Day 129 - Sunday, August 15, 2021

“Drifter’s“ celebration lobster dinner went off with out a hitch. The food was great! So now I’m wondering, is completing an AT Thru Hike like getting a hole-in-one in golf where you have to buy the bar as “Drifter” flipped the bill for the lobster? 😳😉


We met our 5:30 am shuttle and were hiking by 6:00. It was a little cool, only 53°. Summer is over in Maine 🙄 🥶.

Today we are continuing hiking from ME 15 (2078.6 NoBo) to Trail 0.8E of Otter Pond parking (2093.8 NoBo) for a total 15.2 miles plus the .8 mile hike to the trailhead = 16.0 miles. This is also our first hike into the 100 Mile Wilderness. 









Wilber Brook.




Meet “Flamingo”. He started from Springer on March 24th. We’ve actually run into “Flamingo” several times but officially met yesterday. He asked us if we could take his Dad back to the Hostel as he was having knees problems. Turned out it was his IT band which you all know I’m familiar with that 🥴. I gave his Dad, “Captain Moonpie” the stretches that I knew from my IT band episode. Turns out “Captain Moonpie” thru-hiked the AT in 1988 and was doing it again now with his son “Flamingo”. “Captain Moonpie” was also a West Point graduate 🇺🇸.  It’s amazing the different people you meet on the trail. 







Fording Big Wilson Stream. Long Pond Stream was noted to ford in AWOL’s Thru Hiker Guidebook but was low enough we could “rock hop”across. 







Leeman Brook Lean-to.




The tree roots in the trail are like a bed of serpentine waiting for you to step on them so they can take you out 😳🤭.



Just a friendly reminder about the 100 Mile Wilderness.

We finished hiking at 3:00 pm under  clear sunny skies. It was a near perfect day for hiking.

After we got back to the hostel, Poet and Hippie Chic, the owners of Shaws Hiking Hostel were gracious enough to cook moose burgers for all the hikers - they were delicious! This was a special treat for sure 





It was shortly after this I hit the hay; 4:00 am comes way too early 😡


Till next time... Happy Hiking  🥾 

😋


“Acts of generosity in this wild and primitive setting…where basic amenities…are intentionally absent–are often received in a heightened sense of wonder and gratitude by hikers. These acts of generosity are referred to as “trail magic.”

                  (Appalachian Trail Conservancy)

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