There is a 100 mile section of the trail with no services, few roads and very little cell service. This section is aptly named “The 100 Mile Wilderness.” I didn’t have enough service to post during this section so here are the 4 days worth of posts.

Day 126

To start off the day we had Shaw’s trail famous breakfast. We were each served 3 fried eggs, bacon and home fries. And then stacks of blueberry pancakes were left at each table. It was delicious!

I sat with a group of 3 thru hikers I had never met and some section hikers. The thru hikers and I chatted about heading out into the 100 mile wilderness. Two of them said they felt oddly nervous. It’s the most remote section of the trail. There are no services for, you guessed it, 100 miles. 

I understood where they were coming from. But at this point in the trail, the idea of having to go 100 miles to your next resupply just doesn’t sound too scary. If anything I was excited to go in. It’s supposed to be one of the most beautiful parts of the trail. 

After breakfast, we got dropped off back at the trail. It had poured all night last night and it was still drizzling so the trail looked a bit dreary. Also it was slippery. Really slippery. About 10 minutes into walking, I slipped and found myself sliding down a rock on my butt. It was only a short slide of a few feet but it was enough to for me decide to slow down and take it easier today. 

It continued to drip all morning. And the rivers, which just yesterday had been so low and easy to cross were suddenly gushing from all the rain. We had to ford a few rivers. I took off my shoes and changed into crocs for the first one. But my shoes were so wet by the time I came to the next one that I just walked through, shoes and all. 

I found a lovely campsite right next to a running river. Hopefully the white noise is why I need for a great nights sleep! 

Key stats:

Miles: 20

Elevation gained: 4600

Mile marker: 2104

Feeling: wet

Day 127

“Ocean in view, oh the joy” – either Lewis or Clark (I don’t have service to check and frankly, I don’t really care)

I wanted to use this quote when I first saw the Pacific Ocean when I biked across the country. But when I finally saw that majestic beast, I totally forgot my plan. So I’m using it today. The day I finally saw Mt Katahdin in the distance. 

It was a bit of a slow start this morning. It was still wet everywhere and my legs were heavy. I was trying not to slip (and mostly succeeding) but even as I knew I was doing the right thing, I found myself feeling a bit frustrated with how slow the going was. 

But suddenly I snapped out of it and picked up steam. We were going over mountains (they’re barely 2500 ft so really hills compared to what we have been doing) when suddenly I felt like I could move again. I climbed the mountain and passed the few hikers who had gotten out before me. 

I was stopped dead in my tracks when I saw a snake slithering in front of me. I had read there are no venomous snakes in Maine so I wasn’t scared, but at the same time, I just don’t like the slitherers.

I poked the snake to try and get it to get off trail but it just curled up and hissed at me. I wanted to go around it but the bushes were so dense around the trail that I was physically unable to. So I decided I would flick it off trail with my pole. I slipped my hiking pole under the snake and lifted.

Apparently I must have had a bit more adrenaline rushing through my system than I realized. When I lifted the snake instead of flicking it off trail, I absolutely launched it. The snake landed the top branch of one of the trees off trail more than 15 feet up. I jogged off, not wanting an angry snake to fall on my head.

I was feeling pretty good after this. Moving along at a solid pace and without a care. I got to a river crossing and took off my shoes and waded through. It was ice cold but it felt great on my hot and aching feet. 

I was greeted on the other side by a ridge runner, essentially a park ranger but there’s some distinction. He and I chatted for a minute. He congratulated me on getting this far and then asked if I knew how to summit Katahdin. I thought about being a smart ass and saying something like “uhhh left foot right foot?” But instead I just said no and asked for him to explain. 

And explain he did. He told me that if you didn’t have a campsite reserved, you have to be one of the first 12 thru hikers in line to be let into the park. Out of the last 2 weeks, every day had been oversubscribed. On 3 of the days, the 12 had been lined up before 5:30am. 

I asked if there was any way around it. He explained that you could hike into the park, do the 10 miles to Katahdin, summit and then come down and leave the park. It would be a long days he said. But doable. 

I had imagined just walking up to the mountain and flashing my thru hiker badge. The gates would then part for me as a band of angels would play harps as I walked in. Apparently, it’s going to be much more complicated than that. 

I was stressed as I did the next climb. I tried to burn off the anxiety of potentially being locked out of finishing ont he day I wanted. I flew up the mountain (this time 3,000 ft) and paused for a second before I went to the top. This was White Cap mountain. I knew that from the top of this one I would get my first view of Katahdin. I mentally prepared and then came over the top. 

It wasn’t right in front of me as I expected. I had to go a bit further and then turn left but suddenly there she was, staring at me from a distance in all her glory. She looked massive. There are no other mountains near Katahdin, which is part of why it’s viewed as such a special mountain, so it looks even bigger than the 5,000 ft it is. I sat down on a rock and just stared it.

But it was getting late, so after a quick bag of Fritos, I moved on. The downhill to camp was faster than I expected. I arrived at 6:30. A bit earlier than I wanted to be done for the night. The next shelter was in 4 miles. I wasn’t sure what to do.

I chatted quickly with Timberlake at the shelter. He’s planning on summitting the same day. There’s a group of 6 ahead that is too, he said. Damn, I guess I’m going to need to book it.

We chatted for a bit longer and then I introduced myself to the older guy next to him. He introduced himself as “Timberlake’s dad”. He had apparently done the 100 mile wilderness with his older son 3 years ago and was now back again to do it with Timberlake. He for some reason didn’t answer when I asked which son had been more fun to hike with. 

I half ran half hiked to the next shelter. But as night fell, I slowed down and turned on my head lamp. Some people get creeped out walking in the dark. But for some reason, it calms me. It’s peaceful and simple. There only so much you can see and, therefore, only so much you can care about. For the 95% of the walk where the trail was well marked, it was a delightful sojourn. The other 5% was a bit more stressful. 

I found a campsite just before the shelter so I wouldn’t wake anyone up coming in after 8pm. A quick dinner and a change into warm clothes later and I’m ready for sleep. 

Key stats:

Miles: 27

Elevation gained: 6,200 ft

Mile marker: 2131

That snake got: absolutely launched

Day 128

Since I had arrived at night, I had no idea what my campsite would look like in the morning. So when I woke up, the first thing I did was take a look around. I was in the middle of a site that could have easily fit 6 or 7 tents but there was no one else around. I looked a bit further, 50 yards maybe and there was the privy from the nearby shelter. Good news, I was upwind of it. 

The hike started with another river crossing but the water levels have started to drop a bit after the storm so it was once again possible to hop from rock to rock and avoid once getting my feet wet. It felt better to cross like this than fording the river, but on the other hand, I knew that it meant that water sources were going to start going dry in the next few days. 

As I got to the far side of the river I felt a feeling in my stomach I hadn’t felt in a while. Hunger. And not just any hunger, unsatiable true hiker hunger. I hadn’t been getting this feeling since I got back on trail in Pennsylvania. I wasn’t sure that I liked that it was back for the last week of the trip, but there wasn’t much I could do about. I jammed an uncrustable in my mouth to tamp down the hunger for a few minutes and then did a silent prayer that I had brought enough food. 

Hiker hunger does come with its benefits though. With the unlimited caloric intake comes unlimited energy. Even after a long day yesterday and a tough week, I was feeling great. I was walking most of the time but also found myself jogging at times. 

I caught up to a woman and realized it was hi viz! We chatted for a bit but it was clear she wasn’t feeling so great and just wanted to focus on getting her miles. I walked on. The second I was out of site, I jogged  bit more. 

The 100 mile wilderness is a bit oversold in my opinion. It’s called that because there are no services for 100 miles. There are, however, still roads that run through it. A few are logging roads but at least 2 or 3 are open to the public. 

Whenever I got to one of these roads, I’d feel my heart flutter. I had heard so many stories of trail magic in these 100 miles that I became convinced it would happen to me. 

And finally it did. I crossed a road and saw a sign to go right. When I got there Chilly P was grilling up burgers and dogs. He had coolers of soda and beer and a ton of other snacks. The only payment he asked for was to sign my name in the logbook. I hiker hungered hard and ate all I could. Then I took two beers for that evening. A little motivation 

By the end of the day I needed all the motivation I could get. The last few miles dragged on but as I hit my 30 mile marker and got to the campsite I had chose I immediately felt reenergized. I had seen a comment in the app that if you got to a beach and a walked half a mile down the shore and around a peninsula, there would be a private beach, a picnic table, a fire ring and beautiful place to set up a hammock. 

If anything, the comments undersold it. It was probably the most beautiful campsite I have ever stayed at. I got a fire going immediately and left the beer in the lake to cool down. Then I sat around on the beach as the sun set and just hung out. I thought about the trip and going home and so much more. I was up well past my bedtime and watched the stars come out as the sprinkled out over the nights sky. 

It was immediately one of my favorite nights on trail

Key stats: 

Miles: 30

Elevation gained: 2400

Mile marker: 2161

What I ate: 3 packets of oatmeal, 3 power bars, 7 uncrustables, 1 bag Fritos, 1 bag sour patch kids, 1 bag airheads extreme, 2 hot dogs, 1 cheeseburger, 7-8 mini chocolate bars, 1 pack ramen, 1 sleeve spam, 1 coke, 1 moxie, 2 beers

Day 129

I didn’t sleep last night. The incredible camp site I had found was fairly close to a site that was either a locals hangout or a recently evacuated homeless encampment. There was stuff strewn out everywhere – mostly benign, lawn chairs and badminton rackets, but there was also a cracked porcelain skull and a few other sketchy items. 

I hadn’t realized I was a bit scared by it until I laid down to go to sleep. Then suddenly every noise (and during the fall when the pine cones are falling there are a lot of noises) were the footsteps of some North East deliverance style local coming to get me. It wasn’t lost on me that the first night I was scared on trail was also my last true camping night. 

But that’s the way it goes sometimes. And to look on the bright side, not sleeping meant I was able to be up early to catch the stunning sunrise over the lake. I watched a muskrat enjoy it as well as he took a morning swim in front of me. 

But as he went about his muskrat day, I decided I should do the same. I had 23 miles to go to get out of the hundred mile wilderness. And when I got out, there would be a store with more food. I was ready for more food. And a cold, cold soda. 

The day was tough. There wasn’t much change in elevation but the terrain was difficult to navigate. My legs had the energy they needed but my mind was tired. It was impossible to stay focused and I kept having to slow down so I didn’t trip. I stopped more frequently than normal but between breaks was pleasantly surprised with how quick I moved. 

When I saw the sign that welcomed SoBos to the hundred mile wilderness, I stopped. That sign meant I had made it out. The last challenge before Katahdin was over. It hit me then that I was almost done. As I walked onto the road, I couldn’t help but stroll down memory lane of the last few months. 

But just as quickly as I was sent down memory lane, I was pulled back to the present. Right there in front of me was Katahdin. Posing with a river in front of her. She was massive and imposing. And suddenly I felt like I was basically there.

I stopped a mom walking with 4 kids and asked her to take my photo. She definitely had other priorities but saw my excitement and politely said yes and congratulations. 

I resupplied at the store (focusing primarily on chocolate milk and ice cream) before finding a spot to camp. I ended up next to some thru hikers who I immediately recognized as old school and threpeat – a few guys I hadn’t seen since Virginia! We sat up til well past 8 chatting next to a campfire – Katahdin looking down on us from a distance. 

Key stats:

Miles: 23

Elevation gained: 3200 ft

Mile marker: 2183

Miles from the base of Katahdin: 10