Miles: 2,135.8 — A frosty morning gave way to easy pondside miles and the start of our Katahdin countdown. At Jo-Mary Road, two trucks of moose hunters drove by — one handed a hiker a beer and sped off. We set our final mileage plan, camped near the road, and I ended the night watching clouds swirl over the moon, knowing tomorrow would be tough.
Another chilly day was upon us. A very light dusting of frosty snow covered the ground and the tent. We started with all of our clothes on, even jackets. Our first obstacle was a crazy pine tree blow down. But I didn’t even mind. The day was so beautiful! The leaves were starting to change, and little multi-colored maple leaves littered the trail. We skirted pond after pond and took the easy terrain slowly. Clouds began to gather, and we could see them closing in across each pond that we came around.
Just before 3pm we stopped to filter water and eat lunch. As we ate, the rain slowly came in. We hadn’t made it very far yet, though, and I wasn’t ready to stop. Plus, we had to keep moving if we wanted to make it to Katahdin on September 28th. My parents had a party planned for us on the 29th and if we didn’t make it by then, we’d be attending our own ‘summit party’ without summiting! Plus, I didn’t think they’d want to come pick us up again!
As the rain picked up, we went over our second to last ‘real’ mountain. We came to Jo-Mary Road, the other more popular access road (21 miles from the nearest main road still). It was still light out, but the rain had finally let up a bit. We decided to stop and make dinner by the road. We consulted the map on Guthook while we ate. I was tired but the sun was still out and it was the warmest it had been since we’d left Monson. The terrain was virtually flat from where we sat to Katahdin with the exception of one ‘mountain’ which was only 1500 ft. in elevation. My GPS told me I had 55.1 miles left to the summit of Katahdin. I decided to heed the advice of Gin Gin, the ridge runner we’d spoken to at the Pleasant River fording and make our Katahdin plan.
We had about 4 days left.
If we save the last day for only Katahdin, like Gin Gin had recommended, then we had 3 days to do 50 miles. That’s 17 miles per day. With the flat terrain ahead, we were certain we could do that. We decided we’d call and make a reservation from Rainbow Ledges, the last known cell service point before Katahdin. Abol Bridge was about 44 miles ahead and we could get some snacks there if necessary. Our food bags were getting pretty scarce already. It was hard to ration when you had hiker hunger! With a plan in place, I felt better. I could relax and enjoy the last couple of days on trail.
As we sat on the side of the gravel road, eating and consulting the map, a truck came speeding down the road. In the back we could see the head of a moose flopped over the side of the tailgate. It was followed by another truck, also with a moose. The camo covered boys driving stopped short and reversed down the road. Another hiker was coming out of the woods on the other side of the road as they passed. The driver pulled to a stop in front of the trail crossing. Opened their window and gave the hiker on the other side of the road a beer, told him to have a nice day, and sped off. Trail Magic tailored exactly to the moose hunting Mainer trope. I couldn’t help but laugh.
There was good camping here with water, so we decided to go back 1 mile to the campsites we saw and stay there for the night. Some other thru-hikers camped nearby but didn’t socialize with us. Their presence made me feel safer being near the road, though. We pitched both of our tents this night. It was so nice to have my own space again.
Once again, when I had to pee in the middle of the night I looked up at the sky. Clouds were rolling in and the moon shone through them like a dark gray halo. I laid down on the pine needle covered ground near my tent and looked up at the clouds moving across the moon and the stars. The wind was howling, a storm beginning to swirl above us. Tomorrow would be hard, I knew already. I went back to bed. Flat on my back like a mummy I cozied into my sleeping bag, counted to ten deep breaths, and I was asleep again.