Friday. 14th Sep

I woke early as I was uncomfortable on my buggered mat. as I lay there I heard a weird noise, a new noise, could it be moose? I grabbed my phone threw on my flip flops and crashed through the woods to the creek
The sound was much louder a mowing or bellowing sound, followed by lots of crashing. and I could see the trees moving ..I trained my phone on the sound and was shortly rewarded with the large head of a Bull moose poking out of the trees but it was brief before he retreated into the forest. But it was brilliant and made my day .I was so so excited a moose and a huge bull moose at that whoop

I made my way back to.my tent and began to strip down, I was still on cloud nine.
I made a brew, drained it and in was ready.
It was about  .8 miles  to the shelter I could have made that yesterday but then I wouldn’t of seen the moose
I  pushed on  and soon began to see tents before running into passenger ..how goes it man .
So good to see you.
We chatted for a while , before i went in search of the  privy
when i walked over to the shelter i was  surprised to see the whole of  the slack packing team (cheaters lol )

We  took a few photos then of set off it was about 16 miles to Abol bridge then a hitch into millinocket..
I pushed on but the trail was pretty crappy mainly roots so my pace was slow  but i didn’t really care   and  well the scenery was pretty amazing
I hiked on passing  many amazing lakes, eventually  stopping at a spring to grab more water. There were reports that there were moose  nearby but there was nothing when i arrived..

It was a beautiful day and was beginning to get warmer as I hiked on, pushing  past more and more lakes.  It was then that I saw two familiar faces . sat on a rock by the lake was So-hum and Kaleidoscope

Bloody he’ll i exclaimed I thought you guys were long gone
Wander woman then appeared  so I asked her to take our photos.
I then followed then out  but do not  have their pace.
The trail  began to climb, more  slabs of rock , The heat hit me like an oven door being opened. it was like a furnace. I had to stop to put my bandanna around my head to stop the sweat stinging my eyes . Then Katahdin appeared OMG MY END GOAL!!It looked amazing I stood in awe of the mountain

This was to be the end of my journey . all those days months and miles. I hoped to climb this beauty Sunday or Monday .
I pushed on my watch counting down the hours, at 12 .30 I decided that I deserved a break and found a large rock to sit on . I dropped my packed put on a brew as  several  hikers began to pass  followed by Wander woman, Passenger , bleep and lastly the commander before I packed up and set off After them .
I caught them at the next shelter the last shelter on the AT so I stopped to sign the book, before continuing on . I was getting excited at reaching Abol bridge..

I pushed on and typically the trail became an obstacle course lots of trippy-up  roots slippery rocks and  lastly walking the plank, this was followed by a  biggish climb ..
Once up i was greeted  by a sign telling me I was exiting the 100 mile wilderness
laughed to myself that i was still alive. ha ha
It was a short walk before i came to  the road, as I crossed it a car came past me that  i recognised as being the commanders wife ..
I waved and said that they were about 30 minutes behind.

There to my right was Abol bridge. whoop whoop.
As I walked across  the bridge ,I was so busy looking at a cormorant sat on a rock in the river that I competently missed the Amazing view of Katahdin….( I will come back).

I crossed over the bridge  and soon came to the store restaurant. Outside lined up were several packs . I dropped mine and walked into the restaurant  ordered a large sprite, beer, burger and fries and fell into a booth.
Several other hikers were here so we chatted until my food came
as I sat  chatting and eating So-hum and kaleidoscope appeared.
What an amazing view of the mountain Snail they said
Which one I replied?
Katahdin as you crossed the river Snail.
I didn’t see it I replied!!
They were speechless as was several other hikers .
I was so busy looking at the bloody constant I had completely ignored the one thing that was my goal.!!! DOH

How did I manage that, so as soon as I had woofed my dinner i walked back to take  photos of Katahdin mountain and strangely the cormorant was still.there.

I walked back to the store and Then I ordered up a BlackBerry large ice cream .
it was getting late almost 6 pm and  I still had to hitch into millinocket .
So-hum & Kaleidoscope were hiking on  and were going to summit  tomorrow so I said my goodbyes and headed for the road

In hindsight if i had gone on with them then i would have climbed Katahdin on a Glorious Day   Oh well

I began to walk and was picked up by a tour guide taking two customers back to their lodge. I sat in the back  of the pickup that was very exhilarating.
He dropped me off at the hostel but I had forgotten that it was trail days and so the town was heaving so no room at the hostel.
There were so many familiar faces here  so I caught up on the Goss for a while but I needed a bed so headed to the hotel about a mile away it was just over $100 but I needed a bed .
Once i had checked in , i visited the shops brought some beer and then to McDonald’s.
Once back at my room , I did  laundry then caught up on my blog.

Start. 2
Finish. 11
Miles. 16
miles left. 6