We're breakfasting in a light rain. John was up at 7:15, and I rolled out of the sack a few minutes after that. I slept well, and it wasn't as cold as the night before - I didn't have my sleeping bag zipped up all the way, and I didn't have my wool cap on. I was vaguely aware of the sound of rain in the night. We'll still hike - we both feel good after our long hikes yesterday, and a light hike today will loosen up the legs and feel good.
The car is packed and we're ready to go. John was talking to some folks at the next lean-to, and asked if they wanted our camp chairs, air mattresses, or cooler. They declined at first, but then came over a few minutes later to ask if the offer still stood. Of course it did, and they took our camp chairs and our cooler. That's great, and now the air mattresses will be the only things we'll donate to Goodwill tomorrow. It's still raining lightly, but the sky looks lighter. Lean-to #7, Roaring Brook Campground was a great campsite.
The trailhead to Katahdin Lake is a few miles up the road, on the way back to the park entrance. We'll park there, hike, then continue the drive out of the park and back to Millinocket.
I filmed a video tour of our lean-to, linked here and at the bottom of this post.
9:59am
Katahdin Lake trailhead. Happily, it's not raining now. I'm wearing long hiking pants, a short-sleeve polypro shirt, and my rain jacket (which I'll undoubtedly take off in a few minutes.)
Katahdin Lake Wilderness Camp. It's been a very nice hike, and we're now at the lake sitting in Adirondack chairs enjoying the view of lake, woods, and mountains while we have a sandwich and a drink and a rest. This is an interesting little lakeside camp - a few rustic cabins, some canoes, and an outhouse. We were wondering whether this is a private camp, or part of Baxter State Park - and I think it has to be part of the park. It doesn't matter, there's no one here, and we haven't seen a soul since starting our hike. It hasn't rained since we started, and the sky looks like it may even be clearing. It was warm enough hiking that I didn't need a jacket, but there's a wind whipping off the lake, and my jacket is on while we're sitting here. It's chilly enough that John, who never passes up an opportunity for a swim, isn't tempted by the lake.
South Katahdin Lake lean-to. This is another spot a few tenths of a mile up the lake shore. We're heard some funny water bird calls, and think it must be a loon. There's a wooded island offshore, and a big bald eagle is perched in a dead tree. Gorgeous.
1:05pm
Rest break at Martin Pond Lean-to. John and I are in full agreement that this might be the nicest campsite we've ever seen. The six person lean-to is in a pine woods looking out over Martin Pond. The views are beautiful, and there's even a canoe here! It's about 2.5 miles to the trailhead, so it wouldn't be a tough hike in with gear and supplies. We could even decide to make a second trip to haul some beer and ice (or a guitar) in to the camp.
We've been moving at a good pace - I think we're both happy to have flat ground to walk on after yesterday's orgy of rocks, and we're really striding. We had some trail-finding difficulty soon after leaving the Katahdin lean-to. The trail just seemed to end, and John finally figured out that it went across a stream on a dam of sticks (possibly a beaver dam?)
1:50pm
Back at the trailhead. Fantastic hike. It really felt good to stretch out the legs and stride. It was a beautiful trail - mountain, lake, and forest scenery - and mostly flat. Just what the doctor ordered! The day is now gorgeous - sunny, warm, blue sky. No sign that it was gray and rainy this morning. We didn't see anyone on the trail all day. We'll now head out of the park and back to Millinocket, where we have two motel rooms reserved (from when we thought it would be four people.)
Pamola Motor Lodge, Millinocket. It's a seedy little roadside motel, but it looks like the Ritz to me right now. We'll unpack everything, letting things get as dry as possible, then re-pack for the flight home tonight. But first, a hot shower!
11:05pm
I'm about to turn lights out. I'm pretty much packed and ready to go. We went back to the laundromat we found on Saturday and did another load of laundry. No sense in packing wet smelly clothes. Then we found the Appalachian Trail Cafe and had a filling dinner.
There were a number of A.T. hikers who had obviously just gotten off the trail - most likely thru-hikers, as this would be the time of year when someone who started in Georgia in the spring would be finishing their thru-hike. Personally, I find the idea of hiking 2,100 miles less daunting than managing 6 months away from job, bills, obligations, etc. John noted, I think correctly, that the age distribution of thru-hikers is probably a reverse bell curve - it's kids right out of college who don't have any responsibilities yet, and older folks in their 50's and 60's whose heaviest responsibilities are behind them.
It's hard to believe we fly home tomorrow. Baxter was amazing.
Just as with yesterday's hike, my phone ran out of battery, so I filled in our approximate route in purple. We hiked the loop in a counter-clockwise direction.
Total distance: 7.4 miles
Elapsed time: 3:51
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