Start: Unnamed woods road
End: Sand beach, Lower Jo-Mary Lake
Our longest day yet. We were starting to feel like thru-hikers again! Our day was fueled by a serious cup of coffee made by Muleskinner and we were off like rockets at 7:45am. There were a few minor climbs in the morning, but it was mostly nice, easy walking. By noon, we had hiked 10.1 miles on what was the flattest stretch of trail yet, and stopped lunch at Cooper Brook Falls Lean-to. The trail continued along in a similar manner, as we passed a few ponds and followed the contour of Lower Jo-Mary Lake to what was to be our best campsite ever on a sand beach at the edge of the lake. Another Clearwater tip, this was just an awesome spot! We set up our tent in the coarse sand and enjoyed the late afternoon sun on the beach. We even had cell phone reception, and made a few calls. Maybe it goes against the spirit of the 100 mile wilderness, but hey, there is really no wilderness along the AT anymore.
Sunset was beautiful and we were psyched with our spot, and with our trip so far. Beautiful vistas, calm lakes, mossy woods, sunny skies and quiet woods. What could be better?
Flora and fauna notes: 1 frog, blue jays, chickadees and juncos.
September 18, 2008 | Miles: 15.9
Start: Sand beach, Lower Jo-Mary Lake
End: Crescent Pond
A bit of rain fell in the night, but I awoke to a beautiful sunrise and we spent a few quiet minutes watching a pair of loons float by on the lake before packing up to head out. Our packs were relatively light, as we were headed to White House Landing, a camp along a lake out in the middle of nowhere, to resupply for the next few days. To get there, we had to take a side trail 1 mile to a boat dock, where we blew a horn and a boat sped over to pick us up. It was a quick 5 miles to get there, and we arrived around 10:30am. It was another beautiful day, but cool.
We enjoyed chatting with Bill and Linda, the owners of the place. They have a sweet set-up, with grass sloping down to the lake’s edge, several cabins and a bunkhouse, a grill for B,L,D and a small but more than adequate hiker supply closet. They are totally geared to hikers, and were so nice. We wished we had had more time so that we could have spend the night! However, we did spend a restful 3 hours there, sitting and chatting in the sun, resupplying, enjoying a wonderful pizza, snacking on cherry tomatoes from their garden. Finally, at 1pm, Bill took us up the lake and dropped us off so we could begin hiking again.
With a full stomach, I found the next stretch to be a big pain. It was “flat”, along a river, but instead of being a nice path it was all roots and rocks and ridiculous ups and downs. I couldn’t get in a rhythm and was really annoyed. However, after a brief snack, and once we got to the section along Nahmakanta Lake, where we had great views of Katahdin from the rocky ledges, my spirits lifted a bit. We got to Wadleigh Stream Lean-to at 4pm, and decided to push on. I didn’t really want to, but knew that going on a bit would give us the option to get to Abol Bridge tomorrow night, which would then give us an easy 9.9 miles into Baxter the day after that. So up Nesuntabunt Mountain we went and down to Crescent Pond, where we found a nice campsite in the pines off the trail. Another stealth site, and another quiet night on the trail. We hadn’t seen a northbounder all day. Where was everyone?
September 19, 2008 | Miles: 19.1
Start: Crescent Pond
End: Abol Pines campsite
It was 39 degrees in the tent at 6am, which meant it must have been closer to freezing outside. Brrr! I kept my longjohns on under my skirt until a few miles into the hike, as it was just too cold to take them off. The hike took us along Rainbow Stream, another beautiful stretch, and then to Rainbow Lake. The trail was pretty mellow, but still relatively rooty and messy along the deadwaters leading to the lake. After we hit the end of the lake, we ascended Rainbow Ledges, which really reminded me of Acadia. Beautiful rocky ledges with grey lichen and deep red blueberry bush leaves. And another view of Katahdin under crystal clear skies. We reached Hurd Brook Lean-to at 3pm, and knew we would push on through the last 3.5 miles of the Hondo and out to Abol Bridge. 6 days through the Wilderness. That seemed pretty darn good to us! Like real thru-hikers. Except where were they? We were alone in the woods. Strange. We knew the four that we had stayed with back on the first night were likely only a few miles ahead, but we couldn’t seem to catch up… perhaps we would tonight. We were both feeling tired, but good, and we hit the Golden Road at around 4:15. The 100 Mile Wilderness was behind us! And ahead was Abol Bridge, with a gorgeous view of Katahdin. It was close now!
We stopped at the store and then headed over to Abol Pines, a state-owned site, across the road and along the Penobscot. A pretty spot and for only $4 per person per night. Not bad. We set up beneath the pines and went over to say hello to K-Bomb, Mocassin, Enok and Orangedust. I think they were surprised to see us!
The night ended with us resupplying for the next day and a half, eating microwaved sandwiches for dinner – mine made palatable only by the large quantities of BBQ sauce I drenched it in! – and drinking beer and talking until it got dark with our four thru-hikers friends. A good day.
Flora and fauna notes: 1 Brown Snake sunning itself on the Rainbow Ledges, great blue heron seen across from our campsite along the Penobscot, 1 Wood Thrush hopping around at Hurd Brook Shelter.
September 20, 2008 | Miles: 9.9
Start: Abol Pines campsite
End: The Birches campsite, Baxter State Park
We knew we only had a 9.9 mile day, and it was yet again 39 degrees in the tent at 6am, so we stayed in our bags for another hour before leisurely packing up and heading across the street to the store. There we enjoyed a leisurely cup of coffee in the sun, watching the world roll by - buses loaded with white river water rafting customers, big pick-up trucks, moose tours. We headed out around 9:15am and stopped to chat with the Baxter State Park ridgerunner near the park boundary. Coincidentally, this was someone else we had met in the past, Bluebearee, a former thru-hiker whose AT journal I had read before our hike. We ran into her on the Wildcats in 2004, and here she was again It is a small hiking world. We stopped at the kiosk to sign ourselves in for a spot at the Birches, a site set aside within the park for long-distance hikers. Then we meandered our way along the trail, enjoying the flat treadway along the deep, swift Penobscot for four miles. From there, we turned, following the Nesowadnehunk River. We stopped for lunch on a flat stretch of rocks along the shore, enjoying the sunshine.
Later, we visited Big and Little Niagara Falls, noting that as we got closer to the park road, we were seeing actual people! Not hikers, but people that smelled good. And let me tell you, we smelled bad. No shower or laundry for 7 days. Ugh! But we smiled and said hello, and continued along our merry way. After the falls, the trail followed the shores of several ponds, Daicey, Eddy, Tracey. No moose, but some pretty woods and nice views of several of the park’s peaks.
We arrived at Katahdin Stream campsite around 2pm, checked in with the ranger and made our way to the Birches. It was a bit set off away from it all. I mean, I know we smell bad, but really! Couldn’t they have carved out a small site at the edge of the main campground? Instead, we had to walk a quarter mile down the road and haul water that far too. Snowman decided he was in training for the strongest man competition as he lugged our water bag down the road!
We passed the afternoon leisurely chatting with the others, and after an early dinner, we all went off into the woods to gather firewood. Mocassin got a roaring fire going, we had some music playing off a tiny MP3 player, life was good. Only 5.2 miles to go! This was it! Amazing. Two other thru-hikers arrived just as it was getting dark, so there would be a merry band of 8 of us tromping up the mountain tomorrow morning. Time to get some shut-eye for an early start!
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