10/7 Chairback Gap– Hay Mt tentsite (14.6 miles)

"Two roads diverged in a vernal wood, and I - I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference."
Robert Frost

From here continues our last big climb until Katahdin, starting with a hop over Gulf Hagas Mt to the Sidney Tappan Campsite - the obvious choice for our night's stay, but not quite far enough for our plans. We really want to stop at the White House Landing fishing camp (the only outpost of civilization in the wilderness) the day after tomorrow, but with the rough trail, we're doubtful we could make it if we stopped here. Though there are no campsites shown after Sidney Tappan, but we're hoping to find somewhere to "cowboy-camp", and Coleen wants the WHL stop bad enough that she's on board. As we're crossing Gulf Hagas Mt, we find Last Minute and Blip stopped, writing a note to Tank and Willow; and Last Minute points to our left and says, "How about that view?". Surprise of surprises, there's Mt Katahdin in the distance, with quite a bit of snow on the western face! It's exhilerating, and Coleen's even more excited, having never before seen the object of our 4-year quest (I see it often flying back from Europe, pointing it out to my passengers whenever I can). We continue with renewed energy, soon reaching Sidney Tappan, where we'll tank up on spring water before setting off in search of a campsite. As we do, Last Minute and Blip pull up to do the same; and just as we're all about to leave, Tank and Willow pull up as well. They're ready to call it a day; and they go to work talking the others into same, although we're bent on the miles, heading out for the steep climb up West Peak.

We get a quick chat with Viking packing up at Logan Brook Lean-to, running into him again at the East Branch Lean-to. From here there's a short ford at the Pleasant River East Branch (almost a rock-hop), and we stop for a break on the rocks at the other bank, a chipmunk appearing immediately on our arrival to mooch some food, as Viking passes us again. There's a quick pop-up to Mt View Pond (a beautiful pond, which like most here has a number of canoes sitting aside it), with another popover of Little Boardman, and a gentle descent to Kokadjo B Road, with lunch on a convenient rock. Just before we arrive, we'll run into Lion King hiking south, just dropped at the road by Keith Shaw. He carries a water bottled filled with a dark frothy brew, and is already a bit souced, having left his pack and some beers for the guys at the road. He does give us a weather update, with good prospects for a Sunday summit, degrading after. He continues the search southbound, hoping to get everyone together for a party at the upcoming lean-to. We push on, stopping at the upcoming Cooper Brook Falls Lean-to to filter water. Tins once full of trail magic have been left here, but it’s long gone now, and though we’ve talked about stopping here for the night, the upcoming revelry and long miles for tomorrow convince us to push onward.

I’d considered this, but didn't think she'd buy it, so I was overjoyed - now we could hike another 5 miles today, making the next two more manageable 17.5-milers. I’m glad she’s so willing, and now the sun comes out, further enhancing our spirits. We pass the Potaywadjo Spring Lean-to, stopping for just a moment to look at it’s 15’ diameter “bubbling” spring, after which the trail soon passes the shoreline of Pemadumcook Lake, where I stop for a pix of the expansive rocky beach. Catching up with Coleen however, she’s standing by a side trail suggesting, “I thought you’d want to see this”, finding around the corner a spectacular view of Katahdin. It's getting closer by the minute, and we both resume with renewed vitality. We’re looking for the White House turnoff, and as we approach we find business cards tacked on the trees with more specifics. We hit the turnoff at 12:47, turning down the road and immediately running across Indigo, Cruisin, ChillyWilly, and Kilroy coming out, insisting we have to drop in for burgers. They also confirm that the forecast we’d heard, along with the closure of Katahdin the last two days, with 40 hikers waiting to summit. This cements our plan, as we don’t want to get hung up by weather, and we forge on with renewed enthusiasm, taking :30 to get to the air horn from where we can summon our ride.

A word about the WHL is in order: It’s the one remaining of a series of fishing camps built in 1911 - a tiny oasis of civilization amidst the “100-mile wilderness”. The side trail leads 1.2 miles off the AT to the lake shore, where we're to sound the air horn ONCE, after which Bill (when he gets round to it) cruises over in his boat for the pickup. On our arrival, the lake was exceedingly low (a result of some adjustments by the proprietors of the dam), forcing Bill to move his dock 75 yards away from the air horn recently to allow clearance for his boat. It's a momentary wait for the boat, and as we head across Bill announces that lunch was over at 1:00 (it’s now 1:30), and that dinner won’t be served until 4:00 – not exactly what we’d hoped for, but we’ll wait, having come this far. As we reach the lodge however, Bill runs inside, returning to advise that since no one’s staying overnight, they’ll get us fed and out. We leave our packs and boots outside, heading in to find all our fellow hikers just finishing dessert. We grab a table and order up the monster burgers immediately, with the aroma of frying butter and Worcestershire Sauce filling the room. Bill runs around muttering about everyone and everything, but his wife Linda is quite pleasant, and soon we’re wolfing down the huge burgers we’ve craved. Everyone else is settling up, and we’re rushed to get through (Bill’s muttering about their own lunch), so we hurry through, settling up ($21.75) with the door locked quickly behind us as they close down the lodge.

Coleen wants a shower, for which a nice bath house is provided a few cabins down, and I busy myself with filling water bottles and catching up on my journal, soaking in the sunshine on the picnic table this beautiful autumnal day. Bill and Linda have long disappeared, but soon Bill comes back for our ride across. The side trail goes much faster on the way back (we’re really energized by the resolution of our plans, and of course, “town food”), finding Last Minute and Blip at the AT junction, trying to decide whether to wait for dinner hour here. They’re joined as we chat by Turtle and Magic Rat (staying for the night – Turtle saw a cute bear cub in a tree today, howling for his mother), but we’re anxious to get some miles behind us. We shove off, with the typical rough trail following Nahmakanta Stream (now both my knees have started hurting on even the slightest descent – something I’ve experienced toward the end of a few previous sections, but never in both knees), though our spirits are high, reveling in the Indian Summer weather and beautiful fall foliage. Finally we reach the dirt road signifying our destination, and a few yards later is a nice campsite, with good sitting logs and a nice flat area for our stay, with the stream adjacent for water). We settle in, just getting the tent up and the fire ring built when Last Minute and Blip come by, advising that the group will be camping another .2 down the trail. Obviously they know something we don’t, but we’re already settled in here, and we have a light dinner after our gargantuan lunch (sharing one cup of noodles between us). I build a nice fire here and it’s a good night around the campfire, although we find on getting out the stove that the inner can has totally disintegrated – all our equipment is falling apart this section. It still works though, and after hot drinks and such, we turn in under the full moon at 8:45.

10/10 Nahmakanta Lake – Rainbow Lake tentsite (18 miles)

"The ox is slow, but the day is long."
Chinese proverb

I’d just nodded off last night when Coleen woke me, hearing voices in the woods – on looking out we’ll see a single headlamp wandering around our site (once looking right at our tent), and finally settling in over at the alternate tent site within our area. I yell out to ask if it’s Lion King, and sure enough; it is, having stumbled on us in a typically drunken stupor (says he didn’t even see our tent). He’s beat and going straight to bed, and we finally get to sleep just after 10:00, sleeping fairly well until 4:30, getting up a bit in advance of our alarm.

They've a great selection of food here; and we're dying for burgers and Cokes, which they’re all too happy to provide. I also chat with Linda, the store proprietor, about the camping situation at Baxter Park; and she assures me she’s never heard of space not being made available, with the rangers shuttling people as necessary to make it all work. We're elated, and we dive into our town food, managing to score the last ice cream cone there as well, along with a replacement cap for me and a spare roll of film as well. Everything is in order once again, and finally after everyone’s pulled out (and we’ve chatted a bit with a Dutch group heading into the wilderness), we bring up the rear with Monk, heading down the road towards the Baxter Park entrance. Even the road’s lined with gorgeous reds and yellows against the azure sky, and soon the path turns left into the woods, with a gentle traverse across Abol Stream and up into the woods. At the Baxter Park boundary there’s a kiosk to sign up for the campsite, and Ranger Dave is here, with most of our hiking group sitting around. As we approach he starts out with the “good news and bad news” line; as expected, the Birches is full, although he seems to be willing to consider options. He’s willing to radio and check on availability at Katahdin Stream, though we all know it’ll be full; and he’s really trying to talk us into staying at Abol Campground, hiking there tonight via a backtrack from Katahdin Stream or the Blueberry Ledges trail from here. This is unacceptable to us, but luckily we’ve also got to accommodate Blip’s boyfriend, whose car will provide us with a means of getting to another campground (at her suggestion). Ranger Dave gets on the radio again, finding that the closest he can get is a site at the distant Nesowadnehunk Campground – way out on the western perimeter of the park.

This is a solid :45 drive from Katahdin Stream (and Blip wants to join the group tonight for dinner, etc), but at least we have a place to stay, and probably a car to get there. There’s no way to get hold of her boyfriend Ed (we can’t even determine with assurance that he hasn’t secured a campsite on his own), but it’s enough to get us in, and with manifold thanks to Blip and Ranger Dave, we head down the trail, overjoyed that all's worked out. The autumnal color is spectacular within the park here, and it’s an easy trail as we join the placid Penobscot, following the bank of this mighty but silent river upstream into the park, reveling in our final hiking day on the AT. We take our time now, savoring this Indian Summer day, turning off onto the Nesowadnehunk Stream – a surging and rocky tributary taking us uphill into the park. The trail becomes quite a bit rougher here, but we’re in no hurry, seeing several of our hiking partners taking extended breaks out on the rocks. There’s a couple of crossings marked as fords, but they’ve both been bridged with rudimentary planks and such; but Coleen tires quickly, wanting a break. We stop just before Big Niagara Falls, giving a short pep talk on enjoying our final hike and such; and it works, encouraging her to savor the day. There's a quick stop at Big Niagara for a pix, and from here on we begin to see increasing numbers of tourists coming down from the park on short hikes.

Soon we come on a junction, the AT heading left and a nature trail to the right – various journals suggest the scenery of the right branch, but we stick to the official AT, which quickly turns into a muddy mess, with no views whatsoever. Passing Daicey Pond, there’s a bulletin board, parking lot, and privy; but no sign of a Ranger Station, so we continue, our knees both hurting badly as the trail goes up and down, up and down in the trail’s final PUD’s. It’s a relief when it finally comes to a dusty one-lane road for the final roadwalk – even though we have to dodge traffic and cough through the dust, at least it’s easy trail. It’s marked as a half-mile (seems much further) but finally we come to the sign – it’s Katahdin Stream!! A short walk down the road finds the Birches, where all our partners (save Blip) are assembled, the ranger having come by and told them that he’d check back later. We’re told that Blip’s boyfriend Ed is here and is agreeable with driving us along - in fact we actually passed him on the trail, as he headed down to join her. We chill for a bit, and soon they come hiking in – he’s a good guy, and seems like someone we can work with, although with the ample tenting space here, we all wonder if we can wangle our way into putting an extra space right here.

The ranger comes by after a bit, and we all head over to sign in – when Blip and Ed go to plead their case, we find that a space or two here appear unoccupied. The ranger feels confident about one (space 21 – the only one with a view of Katahdin), and finally tells us to go ahead and camp there if it’s open – he’ll come over later to collect the fees. This is great news, and about this time the cavalcade of hikers coming down from Katahdin begins – it’s a nonstop series of reunions for most of the group (we'll meet the popular Moo & 42 - we’ve read them a lot in the registers, but never met them before).