Free Spirit’s ( Al's )

Appalachian Trail Journal

Mt. Washington, NH to Mt. Katahdin, Maine

Northern Terminus of the Appalachian Trail

(Part 8)

Dates ........ Thursday, September 12, 2002
Miles ........ 15 miles
From ........ Rainbow Stream lean-to
To ............. Abol Bridge and public campground
Weather ... 42 degF, AM, cloudy, windy, COOL, no rain.

Thursday, September 12, 2002

Rainbow Lake, Rainbow ledges 1517', Abol Bridge (Public campsite and store.)

The trail and woods were sopping wet though the rain had stopped sometime overnight. I started out at 6:50 AM. We all put on our wet clothes then joked about who would be the first one to fall into the creek while attempting to cross it on the wet log bridge. This bridge was another engineering marvel - two twenty-some foot long logs, about 6 to 10 inches in diameter, two or three feet above the water, laid next to one another. Besides being wet and very slippery, the two logs sprang up and down as we walked across them. More like a game-show survival challenge then a practical bridge. But, hey it worked! We all made it, giving each other cheers of support and encouragement. It was a very cool, windy day at first. I had to keep moving to stay warm. My wet clothes and the wet trailside brush dried out quickly, making it a very pleasant day for hiking.

The trail hugged the southern shore of the magnificent and unspoiled Rainbow Lake before climbing Rainbow Ledges. There I suddenly realized the awesome greatness of Mount Katahdin as I saw most of it clearly for the first time. Though its peak was shrouded in clouds, it was easy to see why the natives called it "Greatest Mountain". It stood alone, impressive and intimidating. It was my holy grail: the end of the trail, my crowning achievement - if and when I made it to the top. My ultimate disappointment if I did not - and that was a very real possibility. I could be shut out by bad weather or rules and regulations. I'd heard horror stories of through-hikers getting all the way to Katahdin and then not being able to summit. I was beginning to fret.

Seated on top of Rainbow Ledges, at the point that the view of Katahdin was the best, was a lone female hiker, bundled up and reading a book. She gladly obliged me when I requested my photo be snapped with the great mountain in the background. We talked a little bit, and then I moved on, pushing ever closer to my goal.

Mount Katahdin - its summit in the clouds (snow and icy conditions on top.)

As I was descending Rainbow Ledges, I met a hiker going up with no pack at all. Curious about a hiker in the wilderness without a pack, I asked him about it. He explained that his girlfriend (the woman that just took my photo) and he had set out on a five-day journey from Abol Bridge and she had gotten that far before her knees gave out. He had left his pack at the nearby Hurd Brook lean-to and was returning to carry her pack and help get her off the trail. No, he did not need any help. I continued on, stopping at the shelter for a break and some water. Clint and Richard came along, followed shortly by the young couple. They planned to take it easy there for the rest of the day and then take their time getting back to Abol Bridge.

As I listened to the radio for a weather report from nearby Millinocket, I heard the sad news of a great tragedy nearby. 15 migrant workers riding in a van had gone off one of those logging-road bridges in the Maine wilderness and only one man made it out alive. Float planes, the rescue vehicles of the Maine wilderness, along with logging trucks and loggers tried in vain to rescue any survivors. There were none to rescue, save the lone survivor that reported the tragedy by flagging down a passing logging truck.

I heard other news from hikers. The smoke I smelled a few days ago was from a forest fire near White Cap Mountain. It forced closure of the trail and probably delayed two hikers that were behind me: Sunshine and Caribou frank. I had expected them to catch up. Of course, there was no way of knowing if they got through ahead of the fire or were held up by it. Relating my thunderstorm-under-a-rock experience to a group of hikers, they related some more sad news to me - it was probably that same storm front that had caused a hiker to fall or be blown off Mt. Madison's rocky summit to his death.

At Abol Bridge I expected a small town. But it was just a bridge and a country store and public campsite. No town. There were lots of other hikers there, some obviously overjoyed at having just returned from the summit of Katahdin and their completion of the AT. Talking to them put many of my fears aside. The rangers were very friendly and helpful; the opposite of what some of the horror stories and stringent published rules indicated. The climb itself was a challenge, but not as bad as some mountains in the Whites or southern Maine: nothing we hadn't already been through. That left the weather as the only concern. Rain, like we had yesterday, could be (and was) snow and ice on the mountain. That could cause trail closure. Then it would be up to a hiker to wait until the next opportunity to climb - at the mercy of the over-filled campsites and rule-enforcing rangers. It was 9 miles back to the public campsite at Abol Bridge if the Katahdin Stream campsite filled up. I decided not to worry about it and take each day as it came, just as I had the other 2, 140+ miles of the AT.

When I got to Abol Bridge mid-afternoon, the sun was coming out. I got some fruit and a couple of double hamburgers, pulled up a plastic chair in the parking lot and set about the task of repairing my boots. I spent three painful hours forcing a regular needle and strong nylon thread through the two weakened leather and Gore-Tex seams in my left boot. When I was done I had several deep holes in my thumb and forefingers but my boots laced tight once again and felt good on my feet. I would just have to put up with the smooth soles.

As I mended my boots at Abol Bridge there were scores of police and investigative vehicles and news vehicles of all kinds driving by, most returning from the accident scene by the time I got there. Helicopters flew overhead, though the accident site was more than 60 miles from Abol Bridge, all those that needed to get there had to go across the Abol Bridge to get into the wilderness location of the tragedy. It was the state of Maine's worst-ever traffic accident. I could easily see how an unfamiliar driver could have a fatal mishap on these logging roads and bridges. It was most unfortunate. The point was driven home when a flatbed tow truck drove by with the tarp covered van on it, the bodies reportedly still inside. Another prayer was in order.

There were no telephones so there was no way I could report that I had made up the day I was behind. I had rescheduled my ride to pick me up a day later. This was good, in a way - it gave me extra time to wait out bad weather at Katahdin - which looked like a real possibility. I still had some 9 miles to go to the trailhead, but that did not concern me. If I got a window, I would go. I ate some more microwave burgers - I was surprised how even they tasted great. Then I set up camp and took a shower. Rain was forecast for overnight and tomorrow with a 40% chance of rain the next day. It was windy and cool here, so I knew it would be very windy and lots colder on Katahdin. I was very nervous and concerned about the weather.

I met a lot of neat hikers, Peace Frog and Dagger among them. Clint and Richard's wives came along and retrieved them. They would return in the morning and hike the 9 miles to Katahdin Stream Campground, base camp and the trailhead for Katahdin's climb. I caught the evening news and weather on the camp store's TV. It looked nip and tuck for the weather and my climb up Katahdin. Several of the hikers that summited Katahdin today were unable to yesterday because of trail closings due to ice and high winds above treeline.

I had my little tent set up nicely in a sheltered site, out of the wind. Anxious and excited, I went to bed. At least I could start the day with a hot cup of coffee.

Daily Journal Entries

~ Journal Part 8 ~

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09/01/02 09/02/02 09/03/02 09/04/02 09/05/02 09/06/02 09/07/02
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Last Updated 12/26/02