin together. I went about my normal camping chores as the sun began setting. By dusk Finn and Priceless made it to camp. We all made dinner and ate on the provided picnic tables by the campfire. Just as I was finishing my last bite of dinner, Creeper and Happy's husband, Alan, arrived toting beer to help us celebrate our final night on the AT. We all toasted each other with a cold beer and talked about the trail for a while. Our celebration promptly ended when heavy rain suddenly moved in. Everyone dispersed immediately, including me. It was 9:30 p.m. and I was in my tent negotiating the small river of water which was closing in on my vestibule. I made a few ground cloth adjustments and secured all of my gear inside the tent in preparation for a rainy night ahead. Soon I was sleeping comfortably as the rain continued pounding the tent well into the evening. Today's stats: low 65, high 84. Sunny to late day clouds. Today's mileage: 22.5; cumulative mileage: 2,160.5.
