Day 101: Antlers Campsite to Abol Bridge Parking Lot (36.9 miles)

August 21, 2004 - I got no sleep because I had a lot of bugs get into my tent so they were biting all night, but what kept me up were all the bites I had before I got into my tent. I’ll never camp that close to a pond. Of course it started to rain while I was packing up, but most of my stuff stayed dry. This section of the trail was suppose to be the flattest part of the trail so I was hoping to get in some good miles and hope to catch up with Shepherd so I could have someone to summit with. I couldn’t tell you how many ponds and rivers I came across on the day, Maine has so many. It seemed like the rain would never stop, at times it came down very hard and sometimes it was just a sprinkle. The thing about hiking in the rain it makes you hiking farther because you don’t take many breaks but what is the point of drying out in a shelter and then heading back to the rain. On the day I only took about 30 minutes worth of breaks. I had planned on stopping at Hurd Brook shelter giving me 32.5 miles on the day but when I got there the shelter was full just like the last one. So I cooked dinner and found out that Shepherd was at the shelter not long ago and was planning on summiting Katahdin tomorrow because the rain is suppose to go away and have perfect weather. Around 7pm I decided to finish up cooking and pack up and head to the next camp but I knew that it would be dark very soon that I would be hiking some of that last 3.5 miles in the dark. I made it to the campsite around 8:30 and it was pitch black out. The campsite cost $8.00 and I had no cash. The woman at the site said there was a place just up the road where I could camp. I walked up the road and couldn’t find the place she was talking about. All I found was a parking lot which had some people sleeping. I had woken one of the guys up and said that this spot was the best place to camp. So I threw out my sleeping bag and planned on sleeping under the stars. I just hope that it doesn’t rain which it doesn’t look like it will. Still no sign of Shepherd but he will have to pass this parking lot on the way to Baxter State Park. I got my biggest day of my trip in today of 36.9 miles, giving me almost 70 miles in 2 days, only 10 miles to the base of Katahdin and another 5 miles to the top.

Nahmakanta Lake