Appalachian Trail (day 86) - Bethel Village Motel to Black Brook Campsite / mile 1951

Finally a regular day of hiking!

Pastor Candice promised that she will pick us up at 6 AM, I've woke up before five, packed and ate the rest of roast chicken from last night. Motel owner prepared me a coffee which was much appreciated. Pastor came on time and she took myself, Trademark and Rainbow back to trail, road was long and empty, we saw a moose standing right in the middle of it at one point, we had to stop the car and wait for the confused giant to find it's way back to the forest.

Trail was more reminiscent of what we used to hike back in the south, gradual climbs, few rocks and boulders, not much climbing just hiking which after a wild ride in New Hampshire was a welcome change. Only the first mountain of the day Baldpate had a White Mountain's vibe, it was an exposed climb on top of the massive granite slab and it was quite fun, I can imagine it wouldn't be so in a bad weather.

Stream of Southbounders continued, they've been asking questions and I was trying to provide the answers. One guy wasn't aware that he was only few miles away from the toughest mile on the entire AT and was asking if he can make it to Gorham in two days, the answer was - not really.

Iceman and Tum Tum must have been at least half a day ahead of me at this point and if they didn't take any time off from now on there was little chance I could catch up with them, especially Tum Tum who had an ambitious plan to finish as early as possible so he could start his next thru hike on Continental Divide Trail. I on the other hand could finally not worry too much about miles as all the hard work has already been done, the only obstacle that could throw me off course was the weather.

I arrived at the campsite at 6 PM, it was sandy and level, located just by the brook. I had a ramen I've picked up in a hiker box for dinner and it was delicious, I'll try to get more of this brand if I find it during resupply. Weather was looking fine tomorrow but there was a possibility of thunderstorms the day after which I hoped I can hike out of. It was nice to finally have a "no alarms and no surprises" day on the trail.

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