June 10
End: Bemis Mountain Lean-to
Miles: 25.1
Total: 3806.8
The weekenders were all in their sleeping bags when I left. I wasn’t exactly sure where the Mahoosuc Mountains started and ended, but I was looking forward to being officially out of them at some point, which would happen that day if it hadn’t already been done the day before. The mountains had been difficult and I was more than just tired of the ridiculous rocks.
More boardwalks over the crazy water build-up ensued. I kept my feet mostly dry as I finished off Baldpate Mountain and got down to the road to Andover, a far off town that I would not be visiting.
I hiked on and reached Hall Mountain Lean-to, where I found Tolstoy and Red. Parkside was definitely right about Red’s yellow-blazing abilities. They were taking a zero at the lean-to and enjoying a slow pace to finish up the trail. I sat down and talked with them. I was sad to be passing up two more thru-hikers.
For a long time it had been fun to race along the trail. I had been constantly meeting new thru-hikers and subsequently passing them to meet more groups and those who had started the trail earlier. It had been awhile since I had met anyone who had left Springer Mountain in March. At this point there were only a few of us heading north, and I had reached those at the very front of the pack. After Tolstoy there would only be a few more that I would have a chance to see before finishing the trail. I sadly moved on.
I realized after awhile that I may have spent a little too much downtime with Tolstoy and Red. I tried to go fast enough to get to my destination before dark, but wasn’t particularly pleased with my progress. The late afternoon had me worrying about hiking into darkness, which was not a new sensation for me.
The late sunset in June was on my side, and I arrived at Bemis Mountain Lean-to just before dark. I read logs by Achilles, Iceman, Viking, and Samus, all of whom were just ahead. After dinner I got to one of my favorite parts of any hiking day inside my sleeping bag.
