Legs and Borders

Only few more miles remain to the Katahdin summit, it was my penultimate night on the AT. In fact it was the last day of "full" hiking and wild camping as tomorrow I will be staying in state run Birches Campsite just before the final climb. It was a sunny and peaceful day with more Katahdin viewpoints, lakes, streams and moss covered boulders. I've managed to spot three mooses, one on the top of Nesuntabunt Mountain and two walking on the shore of Rainbow Lake all of them retreated the moment they saw me. Trail was quite rocky and rooty so the progress was slower but lack of elevation gain made the walk easier on the other hand. I've continued taking pictures of various fungi I saw growing by the path, there was so many different kinds of them! Trademark and Diehard booked a shuttle back to Millinocket on Saturday 12th of July (today was Thursday 10th), they added me to the list, it would leave th...

Big day with multiple views of the final destination - Katahdin. First thing in the morning I've climbed to the top of White Cap Mountain and got greeted by multiple views of surrounding mountains including the first sighting of Katahdin looming in the distance. Day was sunny and visibility was great. From that point on the trail got much easier, it was running along lakes and rivers with very little elevation change. Bugs were relentless though and having longer break presented an issue, even after spraying myself with Deet they would still find a biting angle. I've met Trademark and Diehard again and was hiking back and forth with them for the rest of the day. It looked like my schedule was overlapping with theirs and we even started to talk about ascending Katahdin together and getting a shuttle back to town of Millinocket afterwards. Steady stream of Sobo hikers continued, I've met two middle aged guys sitting ...

Lovely, cloudy day with a minimal amount of rain in Hundred Mile Wilderness. And not so wild after all, I've crossed both railroad and a gravel road while being here but of course compared to the rest of AT it is nothing. I can't hear cars or trains in the distance while walking which is a relief. First ten miles of the trail today was going over "Chairbacks" arguably the toughest section of the whole HMW mainly due to it's jagged terrain. There was sadly no views as the clouds were covering the surroundings. The terrain got better afterwards, most of rocks, roots and mud has disappeared, from that point it reminded me of walking in Vermont. I've met fair bit of Sobo's, most of them just went past but one called Rabbit Walnut stopped and had a chat with me. His parents were living in Atlanta and he was planning to hike all the way, directly to their house, he would have to hike additional 20 miles after AT was over in order to do so. He was try...

After another hearty breakfast, I've packed my heavy backpack to Poets van and got a ride to the trailhead at the start of Hundred Mile Wilderness. There was only four of Nobo hikers leaving today: myself, Trademark, Diehard and Diesel, everyone else was taking a zero day which made me mildly jealous but also it was time to move on. First fifteen miles were quite easy and I spend them walking with Diesel, we talked about previous trails and we worked out that we not only hiked PCT the same year we were only a day or two away from each other the entire time without meeting a single time! Fomo my other friend from PCT hiked with Diesel for several days in Sierra Nevada mountains, then he got a day ahead of Diesel and met me in Kennedy Meadows North the end stop of that section. Fomo was hiking with me ever since then and Diesel stayed ever so slightly behind, I finished the trail four days before him. It's crazy to think that you walk so close to someone f...

Another early start in order to push to the last town stop on the AT - Monson, Maine. My initial plan was to stop before Monson and have a nero day there tomorrow, but a prospect of a shower, comfortable bed and of course town food was too good to pass on, especially as it was the last chance to have it. [Snail and myself with his massive food ressuply for Hundred Mile Wilderness] The theme of the day were river crossings, three to be precise. After climbing over Maxi Bald Mountain with great views of the surrounding area, the flat, muddy trail was going through the Bald Mountain Pond, Bald Mountain Stream and Piscataquis River. Since there was not much rain for the past couple of days all of the crossings were safe with the riverbed clearly visible and water at the knee level with slow to medium current. It still meant that my feet were wet for the entire day but it was a price I was willing to pay for very little elevation gain along the way. ...