09/10/00
Day 171
Rainbow Stream Lean-to
2137.0 miles

I'll probably be home before I can mail this, and may be visiting you by the time you receive it, but every story needs an ending - and this one is drawing to a close.  I'm just 30.1 miles from the summit of Katahdin.  I should be climbing up there 3 days from now.  It seems incredible to me to be so near this goal that I've sought after for so long.  I can't quite grasp how I feel about it, because my emotions are a mixed up jumble - each with its conflicting counterpart:  happy/sad, anxious/reluctant, tired and exhilerated.

I suppose I should bring things up to date.  After I sent that last letter from Caratunk (the one where I tried to explain why I was doing this), I had a couple cloudy, overcast days.  There were plenty of open ledges on Pleasant Pond mountain and Moxie Bald that probably had nice views, but I didn't see them.  When I got to Monson, I stayed at a place called Shaw's that's been catering to hikers for 20+ years, and took advantage of my last chance to resupply and stuff myself on town food.  Monson is the last Trail Town before the start of the "100-mile Wilderness".  This dauntingly-named stretch is simply a rather remote section of the Maine woods that is crossed only by logging roads and doesn't have any towns nearby.  So, the average hiker is advised to carry 10 days supply of food with him.  A thru-hiker (Northbound) can handle longer miles, so I opted to do it in 7 days.

If the forecast holds true for tomorrow, I will have enjoyed a week of almost ideal hiking weather.  This is the time of year in Maine that I love.  The bugs are mostly gone, and we have sunny days with cool, clear, and dry air blowing down from Canada.  My first morning out the air was a little too cool, with temperatures dipping near 30 degrees, but mostly it's been delightful.

This section has only 2 significant mountain ranges to climb:  the Barren/Chairback ridge and Whitecap.  Other than that it's supposed to be "easy", although that's a very relative term when you're dealing with the rocks and roots along the trails in Maine.

I actually chose to do an additional 5 mile loop hike, called Gulf Hagas, that's off the AT.  It runs along a beautiful, deep gorge with numerous waterfalls.  I'd seen parts of it years ago and just couldn't pass it by, although it's hard to get an AT hiker to walk anywhere except along the Trail.