Legs and Borders

"When you get to the top of the mountain, keep climbing." Jack Kerouac  It is over, and what a bittersweet feeling it always is, my body is ecstatic that it can get some well deserved rest but my mind would like to keep on going. We started the ascent onto "Momma K" as people tend to call Katahdin around here at 5 AM I left the campsite with Trademark and we went all the way to the end together which allowed for extra remarks and pictures along the way. We left some of our gear by the ranger station so the packs would be lighter on the way up, it was almost like slack packing. Hunt Trail was our chosen path up, it was steep and technical but in a fun and challenging way, good weather was definitely a deciding factor why this was the case. Around half way through the trail plateaued and has been quite easy from here all the way to the top. Views were spectacular with rock gardens, alpine plants a...

"Last night I slept on a baseball bat" Roper I've arrived at the Baxter Park rangers kiosk just past 6 AM, there were two other section hikers waiting for him to come, soon after we got joined by Trademark and Diehard. Promptly at 7 AM ranger Donald Duck rolled in to give us briefing and open sign in sheet for today's 12 spots at the Birches Campsite only available to thru hikers (or people who continually hiked here from Monson, 100 miles away). But before he started we saw Little Foot and her tramily of four walking down the road towards us, they made it here just in time! Donald told us about an additional sing in and free permit we needed to get from ranger inside the park to summit Katahdin tomorrow (it was all a bit convoluted but it worked out well). After all the information about "conservation first, recreation second" has been passed to us, we were free to go. Everyone but the two section hikers chose...

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...

"The footpath they build had no historical basis. It didn't follow any Indian trails or colonial post roads. It didn't even seek out the best views, highest hills or most notable landmarks. In the end, it went nowhere near Mount Mitchell, though it did take in Mount Washington and then carried on another 350 miles to Mount Katahdin in Maine. (Avery, who had grown up in Maine and done his formative hiking there, was most insistent on this.) Essentially, it went where access could be gained, mostly high up on the hills, over lonely ridges and forgotten hollows that no one had ever used or coveted, or sometimes even named. It fell short of the actual southern end of the Appalachian Mountain chain by 150 miles and of the northern end by nearer 700. The work camps and chalets, the schools and study centres, were never built." Bill Bryson "A Walk in the Woods" Day spent eating, chatting and watching movies, a lot of familiar faces joined in...