Day 189
Start: Logan Brook Lean-to
End: Sand Beach, Lower Jo-Mary Lake
Miles Hiked: 21.3
Miles on AT: 2147.3
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I had a big goal today. I needed to get to Jo-Mary Road, about 15 miles away, by 2 pm so that I could pick up my resupply from Shaw’s food drop. I wasn’t sure how the trail would treat me today, so I woke up while it was still dark and started hiking as the sun was coming up. I was still wearing my sleep clothes since my skirt and shorts were still wet, but the morning wasn’t too cold once I warmed up.
Around 8 am, I stopped at East Branch Lean-to to have breakfast and ran into another hiker who was still in his sleeping bag. It’s funny how I could be on the trail for 6 months and still meet new people in the last few days. He had also gotten a bit slowed down by the rain a couple of days ago, so had pushed his resupply pickup to the next day. Looking at the weather ahead, the forecast wasn’t too promising for an easy Katahdin summit. It appeared that there was going to be a bad weather day in 3 days followed by one clear day and then 2 more bad weather days. That meant that our chance to summit was realistically limited to that one clear day. We both hoped that we could make it in time.
With my resupply pick-up on my mind, I said my goodbyes and kept moving. There were a lot of people on the trail today. I saw at least 5 other hikers while hiking, including a woman named Chiller. She was a super cool lady who was retired and up for an adventure. She had started the trail on January 13th and was determined to finish despite her slower pace. She didn’t think she could make it to Katahdin during the single clear day, but was hoping to summit after the second bout of bad weather passed.
We talked and walked until we got to Jo-Mary Road, where she, too, needed to wait for a resupply drop. We arrived there around 1:30 pm with plenty of time to wait for our resupply. There were already about 5 other hikers distributed along either side of the road. After a while, it was kind of like a party! We all chatted and hung out; some were just there to eat lunch, one guy was waiting for his hiking partner, and a couple others were also waiting for a food drop.
Just before 2, a woman who had been sitting in her car on the side of the road approached us needing help. She was looking for a hiker and didn’t have reception, but wanted to know if we knew where they might be. I asked, “Who are you looking for?”
“Well, my daughter’s trail name is Tilly’s Mom.”
Omg, it was Tilly’s Mom’s mom! I swear, we all just kept running into each other in one way or another. We spent the next 20 minutes trying to figure out where she could be and trying to send text messages. I was finally able to get a text out to Tilly’s Mom to tell her where we were, but all we could do after that was wait (and eat the cookies she baked for us hikers).
Soon, the resupply van showed up and we all got our food. I was very pleased with what I had packed for myself and felt secure in that I had enough food to make it up Katahdin. Good job, past Princess! There was also a bag of trail magic food that was donated by none other than SheRa.
Speaking of SheRa, a pickup truck made its way down the road, and none other than SheRa, Tilly’s Mom, and Tilly jumped out. Tilly’s Mom and Tilly’s Mom’s mom were finally reunited! Hugs and cheers were exchanged all around, and today’s hiker drama was resolved. Tilly’s Mom had gotten my text and came down from where they had been as soon as they could get a hitch. I was so happy to have helped reunite everyone.
Soon, it was time to keep on moving. I waved goodbye, sure I would see them further down the trail at some point. We would probably summit on the same day given how things were going so far.
The next few miles were flat and easy. My spirits were buoyed by the feeling of community I had today. Hanging out with a bunch of AT hikers never ceased to brighten my day. Throughout my hike, I’d had to bounce between groups, never really settling in with a core bubble. But now, in the last few days of the Hundred Mile Wilderness, my bubble had solidified. I loved seeing so many people on the trail and just hanging out. I wished I’d had more time to do that throughout my hike, but that’s just not how things turned out. Regardless, I was more than content to at least have the last few days of my hike filled with good ol’ AT hiker quality time.
That night, I set up camp on a sandy beach site. The lake was calm, the sky was clear, and I had the whole place to myself. Looking up at the stars, gratitude and awe washed through me. I was so lucky. It was no longer raining, the weather on my whole hike had been amazing, I was surrounded by hikers that I enjoyed hanging out with, and I was only a few days away from my Katahdin summit. Despite all that I had been through, despite all of the setbacks and time away from trail, I was going to make it to the end.
Part of me was ready to be done, but another part of me didn’t want to leave the trail. With the thoughts of the end of my journey swirling in my head, I laid down and went to sleep.
And that’s day 189.
A version of this post originally appeared on TheTrek.co.