| 9/17/01 - Horns Pond Campsite - 5.1 miles. Spent the morning & part
of the afternoon in Stratton. Had a great lunch & dessert, then left for the
trail. We are camped near the peaks of Bigelow Mt., at a campsite with a pond &
great view of the mountains & valley. |
| 9/18/01 - Flagstaff Lake - 12.0 miles. We were in & out of
clouds this morning, at the higher elevations. It got sunnier as we descended, and
we had some nice views of the Bigelows & Flagstaff Lake. We have an awesome
campsite right on the shore of Flagstaff Lake. |
| 9/19/01 - Pierce Pond Campsite - 15.5 miles. Happy Birthday to me
& Al, our webmaster. For my Bday, I got to hike on the AT! At least it was
a pretty easy day & we passed lots of ponds. This morning we saw a Bull Moose on
the opposite shore of the lake. Also today we passed the 2,000 mile mark! |
| 9/20/01 - Caratunk House Hikers B&B - 4.0 miles. Happy Birthday
Litefoot! In honor of our B'days, we are staying in the 'town' of Caratunk (very
small). There isn't much here, but the owners of this B&B will shuttle us to a
restaurant for dinner so we are happy. |
| 9/21/01 - Caratunk House B&B - 0 miles. We loved this B&B
so much we are spending a 0 day here! It's raining out, and we follow the golden
rule, 'Never leave someplace dry for someplace Wet!' |
| 9/22/01 - Bald Mt. Brook Campsite - 14.7 miles. Said our goodbyes
to Paul from the Caratunk House. We had an awesome stay there & another great
breakfast! The trail was wet today, and very slippery (lots of roots). It
didn't rain, though, until we got to camp. Luckily we had the tent set up &
dinner cooked (but not eaten) when the rain started. |
| 9/23/01 - Stealth Campsite on Piscataquis River - 13.6 miles. Today
was nicer - partly sunny & warm. We had nice views from Moxin Bald Mt.
They say you can see Katahdin, but it was a little cloudy so we didn't. We walked
along rivers for much of the rest of the day - a nice change of Pace! We are heading
into Monson tomorrow, the LAST trail town! |
| 9/24/01 - The Pie Lady, Monson, ME - 8.4 miles. We saw 4 moose on
our hike into town this morning - 1 Bull Moose & his 3 ladies! He had a huge
rack. I guess that impresses the females :). We are resupplying for the last
time & spending the night at a guest house. |
| 9/25/01 - Vaughan Stream Campsite - 13.7 wet miles. The day started
off misty/foggy & progressed to the down pour outside our tent now. The trail
was very slick & wet, and we were sliding all over the place. We don't plan on
leaving the tent until the sun is shining. |
| 9/26/01 - West Chairback Pond Campsite - 10.6 miles. The sun did
eventually come out today, but the trial remained very wet, and swampy in places.
Today was our 2nd day in 'the 100 mile wilderness'. This section of the trail
is the most remote, with occasional logging roads being the only roads. |
| 9/27/01 - Sidney Tappen Campsite - 13.4 miles. Today was cool &
partly cloudy. We were awoken last night by a moose near our campsite, splashing
around in the pond & eating. This morning we heard loons. What a great
spot! The trail was a bit nicer (aka: drier w/ less rocks) today. |
| 9/28/01 - Cooper Brook Falls Tentsite - 17.1 miles. We hiked over
Whitecap Mt., with one of the best views in Maine, supposedly. We were in a
cloud so could only see 20ft. The terrain leveled out towards the end of the day
& we won't be climbing any more BIG mountains until Katahdin. |
| 9/29/01 - White House Landing - 13.7 miles. We had an easier day
today to this lodge in the Wilderness. We met our friends, Litefoot &
Featherweight, who were leaving. We convinced them to stay & we had a nice
evening here playing horseshoes & eating. |
| 9/30/01 - Crescent Pond Campsite - 12.1 miles. We had breakfast at
White House Landing then left for the trail. We had a beautiful view of Katahdin
from a mountain overlook. According to our guidebook, it is only 16 air miles away,
but 36 AT miles. Where did the extra 20 come from?! As usual, the AT does not
go in a straight line. It will meander towards Katahdin. I know we will be
there shortly, and we are enjoying our last few days on the trail. |
| 10/01/01 - Abol Bridge Campsite - 18.8 miles. We hiked a long day
to be close to Baxter State Park tomorrow. We left the '100 mile wilderness' &
my parents were waiting there with goodies. It was great seeing them - we though
they wouldn't be in Maine until tomorrow. We hung out a bit then made camp rather
than join them in town. |
| 10/02/01 - Katahdin Stream Campground - 9.9 miles. We had a nice
hike to this campground in Baxter State Park. We are sharing a lean-to with Litefoot
& Featherweight. There are lots of thru-hikers here that summitted today or are
summitting tomorrow with us. We all hung out talking & partying (but not late!) |
| 10/03/01 - FINAL ENTRY -
Millinocket, ME - 10.4 miles. We had a great day for our final hike up Mount
Katahdin. It was partly cloudy on the walk up. The summit wasn't very sunny,
but a least the clouds were above us. We hung out for awhile getting pictures taken
with the famous sign, but left after about 15 min. It was cold upthere & the
wind was gusting. We returned to the campground where my parents were waiting w/ a
huge spread of food & drinks for all the hikers. We eventually headed into town
w/ Mom, Dad, Litefoot, & Featherweight. We got cleaned up & had an awesome
dinner. The reality that we are done hasn't sunk in yet! |