Mountains Under Foot

Before we ring in the new year Spoon and I would like to give our final thoughts to what has been an amazing adventure and a fantastic blog. Be sure to stick around as the website undergoes construction into the next phase of development.

Fun Facts:

Length of the AT: 2178.3 miles
Completed in: 122 days
Zero days: 10 days
Most miles in a day: ~35 miles
Least miles in a day (excluding zeros): 3 miles
Longest hiking day: ~14 hours
Shortest hiking day: 1.75 hours
Average miles per day (excluding zeros): 19.45 miles
Longest stretch between zero days: 30 days (575.1 miles)
Shortest stretch between zero days: 5 days (103.1 miles)
Highest Peak: Clingman’s Dome, NC – 6,643′
Lowest Elevation: Bear Pen at the Bear Mountain Zoo, NY – 120′

Number of days to feel normal again: 30
Hazard’s weight lost: 40lbs
Fuel canisters: 9
Stitches: 6
Most consecutive days without a shower: 5
Hazard cut his nails: 5 times
Hazard broke a pole: 3 times
New sets of poles for Spoon: 2
Headlamps for Spoon: 2
New boots between us: 2 pair each
Corroded phone: 1
Blood lost: 1 cup
Spoon’s weight lost: 0lbs
Number of times we shaved: 0

Hazard’s favorite food: Nutella on a Cinnamon Raisin Bagel
Spoon’s favorite food: Refried beans with hotsauce and Easy Cheese on corn chips.

Thank you list:

Neels Gap Outfitters, Roman Noodles, Hiawassee Inn, Nantahala Outdoor Center, “Steve who works at the bar”, Mountain Mike & Pumpkin, Standing Bear Farms, Chris & Jenny at Sunnybank Inn, Bluff Mountain Outfitters, Uncle Johnny’s Hostel, WLOS Asheville, Kincora Hostel, The Town of Damascus, Lazy Fox Inn, Terry and Sissy Kammer of Augusta’s Appalachian Inn, Neville and Michael of Woods Hole Hostel, Plaza Motel, Police Officer Josh, Charlene’s parents and Zeke, Mama Ava’s sister and her husband, Rusty of Rusty’s Hard Time Hollow, Mr. and Mrs. House (Cattywampus’s parents), the family at Loft Mountain Campground, Kathy and Don in Shenandoah, Bears Den Hostel, The Appalachian Trail Conservancy, Jay and the DC Lofty Hostel, Paul Rosa aka Blue Moon, Caledonia State Park, Christy, Allenberry Resort and Playhouse, Pat and Vickey Kelly of the Doyle Hotel, Paul and Tammy from Ye Old Backpacker, Church of the Mountain Hostel in Delaware Water Gap, Pack Shack, Edge of the Woods Outfitter, Mohican Outdoor Center, Dick “The Mayor”, Butch, Bill, Sara and Jason from NYC, Joy, Tim, and Rio from Kent, White Hart Inn, Tom Levardi, Chris, Arla & Josh from Bennington, Tim Jones, Back Home Again Cafe, “Short and Sweet” & Greybeard from Norwich, Pooh & his daughter, Chet West of Lincoln, Luke and the Galehead Hut Croo, Gates and the Mizpah Hut Croo, Hikers Paradise Hostel, White Birches Campground Hostel, Peter Bingham, Gail from White Wolf Inn, Tim Harrison of Harrison’s Pierce Pond Camps, Ferryman Dave Corrigan, Rebekah of Lake Shore House, Mr. and Mrs. Farrell.

…all of the trail angels who supplied us with your magic,
…all of the people who gave us rides in and out of town,

Special shout out to all the hikers we met on the trail:

Jake the camera guy, Kendra and Wes, Amoeba, Linda & Curtis, Bombadillo, 15, Loyal, Chairman, Matt & his mom, Centaur, Barfight, Sal, Nikki & Joe, Needles, Firecracker, Odysseus, Herb, Patch, Tyben, Poli-Poli & Plowboy, Disco Stu, Route 66, Dan, Churchmouse, One-Step, Checkpoint & Coldfeet, Bad Camper & Colin, Dave Castor (not a hiker but a biker), Two Pack, SnP, Sunshine & Marbles, Chef, Turtleback, Knees & Curio, Slackass, Croc (impostor), Sarah, Shannon, Kelly, Iceman & Cattywampus, Wheels, 10×10, Magnum Orphan, Crow, Buttchinz, Big Camera, Pilgrim of St. James, Capt’n, Kage, Squatter, Grizzilla, Aquafresh, Hot Feet, Manimal, Trampoline & Kate (Siren), Highway Man, Free child, Basher, Ziggy, Shameless, Creep, Lion King, YOU, Bam-Bam, George with Gracie the dog, Journey, Many Names, Prof. Mark, Frankenfoot, Timebomb, Hopscotch, Cleancut, Natty, Fancypants & Gozer, Stewball, Otter, Rocky, West, Goose, Game boy, Icarus, Bark & Berry, Bookworm, Boofer, Holdout & Hatchet, Bugman, Two Pounds, Topshelf & Geeza, Fiddle, Not-so-crazy, Tennessee Ed & Sis, Joe Kickass, Rattlefoot, Carhop, Kermit, Zipper, Wiz-Kid, Wizpee, Jellybean, Solar System, Rockdancer, Annie, Hammock, Chomp & Half-full, Don’t Panic & Wing it, Phoenix, Houdini, Braid, Strider, Moss, Flying Scotsman, Spicoli, Tank, Hobbit, and Pennywhistle.

Of course a special thanks to Nick (UCOC) and Arthur (Crocstar) for enriching our experience through friendship and fellowship. We would walk anywhere with these guys again.

And finally:

Thank you Catherine, Stephen, Lauren, Jamie, and Johnathan for meeting us along the trail to bring us love and support.

Thank you to Mr. and Mrs. Driver for treating us to a wonderful time at our half-way point in Harpers Ferry.

Thank you Mom, Dad, and Will for maintaining the website, providing transportation to and from the trail, and moral support.

I cannot forget all of the people who commented on the website and constantly told us we would make it. Part of our victory we owe to you.

As you can see, an overwhelming number of people were involved in making this a truly memorable experience of a lifetime. We simply could not have done this on our own. We are in your debt.

Until the next great adventure,

Fred “Hazard” Gunther & Madison “Spoon” Driver

From Hazard’s notes:
Day 122: September 8, 2009
Travel:
From: Katahdin Stream Campground; Millinocket, ME
To: Mt. Katahdin, ME
Beginning: 7:15am
Ending: 9:15am
Number of miles hiked:
a) Trail – 5.3
b) other – 5.3 back down Katahdin.
c) AT Mile Marker – 2178.3 cumulative.
Weather:
AM: Sunny and cold at lower elevations. As we got higher the clouds rolled in and covered the top of Katahdin. The clouds broke for only a short while and I could see the top and then it was covered once again.
PM: The clouds burned off early afternoon and we could see the summit of Katahdin clearly from the south gate.
People: Nick’s Parents. My Dad! Flying Scotsman crew.
Animals: The party animals on top of Katahdin!
Money: $0, $2142 cumulative.
Notes of the day:
AM: For the final time on this journey I woke up before the sun. Nick was full of energy rushing us to get ready and downstairs for the continental breakfast. Crocstar, Spoon, and I decided the best course of action was to pack all of our gear and leave it at the ranger station since Nick was summiting with his dad and they would then head back into town on their own. We packed away as many muffins, bagels, and cereal we could until Nick ran us out of there and into the car. When we got to the south gate at Baxter State Park the gate was still closed because being the day after Labor Day, new park hours were in affect and we would have to wait until 6:00 am. Even arriving half an hour ahead of opening put us third in line to get into the park. Once things got moving we handed the ranger our permits and rolled on to Katahdin Stream Campground. Spoon and I picked up our daypacks and filled them with our water, warm clothes, some snacks, and left the rest behind. We gave Nick and his Dad a head start while Crocstar finished up his morning smoke. We signed the clipboard at the trailhead indicating the time we left the campground (just before 7:00 am) and what trail we intended to take up and then back down. It wasn’t long before we passed Nick and his Dad. The first section of trail is surprisingly easy as the trail is well graded, rising gently until we reached Katahdin Stream Falls, a spectacular cascade of water and probably a great swimming hole if it wasn’t so cold. Once past the Falls, the trail turned into a rock staircase until a detour took us off the blazed path in order for a maintenance crew to repair a section of trail. After the quick bushwhacking session the trail turned creek-like and I hopped around choosing my foot placement very carefully to not soak my boots. Then I came upon the boulder section. Massive boulders were scattered all over the trail forcing me to use creative methods to lift and pull myself up each obstacle. I could see the clouds crashing into the mountains to the west and above me a gray ceiling blocking my view of what lay ahead. From the boulder crawl the trail left the dirt path and I began my climb up the jagged spine of Katahdin. This was the part that weeds out the weak. I had to lift myself up rock cracks, wedge my foot into rock and metal footholds, and generally found myself in situations that would benefit from a rope and harness. I pulled myself onto a sandy ledge and the blazes in front of me seemed to be relatively level and then the trail rose up slightly into the clouds. As I hiked onward the clouds slowly blew out the way revealing the towering rock pile I had to scramble up if I wanted any hope of seeing the top of this mountain. I could hear Spoon and Crocstar ahead climbing up the rock face and I yelled up to them, “Katahdin!” and they shouted back in reply. When I finally got to the top of this section I could see Nick and his Dad just arriving to the sandy ledge. Now I had arrived at Mt. Katahdin’s Tableland which was pleasantly flat and is where I got my first sighting of the summit. The trail now had rope on either side of it to keep hikers off of the alpine vegetation and on the marked path. I can imagine from this point many AT thru-hikers would want to just take off running toward the summit without any regard for the fragile plant life. I could still see Crocstar and Spoon just ahead of me and I did my best to pick up my pace but I knew they were doing the same – the end was in sight. Arriving at Thoreau Spring, which has sadly been dry for awhile, signified I had reached the final mile of the trail and with the weather looking to hold out for a while. Oh how wrong was I. As I began my final approach to the summit, the clouds came surging back and smothered the mountain a dense haze that severely lowered my visibility, yet I charged on. Through the mist I could barely make out the silhouettes of a sign and of Spoon and Crocstar. I walked up to the final white blaze of the Appalachian Trail to the cheers of my friends and I dropped my backpack to the ground. I had made it! I was an Appalachian Trail Thru-hiker. One of an elite club of roughtly 11,000 from 1948 to the present. I immediately pulled off my soaked shirt and handed the camera to Spoon so I could climb up onto the sign marking the summit to throw my arms into the air and belt out a cry of victory. It felt almost euphoric too, for a moment, felt like I had just conquered the entire world and then it felt really cold so I quickly pulled out my fleece and Marmot from my backpack to warm up. All in all it only took me about two and a half hours to make the climb to the summit and then only 30 minutes more for Nick and his Dad to show up and join in the celebration. Spoon popped open the champagne he hauled to the summit on Nick’s behalf and passed around the bubbly only after making a complete mess with his poor drinking abilities. He threw back the bottle for a swig only to have it shoot out of his mouth like a geyser. Everyone as a result exploded into laughter. We all had a lot of fun in celebration, taking pictures and congratulating each other on our achievement. Soon more people started to show up who were either at the end of their own AT journey or a much shorter hike. Sitting against a rock to block the wind Spoon and I watched other hikers go through the same experience of finishing a 2,178 mile hike and I just felt so proud of them. Some had brought their wives or girlfriends up with them and even over that short 5.3 mile climb they were tearing up for the joy of getting to the top and seeing their mate put an end to their thru-hike. Amidst all of the emotional commotion Spoon and I recorded our final video blog. Shortly thereafter we couldn’t wait for the weather to clear up any longer and decided to hike down off the summit. The others in our group had left over an hour ago and Spoon was anxious to be through hiking. As we came off of the summit we saw Flying Scotsman, Spicoli, and their crew cruising up the mountain with “Flight of the Valkyries” booming from their iPod’s Extreme Katahdin Mix. Spoon and I cheered them on as we passed.

PM: I should have known that as soon as we entered the Tablelands the sun would come back out and the clouds would burn off. I turned around and could see the summit clearly. We sat in the cold, wet clouds for hours and only when we leave did conditions improve. Oh well. Coming down the mountain was a lot harder than going up. We had to lower ourselves down carefully on slick, sharp rocks so not to fall to our deaths. We ran into the trail maintenance crew on the way down who had opened up the closed section of trail. A quick note on the clipboard at the bottom of the mountain of our time of return and we were off the hook. Crocstar was sitting in the pavilion with bunch of gauze cleaning up his leg. A sharp root jutting out of the side of the trail managed to give him a deep cut just above his knee. For a guy who had to hike 500 miles or more with damaged ribs, this was just excessive. We turned in our backpacks, put our last notes in the hiker register, and then walked out to the road to hitch a ride to the south gate. A truck came rolling by and we immediately recognized the driver. It was Ferryman Dave who paddled us across the Kennebec River and he was happy to provide us transport yet again. He took us to the gate where I told my Dad we would wait for him to pick us up. We waited only about 30 minutes before he rolled up in his 2009 Malibu rental car. I was really glad to see him and gave him a big hug. We piled into the little car and sped off to Millinocket to face our final and most difficult challenge of this long journey – the Summit Sundae Challenge at the Appalachian Trail Cafe. I called Nick so that he could come witness the action. To describe this sundae, it begins with 13 scoops of ice cream of chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry, stacked on top of whatever pastry they can find (I had a chocolate doughnut), then they top it with bananas, a king size Snickers bar, M&Ms, chocolate syrup, whipped cream, and cherries on top. That behemoth is served in a huge bowl and when it hits the table the clock starts. The time to beat is 10:02 by a “tiny little girl” who must have an immunity to cold. As I started to eat the dish I thought, “Wow, this is really tasty”, but toward the end, when I was shivering from the cold I swore I would never eat ice cream again. When I cleared the last bite, just ahead of Crocstar, my stomach felt like it was going to burst. My time: 23 minutes. My trophy? A T-shirt and a bumper sticker. Spoon was unable to finish. After signing the wall (for the challenge finishers) and a ceiling tile (for all AT hikers), we said our last goodbye to Nick and his family and headed to Bangor. We got a motel room, clean, a bite to eat at the Applebees, and passd out with a severe case of full-belly.

From Hazard’s notes:
Day 121: September 7, 2009
Travel:
From: Hurd Brook Lean-to, ME
To: Katahdin Stream Campground; Millinocket, ME
Beginning: 8:00am
Ending: 2:00pm
Number of miles hiked:
a) Trail – 13.4
b) other -
c) AT Mile Marker – 2173.0 cumulative.
Weather: AM & PM: Fridged cold night and morning. Sunny and warm the rest if the day.
People: MATC Ridgerunner Mike?, Nick’s parents
Animals: Mosquitoes!?
Money: .79 bananas, Dinner and hotel room gratis. $2142 cumulative.
Notes of the day:
AM: I woke up to find my watch, which had been reduced to just the timepiece the past couple of months, completely dead. I don’t know if it was the incredibly cold night we had last night or it just had enough of the trail. Either way, today was our last day before our summit and I was feeling great. I was pretty lazy getting ready to go while Nick, who was meeting his parents today, basically said, “I’ll see you guys in Millinocket!” and took off. It took about an hour to reach the sign telling me I was leaving the 100-mile wilderness and had reached Golden Road. The road wasn’t very helpful in figuring out which way to go but then I saw the white blaze painted on the pavement and headed toward Abol Bridge. I was treated to another breathtaking view of Mt. Katahdin from the bridge. I saw Spoon and Crocstar exiting the campstore just on the other side of the bridge so I walked over with a big smile on my face. I couldn’t stop being excited about being here on the approach to the finish line. Crocstar left pretty quickly while Spoon and I hung around and talked to the MATC caretaker stationed at Abol Bridge Campground. He gave us “the talk” warning us of everything we would encounter while in Baxter State Park and on our summit climb of Katahdin. He walked with us for about a quarter mile until we got to the registration station where we signed in to enter Baxter State Park. The mosquitoes, which we haven’t dealt with in a long time, were out in full force biting us relentlessly. The MATC guide had a theory that the extraordinary rainy month of June caused an extended breeding season and a late hatching. This was also a reason for the lack of moose in the area since the mountaintop vegetation stayed greener longer and they didn’t need to come down into the valley. We couldn’t stand around for more than a few seconds without the mosquitoes eating us alive so we had to say goodbye to the MATC guide and get moving. The next 10 miles were super easy as we followed Abol Stream to Katahdin Stream and then gained a little elevation as we got closer to the campgrounds. The closer I got the more I saw signs leading an alternate route to Katahdin Stream Campground other than the AT but being this close and never cutting corners before I had to stick to the trail and literally go the extra mile. I came out of the woods onto a dirt road where hikers spend their final steps on the trail before the climb to the top of Mt. Katahdin and hiked into the campground to sign in at the Ranger station.

From Hazard’s notes:
Day 120: September 6, 2009
Travel:
From: Nahmakanta Stream Campsite, ME
To: Hurd Brook Lean-to, ME
Beginning: 7:00am
Ending: 6:30pm
Number of miles hiked:
a) Trail – 25.4
b) other -
c) AT Mile Marker – 2159.6 cumulative.
Weather:
AM & PM: Cold morning, Perfect day.
People: Bookworm, Guy who saw moose, guy living in shelter, Flying Scotsman crew.
Animals:
Money: $0, $2141 cumulative.
Notes of the day:
AM: Woke up and rolled over to get my breakfast out of my food bag and chowed down while staying in the warmth of my sleeping bag. It was a cold morning so Spoon and I took the tent down and packed up quickly to get moving as fast as possible. I went to go tell Crocstar and Nick that we were on our way out and I could see puffs of smoke billowing out from under Croc’s Dryfly. Neither of them were very excited to get moving that morning. Spoon and I continued to follow the Nahmakanta stream until it outlet into Nahmakanta lake. We passed by a campsite where a family was cooking a big breakfast that smelled awesome and their two dogs chased after us down the trail until we waited for a family member to come and collect them. As we walked along the shoreline we ran into Bookworm (who we first met in Bennington, VT) who had flip-flopped and was heading southbound. He asked us if we would take a few minutes and be interviewed by him about our experiences on the AT for an art show he was producing. A few minutes turned into 45 minutes and by then Crocstar had showed up and joined the interview. Sitting on the shady beach with the wind blowing across the lake had frozen me to the bone and when we finally wrapped things up with Bookworm I was numb all over and hiking felt a little weird until I warmed up. Spoon and I got lost heading up Nesuntabunt Mountain because the trail was rerouted and poorly marked. Once at the top we took advantage of a short side trail to an overlook of the lake and of the big guy himself, Katahdin. A day hiker showed up and took our picture and he told us that he had come from a campground that he pointed out to us on the shore of the lake. He had flown in on one of those small prop-planes with pontoons that use these lakes as runways. We came down the mountain and followed the trail as it drifted between and around Maine’s numerous lakes. We took an early lunch break on the side of the trail since we were both starving. I had saved my summer sausage and pepper jack for today and I ate it like it was the first time I had ever tasted meat or cheese. The Flying Scotsman crew blew past us but we eventually passed them when they stopped to eat lunch at Rainbow Stream Lean-to which was a really cool spot with the stream roaring right in front of the shelter.

PM: After crossing Rainbow stream over a pair of wobbly tree trunks we hugged the edge of Rainbow lake, passing a couple pulling a canoe out of the lake, a guy who about two hours ago saw a moose and wanted to warn us as if the moose was going to stand there the entire afternoon waiting for us to show up. Once we had traversed the length of the lake the trail took us upward to the Rainbow Ledges where the aforementioned moose was spotted. Not surprisingly there wasn’t a moose waiting for us at the top, however, a spectacular view of Katahdin with the afternoon sunlight highlighting its grandeur took my breath away. It was just too unreal to think I would be climbing that beast in two days. When Spoon and I got to Hurd Brook Lean-to Crocstar and Nick were enjoying a fire prepared by the shelter’s temporary resident. The guy staying here comes out for one or two weeks a year and basically lives between this shelter and Rainbow Stream Lean-to. It was great because he had a ton of firewood prepared and maintained the fire until we went to sleep that night. Spoon and I cooked our last meal together, I dried my sweaty clothes by the fire for the last time on this trip, and I fell asleep on the first and last baseball bat floors in the final night we would spent out in the woods on this wild adventure.

From Hazard’s notes:
Day 119: September 5, 2009
Travel:
From: Logan Brook Lean-to, ME
To: Nahmakanta Stream Campsite, ME
Beginning: 7:00am
Ending: 7:00pm
Number of miles hiked:
a) Trail – 27.4
b) other -
c) AT Mile Marker – 2134.2 cumulative.
Weather:
AM & PM: Awesome. Perfect hiking weather.
People: Pennywhistle, Strider, Amoeba, Flying Scotsman, Spicoli, others, Father & Son out for a short trip.
Animals: Moose was spotted at Mahar Camp by Spicoli crew
Money: $0, $2141 cumulative.
Notes of the day:
AM: Woke up with Strider coming through camp since he had spent the night on top of White Cap. He and Pennywhistle were gone before I had rolled out of my sleeping bag. Today was going to be a long day and my body knew it and tried to do anything to stop me. Luckily for us all of the hard stuff except for Mt. Katahdin was out of the way. We hiked from stream, to pond, to spring, and crossed an unmarked gravel road which had an unusually familiar vehicle parked near the trail. It was a lime green Honda Element that reminded me of the one in Hiawassee, Georgia that belonged to Amoeba who we met while staying at the Inn. Way back on Day 6 she was shuttling a group of friends who were out hiking that week, but there was no way that this was the same car and owner. While coming down Little Boardman Mountain, I was pleasantly surprised to find that my intuitions were correct. Amoeba and her friends were coming up the backside of the mountain and she immediately recognized us and wanted to take our picture again. She told us that she knew we would make it and was proud of how well we had done. The group made a stop at Cooper Brook Falls Lean-to for a snack break before hoofing it at top speed to Jo-Mary Road. We made great time over this almost completely flat section. At the road crossing the guys broke out lunch and sat out in the sun. I filled up my Camelbak from the stream that paralleled the trail and then sat in the shade to finish off my graham crackers and peanut butter. After a few minutes the guys admitted the shade was a great idea and then moved to my side of the road. A few cars came roaring over the bridge and flew past us at unsafe speeds and then a couple of hikers came out of the woods looking to get a hitch to the campground six miles from here. With some luck they were able to flag down a truck that gave them a ride.

PM: After lunch we continued to follow the stream until its outlet at Jo-Mary Lake and Antler’s Campsite. Antler’s was rated as Pooh’s (trail magic at Trapper John Shelter) favorite campsite on the entire AT namely because you have a great view of Mt. Katahdin looming over the lake. Plus it has the famed Fort Relief where all the very important business gets done. At this point I was hiking alone so I didn’t spend much time here and cruised on by making my way to Potaywadjo Spring Lean-to where I had to take a moment to find the 15-foot wide spring that the shelter is known for. Shortly afterwards I crossed the Mahar Trail which will eventually take you 1.2 miles to a dock where you sound an air-horn for someone to come pick you up and ferry you to White House Landing. They offer everything from lodging to Linda’s famous one-pound burger. Sadly we had ruled out the possibility of making a stop there due to time and money restrictions no matter how tempting it all sounded. I pushed onward and followed the Nahmakanta Stream until I reached the campground we had planned to stay that night. I found Crocstar, Nick, and Spoon hanging around a campfire that a couple of hikers had started. There was a father and son sitting around their campfire cooking steaks that, or course, Spoon became very interested in. When we went to go put our tent up he made a comment about how the ’steak looked really good’, fishing for some kind of handout. As much as we liked to make fun of him for asking people for food all the time, when our dinner was finally ready we each had a hunk of steak and a bunch of extra rice to add to the pot. Later that night, Spicoli, Flying Scotsman, and company came roaring into the campsite with goodies they had packed out from White House Landing. They had each packed away about $20 worth of food and brought back some sodas for the guys that were already here. Once it got dark and cold, Spoon and I retreated to our tent to call it a day. I was exhausted.

From Hazard’s notes:
Travel:
Day 118: September 4, 2009
From: Cloud Pond Lean-to, ME
To: Logan Brook Lean-to, ME
Beginning: 6:30am
Ending: 5:30pm
Number of miles hiked:
a) Trail – 24
b) other – .4 back to AT
c) AT Mile Marker – 2106.8 cumulative.
Weather:
AM & PM: Surprisingly comfortable wake up temperature and perfect weather throughout the day.
People: Pennywhistle, Strider.
Animals: Birds floating above the ridges, the wild bulldozer and other loud machinery.
Money: $0, $2141 cumulative.
Notes of the day:
AM: My alarm went off at 5:00 am this morning and both Spoon and I took one look at each other and then fell back asleep. I finally pulled myself out of the tent about a half hour later and noticed how bright the moon was reflecting off of the pond. I quickly grabbed my camera and snapped a few shots of the moon as it sank behind the mountains in the distance. As we ate breakfast Pennywhistle was already on the move and she booked it out of camp before it was even light out. I walked up to the shelter and could see Crocstar still working on breakfast and told him and Nick that Spoon and I were going to get started and agreed on stopping at Logan Brook Lean-to this evening. There had been some disputes as to how fast we wanted to go through the 100-mile wilderness to either summit on the 8th or the 9th. The benefits of Nick’s parents meeting us on the 7th outweighed the benefits of summiting on 9/9/09. Today was definitely going to be the hardest day through the 100-miles as we had to go over the 4-5 peaks leading up to Chairback Mtn. before descending into the valley to loop back and go up the triple threat of West Peak, Hay Mtn, and finally White Cap Mtn. Spoon and I started the day off right by powering over Fourth and Third Mtn. Somewhere along the way I stopped to take a few pictures of the exotic and rare carnivorous pitcher plant that grows in the peat bogs of Maine. By the time we got to West Chairback Pond Trail Crocstar had caught up to us and when we stopped for water at a mountain stream that bisected the trail Nick joined the pack. Spoon and I finally caught up with and passed Pennywhistle coming down Chairback Mtn. and she told us she saw Mt. Katahdin on one of the peaks behind us but I never saw anything or even know what to look for on the horizon. I realized I had been hiking toward this mountain for almost four months and had no clue what it looked like or what to expect. She said the best way to figure out which one was Mt. Katahdin was to look for the mountain that rose steep on the sides but had a flat top. I found myself looking all day for something that fit the description but I also had no idea in what direction or distance to look for the mighty Mt. Katahdin. Once we got down into the valley the trail makes a strange and unnecessary turn backward so that we can go up spine of the next big ridge. No skipping any mountains for us! If one looked at a map of the 114 miles or so leading up to Mt. Katahdin you would see how the trail snakes back and forth going around lakes, pond, and over mountains adding up to a considerable amount of “bonus” miles. Down in the valley, Spoon and I came upon the west branch of the Pleasant River which we had to take off our boots and ford. After that little refreshing splash we sat down on the bank of the river, dried our feet, ate lunch, and listened to a sour old British hiker complain about the trail.

PM: Pennywhistle joined us shortly afterwards and then we all left the river at the same time. As we approached the side trail to Gulf Hagas we ran into a MATC ridgerunner from we which stopped and got some trail information. The gulf was formed by water eroding the slate walls of a narrow canyon resulting in a stretch of many spectacular waterfalls that as a result receives a lot of visitors. Pennywhistle hung around talking to the ridgerunner while Spoon and I moved on. At Carl A. Newhall Lean-to, where we initially planned on stopping, we took a break to eat some food and resupply water at Gulf Hagas Brook. Crocstar came hiking through from the side trail to the shelter and stopped for just a minute to chat before moving on towards Gulf Hagas Mtn. On the way up Gulf Hagas Mtn. I was astonished as to how much the trail had been maintained and that much of it looked like new trail as the dirt was still loose around the rock staircases. We hiked up two more peaks, I thought I saw Katahdin through the trees a few times. We couldn’t find the trail around Sidney Tappan Campsite, and finally made our way up White Cap to the final peak. I got in front of Spoon when he stopped for a Snickers bar and powered my way up White Cap but was hugely disappointed when I got to the top because all of the view was directed south so there was no view of Mt. Katahdin. I thought for sure we would finally get a peek at the monster we had been chasing for so long. From the peak, the rocky trail circled around to the other side of the mountain and when I broke my concentration from my feet and looked out over the horizon – I saw it. Far away in the distance a mountain that fit Pennywhistle’s description perfectly. Right then I knew I was looking at Katahdin in the distance and I was blown away. I pulled out my camera to take a few shots and then sat down on the trail to admire what the Indians call the “greatest mountain.” Spoon came up behind me and took a minute to relish the moment we had been waiting for so long. Unfortunately the sun was setting and we needed to get to the shelter so we continued down the mountain to our destination. A little while later we came upon Crocstar and Nick hanging around the shelter and we were the only ones who were there at the moment which we were stoked about. I had speculated that after all of the people we had seen the past few days that the shelter would be full. After dropping my pack I headed over to Logan Brook to fill my water and was warned by Nick to be careful not to slip and fall in as he had soaked his shoes earlier getting water himself. I came back just as dry as I left and prepared dinner for Spoon and I. Late that night Pennywhistle came into camp and we all wondered if Strider was going to make it to the shelter tonight. Pennywhistle and Strider had made a pact to summit Mt. Katahdin on the 7th of September because Strider had a plane he needed to catch. From tonight’s shelter they would have to do back to back 33 mile days to make it in time. And that is why you don’t buy a plane ticket out of Maine in advance.