June 19
End: Katahdin Stream Campground
Miles: 31.1
Total: 4039.7
In the early morning, Iceman packed up and left. I figured since we were planning on staying with his folks at Katahdin Stream Campground that night that he wanted to hurry up and get there. Viking eventually left, and I was close behind.
Viking and I hiked the whole day together. The terrain was really not bad, but we were so ready to be done, at least for the day, that we moaned about all the roots and a little mud here and there.
The only thing with any elevation to it was Rainbow Ledges, which we were hoping to get completed as soon as possible. We hiked and hiked and hiked but still the ledges remained shrouded some unknown time and distance ahead of us.
I had time to tell Viking of my ingenious idea for a video game (which is patent pending, so don’t even think about it). The game is similar to a Final Fantasy game in that the player gets control of multiple characters, who all have certain skills which they can develop. The difference is that the characters are all hikers and that the story is a thru-hike.
Of course the game could be done in any number of ways, but I don’t envision much success from a Wii game in which the player literally hikes the whole Appalachian Trail in his living room using an expensive mountain treadmill accessory.
In any case, Viking displayed his character’s super powers as we reached the Rainbow Ledges and he proceeded to pillage the cairns and attempt to remove the sign at the summit, much to my amusement. We got out of there and proceeded on down towards our goal.
We eventually came to the Abol Bridge Campground and store, where I was supposed to have a package waiting for me. The package was sadly still sitting in the owner’s box in Millinocket, almost twenty miles away, but she offered to go get it immediately! I was pretty happy, though I would have to wait for it there at the store.
Viking stayed with me and we enjoyed sandwiches, chips and ice cream, as well as our accomplishment in finishing the Hundred Mile Wilderness in about three days! It took a couple of hours, but finally I had my package of food. I hadn’t even finished what I already had, meaning my pack was very heavy. Nevertheless we set off to finish all of the trail except Mt. Katahdin itself.
In between us and the campground ran two fords, one of my least favorite challenges of the entire trek. We got them done, and although I was slower than Viking he waited patiently for me to suffer my way through the water.
Finally we hit a flat stretch of trail and I took off. Viking kept up for most of the time but did fall back once or twice. I was practically jogging I was so energized to get to the campground. Sadly we had a few miles to do before getting there, including one around a pond.
In the pond was a couple canoeing. Seeing us, they paddled over and the man shouted “How many miles have you done?”. In my haste I yelled “Four Thousand!” as I power walked away. In hindsight this might have been a bit rude, but my excuse was that these types of questions grew old months before, and I was in a hurry.
Finally we arrived at the campground and found Iceman with his dad and sister and their truck in a camping spot. I was a bit disappointed to find there wasn’t much free food left, but I had only myself to blame for eating so much the day before.
We registered with the ranger, who checked me as an IAT Hiker instead of a Thru-Hiker since I was continuing past Mt. Katahdin. Whatever. I was somewhat disappointed to find not much in the way of official logging of thru-hikers at the campground, but I was beginning to care less and less since I was so near the end of the Appalachian Trail.
I got to sleep on a mattress in the covered bed of the pickup truck, which was quite nice. I felt a little bad that I might have the best spot, but I also needed enough rest to lug my big pack up the mountain and then continue on.
