Sep 14 - Maine

DAY #155
START LOCATION: Wadleigh Stream Lean-to
FINISH LOCATION: Hurd Brook Lean-to
TODAY'S MILEAGE: 19.6
TRIP MILEAGE: 2,160.5
MILES TO GO: 18.6

Casper and NLC started stirring around 5:45AM which got me up. I'd been dead asleep, which is weird. I am usually up at 5 and hit the mental snooze bar until about 5:30AM. I was happy to be awake then. It wasn't raining which to me means get your ass out there and hike. We said goodbye to our cool section hiking shelter mate, Jim, from Brunswick, ME. He was great to talk to... He's VP of Inventory at LL Bean in Freeport. We had him convinced he could make the 19 mile push to Hurd... Especially after Casper and NLC instructed him on proper blister mitigation.

We rolled out around 7:30AM and immediately had a moderate 1,000' climb up Nesuntabunt Mountain. Our guidebooks indicated a view of Katahdin from the summit's vista, but there was too much low cloud cover. We weren't disappointed because it wasn't raining.

Once again we chatted and cruised. We got to Rainbow Falls Lean-to and to our pleasant surprise Jim from LL Bean came in shortly after. We chatted with some nice older ladies on a section and educated them thru-hiking, gear and hiker food. They in turn, shared their food with us. Casper and NLC got some gorp while I got Asian cashews and a big piece of bell pepper.

We cruised again to Rainbow Lake Campsite where we astounded ourselves with our ability to hike fast and chat. We had a nice warm break in some rare sunshine. I soaked it up. We were also serenaded by some loquacious loons out on the lake. We froze our conversation and just listened... Absolutely beautiful. Jim caught us again and we chatted with him awhile before our easy stretch to Hurd.

Just before Hurd we reached Rainbow Ledges. The sun was peeking through and our books showed it as a Katahdin viewpoint. After a bit of peeking out on the bald and questioning some of the peaks we were seeing, we turned a corner and BOOM... there it was... Katahdin. It was magnificent. There was no question. It stood larger than life above us and capped in a puffy white cloud. We sat silent for a minute and just stared. That was the finish. Right in front of us, only a few miles away. It took a second to sink in, but I had two strong emotions... Pride and excitement.

The walk down to the shelter dealt us a treacherous river crossing of Hurd Brook. But we made it and quickly found the shelter empty. Jim joined us and so did fast pushers Wallflower and Red Bear. The evening was spent entertaining ourselves telling stories and best of all... Killing shelter mice. They were everywhere. Casper and I killed 2 with rocks and various other instruments. We were taking out all our mouse frustration of the entire hike in one night. Even still, I can hear the survivors scurrying around, probably mad as hell and looking for vengeance. It's cool. WE'RE ALMOST DONE!

-natedog