Sunday, August 7th

East Flagstaff Road (2022.7) to Stratton Brook Road (2007.0)

Hiking Miles: 15.7 (Southbound Slack Pack)

Total Ascent: 5,123.7 ft

Total Descent: 5,001.0 ft

Total Grade: 646.2 ft/mi

Steps: 45,368

ELO – Livin’ Thing

Gator/Sunrise: Today I am one year older, and evidently no wiser in my old age whereas I am still on this trail. Stubborn and determined is probably a more accurate description of how I felt. But despite all the cursing and complaining I do on trail, this thru-hike is by far the most wildest adventure I have ever undertaken.

Another gentleman hiker (his name escapes me) staying at the hostel was celebrating his birthday as well. Baffling as it may seem, if you find yourself in a room full of people, the odds mathematically of someone having your exact birthday is surprisingly good. Croc and I grabbed a delicious home-cooked breakfast (their signature special was a baked cinnamon french toast), before we were shuttled to the trailhead on East Flagstaff Road for our southbound 15+ mile hike through the Bigelows. We were hiking it southbound whereas we were at the mercy of the hostel’s shuttle schedule.

We decided to hike the Bigelows (further north on trail) prior to the Crockers due to the extended weather forecast. Today called for clear skies (optimum for the views atop the Bigelows), and rain was projected for the following day.

Ten of us who were staying at the hostel were hiking that day, including the family of 5 and a new hiker we met whose trail name was “Leg”. At our first water stop, Leg caught up with us and asked if we had any extra snacks that we were willing to share. He had forgotten all of his snacks back at the hostel. Croc and I each handed him one of our Go-Meals (energy bar) which would have certainly fueled him for the day.

We set out at a pretty healthy pace and reached the top of Bigelow West Peak just a little past 1 pm in Stratton, ME. The views were absolutely stunning – the best we had seen to date in Maine in my opinion. The vast number of lakes down below were so impressive and it wasn’t hard to get caught up in its beauty.

One more time we met up with Digjeridoo, who we found resting with a few others and soaking in the westbound views. Dij immediately jumped up when he saw us and asked if now would be a good time to take that picture with the three of us. It turned out to be the perfect time, because surprisingly that would be the last time we actually saw him again on trail.

We stopped at an open fort-like structure to eat lunch, and we spoke with a few random day-hikers who had decided to do the same. We then reached Bigelow Mountain – South Horn (still in Stratton) at 3:45 pm, and subsequently the North Horn a short time later. We ultimately finished for the day around 7 pm and called for our pick-up.

Our driver was gracious to stop by a local grocery store on the way back so Croc could pick up a few items for my birthday celebration, which was so thoughtful and amazing. We had chips & salsa, pizza, cheesy bread with marinara sauce, beer, and an assortment of cheese cake wedges with fresh milk, and of course Gatorade. THANK YOU CROC and the “fam” who coordinated with him!

A funny thing that happened was Croc saved my bottle of Gatorade in the fridge (on the bottom shelf) along with a cold-brew and a note written on a napkin with my name on it. When I went into the fridge to claim my Gatorade later that evening it was gone. Our friend Leg mistakingly thought it was a house Gatorade and drank it. He had this “Oh Shit” look on his face when he heard me say “I think someone may have taken my Gatorade”. He immediately owned up to it and was very apologetic. I thought it was funny but he felt really bad. He handed me $5 and insisted I keep it, which truly wasn’t necessary. But keep in mind, a Gatorade on trail was equivalent to a pack of cigarettes in a prison.

Great Birthday today!!

Croc: Happy birthday, Gator! I was really excited today for many reasons. First, it was Gator’s birthday, so we had special plans to celebrate tonight. Second, I knew we still had two more nights at this “luxury” hostel, so I didn’t quite yet have the “Sunday scaries.” Third, we were going to slack-pack today, and it appeared to be the last real big mountain until we reached Katahdin. We still had plenty of ups and downs left, but this would be the last serious climb where we had to play the guessing game of whether we could do it before nightfall.

After an amazing homemade breakfast, we had a particularly long drive to the northbound trailhead for our slack-pack southbound. You could tell we were used to the trail and going to the bathroom whenever, and wherever, we wanted since we had to stop on the side of the road for 3-4 of us to hit the bathroom.

When we arrived at the trailhead, Gator and I took off. We wanted to complete the day at a reasonable hour so we could celebrate, so we didn’t stop much to chat with the other hikers. We actually made it up the main part of the Bigelows fairly quickly and stopped for lunch at the top. There where a few other hikers enjoying the views at the top. One of them was Dijeridoo where we got our most iconic photo with him. I think Gator and I both agreed that the Bigelows had the best view on the trail by far. I should actually say the best “natural” view on the trail because McDonald’s was always our favorite “actual” view. We were able to see Sugarloaf Mountain from one side, numerous lakes on the other, a small airport, and a major highway in the distance, as well as the mountain range we were about to hike southbound. The 360-degree views give you a lot of perspective of where you’ve been and where you need to go.

As we continued up and down a few rock scrambles over the Bigelows, I actually passed Teardrop again. We met her back in New Hampshire in a group of four women who were planning on going to the Barn Hostel with us. I talked to her for a bit while waiting for Gator, and she mentioned that they stayed at another extremely nice hostel for the past couple of days. She was a strong hiker, so I didn’t expect to catch back up with her before the end of the trail since she was already a day ahead of us (since we skipped ahead to do Bigelows first).

Towards the end of the day, we made it to the other side of the ridge near the South Horn. We stopped for a quick snack, where we were greeted by several birds checking out our food. I was still afraid of the goshawks (although these birds were definitely friendly), so I took a video for Christina (the bird lover) and booked it out of there.

We eventually made it back to the main road to get picked up, and the caretakers dropped me off at a gas station-esque market for me to grab Gator a cheesecake, milk, Doritos, and, most importantly, a Gatorade. We were well past the take-out time, so we decided to just grab some frozen pizzas when we made it back to the hostel. We were lucky to be the first ones back from that big group since the frozen pizzas take 15 minutes to cook, and there was only one small pizza oven.

We then topped off our day with a celebratory beer, knowing we had a short slack-pack tomorrow, and some cake. We gave the rest of the cheesecake slices to the family (with the three boys) that were staying at the hostel as well. Now Gator can impress people by saying he’s 61 and hiked the AT!

We did finish the day on a sadder note with Leg accidentally drinking Gator’s Gatorade (as mentioned above). I was ticked off because I clearly left a note that said “Rich” on it, but thinking back, it’s easy to accidentally grab the Gatorade in a community fridge that says “$1 for Gatorade.” Leg would later do more than enough to rectify the situation, proving to us he wasn’t another moocher on trail, but actually a great person. The reason I say “moocher” was because earlier in the day (as Gator mentioned), he also forgot his snacks for the slack-pack, so he had to ask everyone for food. At first I was thinking “c’mon man, how’d you get this far on trail and forget?” but he was the type of person to pay you back two-fold for your generosity unlike a lot of people on trail.