There’s no doubt about it, Maine is a beautiful and rugged state. For the first time in a while we’ve been feeling like we’re actually out in the wilderness.
We were out on the trail by 8:30 this morning, getting a ride from the hostel with a few other hikers. The trail immediately began a steep climb up Old Blue Mountain. It was a pretty overcast day for most of the hike, and we even got drizzled on a bit later in the morning and the early afternoon. There were a few glints of sunshine and blue sky, which became more common in the evening. We hit some trail magic today put on by Turtle near Bemis Road. He gave us hot dogs, sodas, and brownies. We had some good conversations about the trail, as he’s been doing a lot of long distance sections.
We ended up doing 17 miles today, finishing at Sabbath Day Pond Lean-to. There is a large group of, presumably, college freshmen camping out here tonight. They’re all down near the one tent platform, while we’re up near the rest of the thru-hikers, most of whom are staying in the shelter. The group is a bit loud, and we’re hoping they respect hiker bedtime, but it’s about 8pm now and they show no sign of quieting yet. It’s too bad because we can hear a loon calling out over the pond, it’d be nice to just listen to that and not the big group of people.
As we’ve been catching more thru-hikers that we’ve met along the trail, I’ve found that people are starting to split into one of two schools of thought about the fast approaching end. First is the group that wants to continue putting in the longer days, and get to the end as quickly as possible with minimal stops. The second is the group that wants to stretch the rest of the hike out, take extra zeros in the small Maine towns, and do low milage days. Bear Bell and I are kind of more in the first group at this point. We’re focused on the end goal, but we’re still trying to enjoy our last weeks out here. I think we’re kind of looking forward to the end because we do have big changes to look forward to. We’re excited about our move out west and the new adventures we’ll have out there. It’s been a common topic of conversation as we walk. I think others don’t have a plan for when they’re done, or they’re heading back to something they’re not excited about so they want to extend this experience for as long as they can.
Time to get some sleep, as we’ve got some ambitious miles planned for tomorrow, and we’re hoping to get into Stratton by Wednesday evening now.
