What a day it has been! I enjoyed being able to sleep in late this morning, especially considering I can feel an oncoming cold. My brother planned on leaving Millinocket around noon, so we headed to Baxter State Park to prepare for goodbyes. We saw a moose at Stump Pond, which I kind of felt was necessary before I got out of Maine, so I'm happy to say I can check that box! After registering with the park ranger I began what would be a very long 10 miles out of the park. I had to reach the park boundary by the end of today because camping is only authorized in designated areas. The first 2 miles were easy and I breezed through them. After that, my feet really started to hurt from yesterday. I soaked them in a stream with the hopes of numbing them, and of course it started to rain. I knew rain was expected later, but I had hoped it would hold out until I set up camp (What dream world do I think I live in??) It rained off and on a few times, but none really lasting more than 20 minutes. There was so much of the trail today that was flooded over because of the recent rains, and I must have missed in the trail guide where it mentioned I would wading through almost waist-deep water! Walking 5 or 6 miles in soaking wet shoes is not my idea of a good time. There was supposed to be a stream crossing today, but the water was too high and the current too strong to even think about attempting it. I had to take the high water bypass, which added about a mile to the hike. I walked about half of this trail barefoot because it felt so much better than walking in shoes at that point. The bugs here are also terrible, and some of them take some serious chunks out. What I thought was mud on the back of my leg turned out to be dried blood. I've never used so much bug repellant in my life. I wanted to stop and rest a few times, but I knew if I stopped walking I would be instantly swarmed. It took me a long 6 hours to finish the hike, but I made it to Abol Bridge and had time to set up camp, eat, and take a shower (I wasn't expecting this at all!) I met another thru-hiker, but forgot to ask his name. He was the first one I've met so far while on the trail. I'm not sure how far I'll be hiking tomorrow. I'm in so much pain right now I'll consider myself lucky if I can make it out of my tent!
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| Tadpoles at the edge of the pond |
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| Big Niagra Falls |
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| Part of the flooded trail. |
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