Today was our last full day of hiking, and we covered the 25 miles to the Birches shelters at Katadhin Stream Campground. We were up early, about 5:30am after the rain creased, and we were able to get packed up without any more precipitation. The trail in the morning was just a continuation of what we had yesterday… mostly flat with lots of rocks and roots made slippery by the overnight rain. The morning was overcast, with many low level clouds, and the air was wet and cool. Even though it wasn’t raining, we were soon drenched with sweat and condensation.
We took a short break on top of Rainbow Ledges, a spot where there’d normally be a nice view of Katadhin, but no such luck today. We enjoyed a snack, chatted with a few section hikers then headed on. We hadn’t gone more than a mile before the rain started. It came lightly at first, and we were kind of protected by the canopy overhead. We were just under a mile to the next shelter when the skies opened up with a drenching rain. My shirt, shorts, and shoes were all immediately saturated. I tried to move quickly at first to get to the shelter, but it was a futile effort. We wandered into Abol Bridge just before noon… soaking wet.
Abol Bridge is really nothing more than a campground with a small camp store and restaurant. They are off the electrical grid so they generate their own power via a big diesel engine. But it is officially the end of the 100 mile wilderness. We left our packs out on the covered porch of the camp site, and brought a few dry clothes to change into. We got a nice hot lunch and relaxed for just a bit, enjoying the feeling of being dry. As we sat there we watched the clouds lift and drift away, and some blue skies started to show. We put back on some hiking clothes and headed onward into Baxter State Park.
The Birches is a set of shelters that are for long distance hikers only at Katadhin Stream Campground, but there’s only space for 12 people each night. About 9.5 miles before you get to the campground there’s a big kiosk where there’s a sign up sheet. If there’s already 12 names on the list when you get to the sign in sheet then your options are to hike up anyway and hope to get a spot at the main campground, stay in Abol Bridge at one of the campgrounds there, or try to get a ride to Millinocket and then get a shuttle back in the morning. There is no backcountry camping allowed in Baxter State Park, and if you do and get caught there’s a hefty fine, and the possibility of being kicked out for good, meaning no Katadhin. Lucky for us there were plenty of empty spots on the sign in sheet, which solidified our plan to summit on Monday.
The hike from Abol Bridge to Katadhin Stream is about 10 miles, and it’s really pretty easy. The first 4 or 5 miles are very nice, through a deciduous forest past ponds and a river. The last 5 miles includes a few annoying ups and downs, and it does get pretty rooty, but there are some impressive waterfalls on the way, and a few gorgeous ponds. We kind of just meandered up, and enjoyed the sun that finally made an appearance. We got to the campground by 5:30 or so.
We’ll be summiting Katadhin tomorrow, the final climb of this Appalachian Trail adventure. After we climb down we’ll be heading back into the real world to stay for good… but we’ll be thru-hikers. In yesterday’s post I talked about some of the things we’ll miss about the trail. Today I want to talk about the things we won’t miss, and what we’re looking forward to in civilization.
First and foremost, we are looking forward to running water… clean, potable water that comes from a tap indoors. We’re pretty much over filtering water every day, and it’ll be nice to bathe on a more regular basis. I know that many people in this world don’t have access to clean water, and this trip has really made me realize how lucky we are to live in a country where it’s readily accessible. Second, I can’t wait to get rid of this last pair of shoes… they’re destroying my feet, and today’s rain really made it worse. It’ll be nice to be able to have dry feet most of the time. Finally, we’re looking forward to not having to pack up our beds and home every morning, only to set it up again a few hours later after lugging them around all day. Don’t get me wrong… we’ll miss being in the woods, and camping by beautiful streams and ponds, but the act of constantly packing and unpacking won’t be missed.
Any thoughts on doing anymore thru hikes in the future?