June 22

Start: Matagamon Wilderness Campground
End: Stevens House
Miles: 34.5
Total: 4121.3

I had decided the night before that I would walk a long, long way the next day. I woke up as the sun was rising, which is very early in June, and hit the road. I had been looking forward to walking these nice, flat roads for a while and now I was doing it. The first hour flew by, and I just kept on going. I found a pipe labeled ‘Spring’ right on the road, and put it to good use.

I scheduled in some music-listening to help the time go by, and noticed after awhile that I seemed to be inadvertently making great time. I arrived at Shin Pond at nine in the morning, and told the owners to tell Dick Anderson I had passed through, as he had instructed me to do. I kept on walking and eventually made a turn to the north.

I checked my phone and found I had service! I checked my emails, and read a text from Swivel explaining that they were at Parkside’s funeral and would be back on the trail later. Stunned, I made a short phone call to my parents and then trudged on.

I had not known Parkside well, but he was one of just a handful of northbound thru-hikers in the whole state of Maine. We had talked a couple of times, and he had been at the Stratton Motel when I left. My silly mileage counts and goals didn’t seem very important in the face of the death of another hiker so close to our general group.

The miles kept on rolling, and I kept heading East, out of the boondocks and towards some semblance of civilization. I hoped to do my first ever fifty mile day, and I was on pace for it when I arrived at the side trail to Roach Farm Campsite. However, thunder was booming overhead and dark clouds of epic proportions were on top of me.

A woman hollered to me from her porch and I ended up coming inside her house. Immediately an incredible rain poured down. I couldn’t believe how lucky I was. Cherri Stevens was my gracious host, and later on I met her husband Roger. They were extremely kind, and treated me like family. I ended up sleeping on a couch in a trailer on the property, which was very nice.