Appalachian Trail (day 66) - Tom Leonard Shelter to October Mountain Shelter / mile 1564

A shockwave has been sent across the Appalachian Trail community as a sad news of death due to severe weather conditions of two day hikers father and daughter while climbing Mount Katahdin has appeared on media. Mount Katahdin is our final stop on the journey north along the AT. We are being constantly reminded that nature as beautiful as it is, can also be treacherous and unforgiving. More details about this tragedy can be found here

Day started and ended with rain, I feel like we can't get away from it for more than a day or two recently. On the other hand mosquitoes were much less present because of it which was a welcome change.


Someone has left a trekking pole behind and wrote a note "free AT" on it, as one of my old trekking poles has lost few parts during this hike I have replaced it with the one on offer, it was the second piece of gear (first being the sleeping bag) I've replaced so far, it was somewhat emotional as I hiked with this trekking pole over 5000 miles!

Just before the afternoon I've spotted another black bear close to the trail, it was a large male and he had no idea I'm close by. I've stopped to look at him and finally he noticed me, the usual running away sequence has followed. It was the sixth bear I've seen on AT so far.

An hour later I've met DeeDee, she was going north today and decided to walk 14 miles to the Upper Goose Pond Cabin which would be her longest day so far. She was soaking her feet in the stream as I went past her and was complaining about the weight of her backpack as she was mainly slack packing so far. The cabin she was heading to had mattresses and caretaker was making pancakes for the hikers in the morning!

I've decided to walk to the next shelter along the way which turned out to be a bad idea as an hour later started to rain, it wasn't a light shower either. By the time I've arrived at the shelter I was drenched, luckily there was only one other hiker staying here tonight so I've spread my wet gear around hoping it will dry until tomorrow morning. I've had quick dinner (ramen bomb with sausage) and went to sleep.

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