6th August
17 miles
Gorham (1891.5) to Carlo Col Shelter (1908.5)
The big white Cadillac dropped several of us hikers back to the trail at around 7.30am. My pack was loaded with enough food to hike 120 miles. I decided I wanted to spend more time on the trail rather than taking every opportunity to get off trail to resupply. I’d be skipping two trail towns with possible resupply options. The result was a rather heavy backpack.
The first steps of the day weren’t too bad. Slight stiffness and a little tenderness in the knees but much better than previous days. The rest seemed to do me good. Most of the other hikers raced on ahead of me.
It was windy. Specially as the trail climbed higher up into the mountains and it was cold. Luckily, there was no rain but that was forecast to change in the coming days..
After 113 days of hiking I’ve made it to Maine, the 14th and final state on the Appalachian Trail. Some people say it the toughest, others say it’s the most scenic. I know it will be tough, lots of elevation gain and loss will see me climb the equivalent of Mt Everest 3.5 times. New Hampshire impressed me with its scenery and it was tough, a great place to go hiking. I was certainly looking forward to my time in Maine.
I pulled into camp early. My heavy pack made me tired and I just felt like sleeping. Thumper was nowhere to be seen. A couple of other hikers mentioned that he continued to the next shelter around 4 miles away. There was no way I could hike any further. I was done for the day.
After dinner there was still an hour of sunlight left. I closed my eyes and started drifted off to sleep, exhausted. I think Maine might be tougher than I thought.
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Next : Day 114 – Mahoosuc Notch
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Hi, Ho on you go into the beginning of the maine ending of the trail in Maine. What a fabulous 112 days and more.
Yes and I think the best is yet to come.