Days 85, 86, and 87

Day 86, June 28, Katahdin Stream Campground to Hurd Brook Shelter

Hiked today 13.4 today’s ascent 1000 feet total hiked 1316

I had a pleasant morning with Kim.  We had breakfast together and the drove to Katahdin Stream where she dropped me off at 9:20 to resume my SOBO journey.

This is a spectacular cascade called the Little Niagara Falls about 3 1/2 miles south from Katahdin Stream.

And here’s a shot up the river that forms the falls.

This falls is less than a mile from the first falls and it’s called big Niagara Falls. It is pretty spectacular.

Today I’m spending a couple hours walking through Pine Forest next to the Penobscott River. This is a truly pretty walk. The Penobscot river is a couple hundred yards wide and calmly flows by.

I cut my hike short today, only doing 13.3 miles.  I arrived at Hurd Brook Shelter at about 4:10 PM.

I just saw my first moose in Maine!  It was staring across a pond toward our campsite.  It turned around and started to walk away just as I got my camera out.

I was planning to hike over 21 miles to the Rainbow Springs Campsite, but I started late and I’m still getting used to the rocky root laced trail in Maine.  I was also still tired from summiting Katahdin yesterday.

I  am planning to make it out of the hundred mile wilderness on day 91, July 3.  That will require me to average about 20 miles a day for the next 4 days.

Day 87, June 29, Hurd Brook Lean-to to Wadleigh Stream Lean-to

Hiked today 19.6 today’s ascent 2800 total hiked 1335

I’m on the trail at 6:10 AM.  I’m anticipating a long but not too difficult day.  Today is my first full day in the 100 mile wilderness from Abol Bridge to Munson.

This what the trail looks like  so far in 100 mile wilderness. Lots of roots and lots of rounded boulders. Also, lots of really beautiful pine forest.

This is a picture from the top of a rounded boulder through a break in the trees. I believe that’s Mount Katahdin, but I’m not sure which peak it is.

This is a picture from the top of a rounded boulder through a break in the trees. I believe that’s Mount Katahdin, but I’m not sure which peak it is.

Rocks, pine trees, moss, and fern, that’s the environment here very pretty.

On the way up Nasutabun mountain. It’s another afternoon of drizzle. I think on a normal day you could see beyond the first mountain range.

This is the view from the top of Nasutabun mountain I think I’m a clear day. You could see a lot further.

It started drizzling around 2 o’clock. And it started pouring just as I was setting up my tent at around 5:45 PM. I managed to get my tent set up in the rain and I put everything inside it. I broke my rules and even put my bear canister in the 10th for tonight. I am basically dry inside my tent but outside is miserable. it is literally pouring.

Today I hiked 19.6 miles and I thought it would be moderately easy. I was completely wrong. Although the  FarOut App said that I would only need to ascend 2800 feet,  the trail was really difficult.  My legs are like jelly.  The  trail has hundreds of challenging 20 foot up and down obstacles, each one causing a near full stop to plot how to step on the rocks.  Today was also constant roots and boulders as well as challenging mud crossings.  Of the 19.6 miles, it seemed like 18 were slow and difficult. 

It took me nearly 12 hours to do 19.6 miles, the slowest pace of any section so far except Mount Katahdin.

Day 88, June 30, Wadleigh Stream to Cooper Brook Lean-to

Hiked today 21.5 today’s ascent 1540 total hiked 1357

It poured last night from about 6 PM until after midnight.  My tent did its job well.

I got up today around 6 AM, and had my usual breakfast of granola with milk and coffee. I packed up my tent and was on the trail at about 7:10 AM.  The outer tent was soaked but the inner tent was relatively dry.

So far the Maine trail is generally rough even when there are no hills.  The forest is beautiful and a joy to walk through.  But the terrain is killing me!  It seems as if I am constantly crossing bolder strewn bogs and going over rooty rocky little hills that take concentration to keep from getting muddy or hurt.

Today was the first time I had to walk across a stream.  It was possible to rock hop, but it was also very risky with a good chance of falling on some sharp edges. I gave up and just put my feet in the water and walked, it was about midcalf deep.

The afternoon brought thunder and downpour from about 1:00 to 2:30 PM.  once again, I was soaked.

For some reason, probably nutritional, my energy level is a little lower every day. Although I made my 21.5 miles, I was once again totally exhausted at the end. This should have been a fairly easy day. A lot of the miles were level and relatively obstacle free, although the first five or 6 miles had lots of obstacles. Nothing like yesterday though.

I didn’t take any pictures today because the vistas were either nonexistent or covered by haze and clouds. Maine is a state with a lot of water. It seemed like the trail was always next to either a lake or a fast running Brook

I arrived at the shelter around 6 PM. There are about four other tents  and the bunch of youngsters have totally filled up the shelter itself. The shelter is next to fast running brook, Cooper Brook, which supplies a background roar to the camp. It is also the water source.