Ian B

Sep 10, 202414 min read

Week 26: The End

Day 176: The Last Hostel

Saturday, August 31st

Shaw’s hiker hostel

0 miles today

2082.7 miles total

Today was chore day. We got the laundry done, resupply done, caught up on journal entries, talked to friends and family. The usual. Today I was lucky to have my friends Delaney and Jorge come up and visit me. We went to a local brewery that had goats and they made their own goat milk ice cream. I need more of that in my life. It was really good to catch up with them and talk to someone you don’t have to also get to know.

I also got the scoop on the extremely complicated rules about Baxter state park and their permits, reservations and regulations. What a headache, if we aren’t all stressed enough, that just added to it. I tried to talk to my mom while the service cut in and out and the hikers inside played board games all night. That was basically it.

Day 177: The Wilderness

Sunday, September 1st

Long pond Stream lean-to

15.1 miles today

2097.8 miles total

It was hard to leave Shaws and say goodbye to so many. Poet made another splendid breakfast that everyone devoured. He’s a cool guy, he gives off the Florida diver/fisher vibe with the long hair, relaxed demeanor, sandals and witty remarks. When I got my bags packed I went into the other bunk house to see fern, coffee and blue moon potentially one last time. Said my goodbyes and then we were off to the trail.

As we got closer poet shared some of his love for language by reciting his own poems about this last section of trail. I can’t recall it all because the words flowed so effortlessly from his mouth like he’d said it hundreds of times. But it still stirred up the intended emotions. He finished his speech just as the van came to a stop. We got out and he took our picture there and wished us each luck recalling all of our names.

Then the small group of us walked into the wilderness stopping to register at the famous sign.

“THERE ARE NO. PLACES TO OBTAIN SUPPLIES OR GET HELP UNTIL ABOL BRIDGE 100 MILES NORTH. DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS SECTION UNLESS YOU HAVE A MINIMUM OF 10 DAYS SUPPLIES AND ARE FULLY EQUIPPED. THIS IS THE LONGEST WILDERNESS SECTION OF THE ENTIRE A.T. AND ITS DIFFICULTY SHOULD NOT BE UNDERESTIMATED.

GOOD HIKING!”

Then we were in, walking slowly down the trail with heavy packs full of food. Some people get food dropped off in the middle but we chose not to since it costs $80 just to drop it off. So far it hasn’t been much different than the rest of Maine. Still rocky and rooty and muddy but not too bad. We had one river crossing that we took our shoes off for, the other three we could rock hop and maybe get the toes wet.

The first shelter we came across had 5+ dehydrated meals left in the fire pit. This theme of garbage left by other hikers seems to be common here. When we got to the shelter for the night a lady told us about the clothes she’d buried or insect repellent she’d dumped out because she didn’t want to carry it anymore. It’s really unfortunate the way people treat this section. It’s people like her who are just new to hiking and don’t do research about what to bring/not bring and then leave it here because they don’t want to deal with it.

I picked up a couple wrappers today but I didn’t have room to carry all those dehydrated meal packs and I won’t be able to find this lady’s hurried clothes but I’ll do what I can.

On the bright side of things I saw my first wild beaver today gnawing on a tree! It was right next to the trail and froze up as we passed by when we got further away it started eating more, so cool to see in person.

We saw breakaway and folksy in the shelter and setup our stuff next to them and had dinner until the sun went down around 7:30. Then there was nothing to do but go to bed.

It feels like day 1 again, my pack is heavy, we’re slow moving and taking more breaks and trying to enjoy every mile while we still can. Absolutely no rush at all. The way I’d like it to be.

Day 178: Haiku

Monday, September 2nd

Stealth Campsite

15 miles today

2112.8 miles total

Folky got up at a reasonable time, we slept in until that lady’s dog started barking and woke us up. It was a little nippy this morning so I was moving slower than usual. Before we left I signed the logbook and then Spencer and I each wrote some haikus. Before post dropped us off he told us about the haikus head come up with and leave in the shelter logs so inspired by that we made our own:

“A rock thru the woods

It rolled on thru the Forrest

Seen never again”

nightwatch

“A leaf on a tree

It fell suddenly away

To be seen next May”

hellbender

It’s the little things that keep you going. We stopped at a view a mile in and sat there for a bit looking over the valley. Then we crossed the 2,100 mile marker. 97.4 miles left to go, we’re not out of the woods yet. So much seen, so much yet to be seen. Today the exhaustion of walking 2100 miles hit us. We’re tried, very tired. We took lots of breaks and even a little nap. Had a couple falls but still walking. We’re hungry but rationing our food to make it last the 5.5 days in the wilderness. These first few days are hard with the heavy packs and the big climbs, I know it’ll get easier so ease into the pain and know I’ll miss these days. As much as my body craves the comfort of a warm bed and home cooked meal, I know once I’ve settled back to normal life I’ll miss these days. Thats why I sit up on the mountain top views with Spencer even though I’m chilled from the gusts of wind because that view is here now and I earned every single moment.

You can’t buy this feeling that I have. There’s no price tag, no amount of money you could spend to feel this good. It’s also something nobody can take from me. The fact that I’ve come this far purely from my own two feet. That I can make these dreams real. I can climb any mountain, walk any distance, overcome any obstacle. Give me time and determination. I’ll find the fun.

We caught up to woodchuck and the doctors at this stealthy tentsite because there’s nothing else here besides a $33 campsite just a bit farther. Just before dark we setup our stuff and in the dark we made dinner. It gets so dark so fast up here, by 7:30 the sun is down and it’s dark by 8. I remember when the days were long and the nights were short. Those were hot days.

Day 179: Mama K

Tuesday, September 3rd

East branch lean-to

16.8 miles today

2129.6 miles total

The stealth site was a nice spot to camp. I had streams flowing on either side of me and it was cold enough outside to be nice and cozy in my hammock. Before the water crossing this morning I dropped my stuff and ran to the nearest parking lot where there was a men’s and women’s privy. The water crossing wasn’t bad, had to take the shoes off but it wasn’t deep at all. There was an oak tree on the other side, haven’t seen one of those in a while. We stopped at the gulf hagas rim trail to see screw augur falls, worth it. The next few miles were a gradual climb where I talked to woodchuck about his job and philosophy. Talking really makes the miles fly by.

We had a little snack break at the shelter which was before the 4 last big mountains of the wilderness. We composed our haikus and then we were off. After the first mountain we stopped at a sprint to fill up and then we kept going over them all until we got to white cap. The last one which had a pretty good view of mama K (a.k.a Katahdin). It was a little underwhelming I won’t lie. I think it’s because there was still some distance and because we were over 3k ft it made Katahdin look smaller than it is. But that was our first real look at her. Also our last “big” mountain until then. The rest of the wilderness is a lot flatter from here.

We had our lunch there then kept moving. Before I knew it we’d made it to the shelter and decided to call it short there, we were pretty tired. We could make up the miles we planned tomorrow. Tonight I built my first fire on the AT. I hadn’t made a single one until now. So we all gathered some wood and I used some birch bark to get it started. The dead pines really burned quick but we had it going all evening. I had to make two dinners I was so hungry.

Day 180: No Need to Rush

Wednesday, September 4th

24 miles today

Nahmakanta lean-to

2153.6 miles total

With it being cold again I like to eat before I pack away my quilt and things, especially if I’m in the shelter. At our first river crossing Spencer pointed out a moose in the water feeding on the vegetation. Check that off the bucket list.

It was very cruisy today we did 12 miles by 11 and got some left over hiker food from peoples resupply drop. Enough to have a little lunch this afternoon and some extra food for the next couple days in the wilderness. The guy dropping the food off said we could get to abol bridge by tomorrow if we wanted and we considered it but in the end we decided not to rush these last couple days. The rest of the day was pretty chill, hung out by a lake and called Joe after he summited Katahdin today and was driving home. It’s too bad we couldn’t finished together but I’m glad I’m still out here for now. The views of mama k over the lake were great and I got to share them with sopita and avalanche. I saw a couple spruce grouse hanging around. I caught woodchuck hanging around the shelter we initially planned and we waited for a bit but Spencer was farther behind than I thought so we made a quick dinner. When he did show up we decided for sure to take it easy rather than to push these next couple days.

Day 181: End of The Wilderness

Thursday, September 5th

Rainbow ledges

22.7 miles today

2176.3 miles total

I didn’t know it at the time but this would be the last night I spent on trail in my hammock. I don’t think I’d do another long distance trail with a hammock again. I seemed to find it more comfortable sleeping on my pad on the ground than in my hammock. Plus the tents nowadays are so light that I could actually save a pound or two with a tent than a hammock, at least mine. I didn’t bother hanging my food either, there wasn’t anywhere to do a proper hang and I’ve lost that fear or something coming to get it in the night.

I had my poptarts and clif bar for breakfast and a little bit of dehydrated eggs from sopita and avalanche which spencer cooked. I’m glad because I was running lower on food and we still had a lot of miles to go. I left camp while Spencer was still in the privy and got 3 miles in to the next campsite by the lake when I heard a bunch of kids. I was glad we stayed back at the other shelter otherwise it seems we wouldn’t have gotten much sleep here. I stepped off the trail to get a view of the lake and maybe see some loons. Before I could though I had sopita wave me over saying they offered us food if we talked to the kids and answered their questions. It was a private high school group of about 15-20 kids standing in a half circle facing sopita and avalanche so I took a seat on the ground next to them. I got handed some eggs with vegetables and cheese and listened. The first questions were about how long we’d been hiking, what surprised us, what mountains were the hardest, what food we ate, etc. Sopita and avalanche were very into it so I let them do a lot of the talking. I chimed in here and there when talking about trail names and FKTs and how we afforded it.

It was really refreshing to get some of their questions beyond the standard ones that adults ask which are more pragmatic and logistical. The food was good too, with the eggs we also got some warm bagels with sunflower butter. The kids were relived to find out their original lesson plans were foregone since they talked with us instead. They were a really good group of kids who listened well for their age and were quite engaging. I remember freshman in high school being less engaged. They didn’t have phones which probably helped.

We eventually got back to hiking as hard as it was to leave. We stopped by the lake for a quick view of some diving birds, possibly mergansers. The climb up nesuntabunt mountain was steep and tiring. There was a good view of Katahdin over the lake at the top but I’d run out of water. Avalanche gave us a gloomy weather report that showed rain both Saturday and Sunday.

I filled up my water bottles at the next pond and had lunch by a little waterfall cascade where Spencer caught back up. We stopped at the next shelter for a little break before beginning the last 9 mile push to rainbow ledges where we’d plan to cowboy camp again under the stars.

The sweat was starting to rub again between my thighs very uncomfortably and there was no remedy I could find. Eventually we made it to our last water source before camp to fill up, make dinner and see the sunset. Then we put on headlamps and night hiked the last couple miles. Nobody else was up there

Day 182: The Last Night on Trail

Friday, September 6th

The birches

15.8 miles today

2192.1 miles total

We woke up several times in the night when our skin would touch the dewy wet sleeping bag. Everything was wet from the dew because there was no wind on the ledges last night. We waited for the sun to rise in the morning to help dry it but to no avail. The air must’ve been too wet and air too cold to effectively dry anything off. We packed up our wet things to dry them later.

The last 6 miles in the wilderness I spent thinking about wanting to slow down and enjoy it. With loon calls off in the distance we got to the last shelter for a break and to write some poems. The paradox about wanting to savor this trail is that there’s not much to savor besides just being able to hike through the woods, sometimes thick sometimes not. We got to the end of the wilderness where i was greeted by that some warning sign for people entering at this end heading south. Just after we’d cross abol bridge where we were just outside Baxter park and could see Katahdin in all her glory.

We got some snacks and drinks to hold us over until we could summit and leave the park. I charged my devices for a bit before leaving to head into the park. The ranger there don was super chill and answered all our questions. The weather looked to be on our side in the morning so we decided to do it then and not have to worry about it anymore.

We still had 10 miles to walk around the park to get to our campsite for the night. It was a flat 10 but still 10 miles. We stopped halfway at a natural rock water slide. For a quick splash, it was nearly 80 degrees with not a lot of clouds to block the sun. The water felt good, cold but not freezing. I laid my gear out on the dry rock while we swam.

We stopped at a waterfall view later on and I asked Spencer for some aquafor to ease the chaffing again. I realized it was the liner in the shorts and decided to just hike in my underwear again. We couple ponds and lakes later we’d arrived at the ranger station at katahdin stream where we got our permits to camp at the birches — a dedicated campsite for thru hikers — and to climb Katahdin the next morning. Our numbers were 599, 600, 601. The number of north bound thru hikers that have summited this year. I started 914 in Georgia, 527 in West Virginia, and now 599 by the end. We setup camp and I used my Garmin communicator to contact my mom who was hopefully brings food. We hung out in the day use area waiting and cooked some food. When my mom and aunt showed up I was elated to see them again, beyond comprehension of all the things that have happened since she’d dropped my off in Georgia and visited in Virginia. I was happy to see pizza in the trunk of the car. We ate as much as we could muster. I even packed a couple slices for lunch tomorrow.

After dark we said goodbye and went back to camp. Used the privy one last time, slept in a shelter one last time, did all the things one last time then went to bed for an early rise tomorrow.

Day 183: Summiting Katahdin

Saturday, September 7th

Airbnb

5.3 miles today

2197.4 miles total

We got up just after 4am to hit the trail by 5am. I had a couple pop tarts for breakfast and a cliff bar (hopefully won’t have to eat those for a while). The trail started off easy then gradually got steeper until it was lots of scrambling and basically rock climbing with the occasional rebar to hold onto. The views below the ridgeline expanded out for miles with under and over casts in the distance. We got above treeline and the higher up we went the more clouds and fog covered our field of vision. I should’ve put my rain jacket on sooner than I did because i was covered in water droplets and the wind picked up to at least 20mph+. It seemed to go on forever but eventually I saw the silhouette of the sign and as I approached tears started to form in my eyes. This was it. All the hard work, the blood, sweat, and tears to get to this sign. I touched it, my hand over that K in Katahdin. My hike was over at that moment. Not quite, we still had to get down the mountain in one piece but effectively my thru hike was complete. Then I didn’t really feel much of anything. The wild howled and I put on my rain jacket and puffy to stay “warm.” We sat there and ate a second breakfast, it was only 8am. Had my last beer on trail at the summit and Spencer had his first beer since he left for Springer mountain. Then I drank my Cheerwine I’d gotten from the trail angel steps 171 miles back. Took some pictures before I froze to death then swiftly headed down the mountain.

I was still in “survival mode” on the way down not really processing what had happened. We had several people coming up asking “did you just finish? Oh congrats.” A thank you and we kept going. It was just as steep going down and we threw our hiking poles down to make it easier to climb down the rocks.

I messaged my mom to pick us up again and we celebrated with lobster rolls on the way out, with an odd waitress.

A few days later and it’s still hard to process all the time that had past. The days were long but the months were short. I’d do it all again in a heartbeat, wouldn’t change a thing except maybe take more time. But everything good comes to an end eventually. I’m looking forward to another thru hike, PCT and eventually CDT. I’ve got the itch now and with the AT done I have no doubts in my mind of my capabilities. The chances are low that I’d thru hike this trail again but I already miss being out there. Regardless, it’s time to go back to society. Thank you all for reading, supporting and donating!

Stats:

Money Donated: $1,200+

Money Spent: ~$6,400

Rest days: 32 (0 mile days)

Hiking days: 151

Total days: 183

Total miles: 2,197.4

Average miles (with 0s): 12 miles a day

Average miles (w/o 0s): 14.55 miles a day

States crossed: 14

Elevation gain/loss: ~464,500ft

Mt. Everest’s climbed: 16