Day 182
Start: Hostel of Maine
End: Stafford Notch Campsite
Miles Hiked: 10.4
Miles on AT: 2019.4
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Another day, another mountain range! This morning, I had a delicious breakfast provided by the Hostel of Maine. I had an early start since we were scheduled to get dropped off at the trailhead at 9:30 am. When that time came around, I was well fed, packed up, and ready to go. Mace and I hopped in the car and before we knew it, it was time to start hiking again.
Mace and I had agreed to try and camp around the same area, so we split up and started hiking at our own paces. A couple of miles in, I crossed a big milestone – the 2,000-mile marker! While I had crossed 2,000 miles the day before, it was great to actually see the sign. I had less than 200 miles to go!
On and on I went, passing from colorful foliage to evergreen forest. The climb wasn’t that bad, but when I got to the top, it was cold! I’d wanted to stop for a snack break at a view, but the wind was a bit too fierce. Instead, I stopped at the Horns Pond Lean-to that was sitting directly in the sun. Shielded from the wind, I enjoyed a nice snack and tried to contact someone who could ferry us across the Kennebec River, the next water crossing. Mace and I would get there in a couple of days, and since it was after the deadline to catch a free ferry, we had to find someone who could ferry us for a fee. With my inquiries sent and snacks eaten, I continued on the climb, up South Peak and then over to the Bigelow Mountain West Peak.
There were a good number of people out on the trail today. None of them were thru hiking, but one of them, a guy named Colossus, had hiked the trail last year and was completing a SOBO section that he had missed. He had a message for me to pass on when I got to Monson, “Tell Hippie Chick and Poet Colossus says ‘hi.’” Will do!
When I reached the top of Avery Peak, I was blown away! Not literally (although that was almost true), but I was struck once again by the fall landscape on all sides of me. Despite the whipping wind, the skies were clear and the orange carpet of leaves stretched as far as the eye could see. I would have spent way more time up there, but the cold temperatures kept me moving down the mountain.
On the way down, I ran into Mace again. We had planned to camp at the next shelter, but that was still about 6 more miles away. I wasn’t feeling up to that, so I decided to cut my day a bit short and stay at the next campsite. Mace wanted to keep moving, so we agreed to meet up in the morning.
After a few miles, I reached my campsite and, for a long time, I was the only one there. The forest floor was blanketed in leaves and the temperature was starting to fall. I took my time getting things set up since I’d gotten to camp relatively early, but I was able to have dinner before dark, wow! I called Janitor and talked to him for a good bit while I was bundled and warm in my quilt. Another hiker came into camp, so I called out to introduce myself and continued on with my call. There’s just something so nice about being able to relax in camp without feeling rushed about beating the setting sun. On one hand, I felt like I could’ve gotten a few more miles in today, but on the other hand, I knew I could make it to my planned campsite tomorrow regardless of where I camped. Content with my decision, I said goodbye to Janitor and drifted off to sleep.
And that’s day 182.
A version of this post originally appeared on TheTrek.co.