7-20 Went 21.4 miles and crossed into Maine!
7-21 Woke up and scrambled through Mahoosic Notch. It was really neat climbing through rock boulders, but slow going. The books describes it as, "the most difficult, or most fun mile?" I went 15 miles and stayed at Frye Notch Shelter with some SOBOs.
7-22 Went 15 miles to Andover where my parents met me. We went to Bethel for dinner at the pub.
7-23 I slackpacked 13 miles, saw a moose, and Mom and Dad were waiting with lunch trail magic! After feeding a few hikers, including myself, I went another 13 miles until Rangley. Steve Pasquine made the journey out and saw a few moose too!
7-24 Left town at noon, and went 12 miles over Saddleback (gorgeous!) and tented with Dreamwalker, and a team called MTFKS: Smurf, Yogi, Baby, Mango, and Clifford. Passed the Piazza Rock shelter, famous for it's two person privy with a cribbage board in between.......yuck haha
7-25 19 miles into the town of Stratton. Took the 0.5 side trail up to the summit of Sugarloaf and it was a gorgeous clear day. MTFKS invited me to stay at their friend's place at Sugarlaof, so we had a fun night with wine and a hot tub!
View from Sugarloaf
7-26 Lounged around the house in Sugarloaf, and set out at 4pm, so I only went 5 miles and stayed at Horns Pond Shelter on top of Bigelow Mt. It started raining, and there was a beautiful double rainbow.
7-27 Went 27.5 miles and passed the 2000 mile mark! WOO HOO! I stayed at Pierce Pond Shelter with Calf and Silver Fox. What a gorgeous shelter! Right on the lake!
7-28 Hiked 0.3 off the trail to Tim Harrison's Cabins, where he prepared his famous 12 pancake breakfast! YUM. I had 14, because a SOBO didn't have his appetite yet, and couldn't eat all his. With a full bellly, I hiked 3 more miles where I rode the ferry across the Kennebec River. Wild Man Dan paddled me across in his canoe! I went 19 more miles and stayed at Moxie Bald Shelter with Calf. I really wanted to go swimming, and just as I was about to dip in, I saw a huge leech! I thought twice, then jumped in anyways =)
7-29 Woke up at 5, and practically ran into Monson. I did 19 miles in 7 hours, including switching shoes twice to ford two rivers. I got trail magic from Strider....mmmm...Mountain Dew. My parents showed up and we drove down some back roads and hiked into the shelter I'll be staying at tomorrow and dropped off some gatorades to other hikers there. My parents are going to hike in and meet me there and spend the night with me! As well as my best friend Kelsey and her boyfriend Kyle!
I'm looking forward to breakfast at Shaw's tomorrow, and Gulf Hagas Sunday! Monday I will hike a bit off the trail and take a boat ride to Whitehouse Landing, where I can eat a burger, and buy more food if I need to. Base of Katahdin Wednesday night, and up Hunt trail Thursday! Watch my Spot!
