The Wilderness of the Mind and the Finale

Day 152

We woke up tired from yesterday’s long hike, but knew we had to push ourselves because we wanted to finish in a few days so we could make it to a friend’s wedding down in Maryland. There were several young section hikers who were staying at the shelter and some were thinking about quitting the one hundred mile section already after one day of hiking, but most got going quite early. The first couple of miles weren’t too bad, and we caught the section hikers at the ford of Long Stream Pond. They were impressed that we plunged right in and quickly crossed when they had made it into a big ordeal and taken a long time. Our shoes, socks, and feet had now been wet for several days. After the ford we passed the one hundred miles left mark and had to climb up to Barren Ledges and Barren Mountain. We hiked slowly and it began to rain, making the rocks very slippery, which slowed us down even more. It was pretty late in the day by the time we reached Fourth Mountain and across to Mt. Three and a Half, and Third Mountain. My body felt weak and I was devastated that we were going super slow. We needed to move through the wilderness fast! We climbed up Columbus Mountain and I was so distraught and weary that I just wanted to stop at the Chairback Gap Lean-to just down in a saddle between Columbus and Chairback Mountain. I picked up my pace, envisioning the horrible day being finally done. I just wanted to sleep, but when we reached the lean-to it was full of what looked like mostly section hikers. We hiked on, each step feeling like a chore and I started to complain bitterly. I told Nepsis I just wanted to be done and didn’t care if we finished the Trail early. I slipped and fell again. Nepsis sped up to look for a place where we could pitch our tent. In a moment of desperation, as often has happened to me, I began to think about how bad my life was. It wasn’t really the present situation that made me angry. I felt angry with God, and raged in my heart about how I had been given no special talents or abilities. Neither had I been given a strong work ethic or deliberating care to have developed any special skills. On top of that, I felt angry about not at least being an extravert, which our culture seems to bestow with the greatest of honors. I felt as if I had been dealt a bad hand in life and had nothing of value to offer. As I climbed Chairback Mountain I felt the lowest I have in a long time and when I reached the top, as the sky reached out before me and mountains rose in the darkness I began to cry. It was so beautiful and the course of my life brought me here to witness this while everyone else was not here. I stood there for a while looking at the expanse before me before moving on a couple hundred feet across the mountain where Nepsis was pitching our tent. I was glad to be done hiking for the day. She cooked our dinner and we stripped our wet shoes and socks off. It was windy up there as we watched dark clouds tumble across the sky and clear out. I really hoped the rain would finally be finished. We ate dinner and a thruhiker named Wingin It passed by telling us it was a bad place to set up camp. He was trying to finish the day before us so we knew it was possible we could make it on our schedule if we really pushed ourselves despite our lackluster performance of the day. As we laid in our tent we began to understand Wingin It’s words as the wind throttled our tent, making it extremely noisy inside.

Miles hiked today: 16.1 Total AT miles completed: 2097.3 Total AT miles left to hike: 88

Day 153

We barely slept with the wind being so loud banging against our tent all night long. As soon as it started brightening up in the morning we began to hear the pitter-patter of rain on our tent. This instantly turned my mood sour again and I didn’t want to start hiking even though we only had four days to hike eighty-eight miles if we wanted to finish on time. It took a long time, but finally Nepsis convinced me to get going. I was waiting for it to stop raining, but it just wouldn’t. We hiked the several miles down the mountain in the cold and wet. It stopped raining, but it was still overcast. We reached the West Branch Pleasant River, which we had to ford and Nepsis suggested changing into our crocs so our feet could dry as fast as possible if the sun happened to show up. I kept calling it evil yellow face as Gollum had in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. The water was very cold, but very shallow and even though our shoes and socks were still entirely wet, they weren’t as soaked as they would be if we walked across the branch wearing them. After the ford we hiked on flat ground a bit before the Trail began to steadily incline back up to the mountains. We climbed up Gulf Hagas Mountain, West Peak, and Hay Mountain as the clouds finally started clearing and the glorious sun finally made an appearance. A section hiker on top of one of the mountains informed us that he had just checked the weather on his cell phone and the clouds were supposed to clear out by evening and it was supposed to be perfectly sunny the next few days. We reached White Cap Mountain which was our last 3000-footer before Katahdin. On the north side of the mountain we could see our goal, our final destination for our every step these past five months: Mount Katahdin. Its top was in the clouds, but we could see it, nevertheless. We now felt close. We hiked down the mountain, enjoying the heat of the sun. We hiked past East Branch Lean-to in the evening, trying to get as far as possible. We hiked on to Mountain View Pond so we could set up camp near a water source. When we got there it seemed everybody had that idea because every flat spot in sight had a tent already claiming it. We hiked a bit further into the woods and found a relatively flat place to set up and cook just before dark. We went to sleep happy, knowing the rain was finally gone and the Trail was very flat up to Katahdin.

Miles hiked today: 22.4 Total AT miles completed: 2119.7 Total AT miles left to hike: 65.6

Day 154              

We woke up early and got to hiking fast. In less than two miles we hiked up the extremely small Little Boardman Mountain and back down. We hiked very fast on a flat stretch with no rocks or roots to maneuver over. We hiked faster than we ever had before and covered many miles in just a few hours. We passed by many wonderful ponds in wonderful weather, but didn’t linger so we cover as much distance as possible. We hiked so far so fast that by the time evening approached we were worn out, but I tried to push us a little further. It was tough to hike up the very small, but steep Nesuntabunt Mountain, but on the other side of it we were rewarded with a view of Mount Katahdin unhidden by clouds. We could only make it a couple miles further before setting up camp almost an hour before dark. At 32 miles, this was our longest mileage day of the whole trip! We tried to sleep early since tomorrow would take us to the base of Katahdin, but the excitement kept us awake for quite awhile.

Miles hiked today: 32 Total AT miles completed: 2151.7 Total AT miles left to hike: 33.6

Day 155

We woke up and began our last full day of hiking. The terrain was flat, but we were not as quick as we were yesterday. We felt the pain of the distance traveled yesterday with every step. Still, since the Trail was flat we moved steadily toward Katahdin, knocking out the miles. We passed by Peaches who said she was also finishing tomorrow, but taking a non-AT route up Mt Katahdin. By late afternoon we exited the 100-mile wilderness and crossed Abol Bridge. From here we got a great view of Mount Katahdin across the water. Just after the bridge we came to Abol Bridge Campstore with The Northern Restaurant inside. We stuffed ourselves with food and felt sick afterward. We sat around for quite a long time and bought a few resupply items from the small store. We were only fifteen and a half miles from the end of the Trail and ten miles away from the base of Mt Katahdin where there was a lean-to. We figured we would stealth camp wherever we could make it between here and the lean-to. We didn’t get to hiking until early evening and in two miles we reached an information kiosk marking the boundary of Baxter State Park. We found out it was illegal to stealth camp and that all thruhikers were required to stay at the lean-to so we took off fast. The Trail was very wide and mostly void of rocks and roots so it was easy-going. We hiked along the beautiful Nesowadnehunk Stream most of the way. We pounded out those ten miles in less than three hours. The Trail led us to Katahdin Stream Campground where there were many campers and a ranger saw us and beckoned us to his vehicle. His name was Ranger Joe and he gave us permits, explained how to get to the Birches Lean-tos and that we could leave our backpacks at the ranger station the next morning and borrow a daypack from them for the climb of Mt Katahdin. We walked over to the lean-tos, tucked neatly away from the other campers and found Silent Bob and a couple other thruhikers we’d never met getting ready to sleep. We ate a quick meal and settled into one of the lean-tos by ourselves for our last night on the Trail.

Miles hiked today: 28.4 Total AT miles completed: 2180.1 Total AT miles left to hike: 5.2

Day 156

We woke up early, left our packs at the ranger station, put our food and water in our daypacks and headed down the Trail. We passed a Sign In/Sign Out clipboard for climbing Katahdin on a post and learned two camping couples and an older thruhiker had already started out. After hiking a bit further we passed the Katahdin Stream Falls and that’s where the Trail started to get steep. It was pretty easy going for a bit, but then it got a little steeper and we had to scramble up a few medium rocks. We passed one of the couples here. A couple miles in, we were out of the trees and we had to climb up giant rock slabs. We had to use our hands a lot to do climbing and there were some strategically placed metal bars to help us have a hold to swing ourselves up. We passed another couple here. At the top of the rock slabs was a sort of giant rock-jumble-staircase we had to climb. We ate a snack while resting, then started up passing the older thruhiker early on. The climb was slow, but fun. It wasn’t cold, but the clouds were moving in and out. They mostly passed around us, allowing for spectacular views. At the top we made it to The Gateway to the Tableland. This was a long stretch of flatness, guided by cairns, a shelf of rocks and small shrubs. We hiked across this, passing Thoreau Spring, to the small stretch up to Baxter Peak! The clouds moved in just as we made our final steps to the northern terminus sign. We touched the sign. We were there. We were done. After five months and two days our journey was done.

Miles hiked today: 5.2 Total AT miles completed: 2185.3 Total AT miles left to hike: 0