Wednesday, August 10th

Pierce Pond Lean-To (2039.1 mi) to US Route 201 (2043.1 mi)

Hiking Miles: 4.0

Total Ascent: 99.7 ft

Total Descent: 770 ft

Total Grade: 216.1 ft/mi

Steps: 15,992

DIRE STRAITS – Sultans Of Swing

Gator/Sunrise: Despite having only 4 miles to hike before reaching the Kennebec River crossing to board a canoe ride at 9 AM, I still got at 4 am to start my day. My spirits were good whereas we would be meeting Teresa today and the hike was expected to be a leisurely and less taxing one on the body. Then after today, only the 100-mile Wildness (Croc’s coined “Victory Lap”) and Mount Katahdin remained.

It was deathly quiet as I left the site in darkness with my headlamp shining. I was particularly focused on the white blazes because I was unsure as to the exact path leading out. Visions of goshawks assaulting my head were also going through my mind and I was on the lookout for any surprise attacks. Just a few hundred yards from the campsite, I came upon a ford that I needed to cross and it involved taking my boots off if I wanted to keep them dry. I took my time and safely crossed the ford just as the sun started to break over the horizon and through the trees.

I arrived at the Kennebec River at 7:45 AM and dropped my gear at the point where the transport canoe would be arriving. It was there I sat down on a log and made myself some breakfast and a cup of coffee.

Croc arrived about 20 minutes later (remarkable speed given that he left camp an hour and a half after me) and said he had passed a few hikers on his way. We were the first two to arrive however shortly after that, a number of our trail friends strolled in and took a place in line.

Croc and I were the first to canoe across the Kennebec. The assigned canoe guide and Croc handled all the paddling and it didn’t take long to cross (about 400 feet) to the other shore. The current was calm, but that was not always the case. Typically, it is extremely dangerous to walk across the river. The water levels could rise/change without warning and carry a person significantly downstream. At least one hiker has been known to have died trying in the past. Here is a sample post on FarOut from a local that sums up the hazard:

A half mile later after pulling up on shore, we crossed a busy US Rte 201 and climbed up a short hill to a parking lot where we were happily greeted by some trail magic. A small group of nice folks had a van full of food and were making pancakes and bacon for hikers, along with fruit and drinks. Small Word Story – I met a gentleman around my age who was from Lakeville, MA where I attended Ted Williams Baseball Camp as a teenager. He didn’t attend the camp, however he knew the owners (who I had met) and we had a good conversation while we ate.

Teresa arrived 30 minutes later than expected due to missing the turn to our location. Signs in the area were not clearly marked, and to add to her frustration, she was nearly out of gas and there were no stations coming up on the GPS. She managed to find her way despite spotty and misleading GPS, and it was great to see her. We introduced her to the Skogman family and we chatted briefly about their journey and Darryl being a math teacher like Teresa was for 15 years. We waited a few additional moments for Leg’s parents who were expected to show, but apparently also were running behind schedule. So we decided to say our good-byes (possibly for the las time since we likely would not be seeing this group again) before heading off to Greenville.

After a long drive down an extremely bumpy logging road headed for Greenville, we had a short stretch of paved road before reaching the Greenville Inn. We checked into a fantastic rustic, but modern room with decor that made you feel like you were tucked deep in the wilderness. It would be the last luxurious stay on trail. Teresa brought us some fresh clothes from home to change into and we all headed out to the Dockside Restaurant for some lunch.

After a great lunch, we took a ride to Shaw’s Hiker Hostel where we resupplied for our final stretch. Croc bought a much needed brand new pair of hiking shoes so he could finish strong and in style. We purchased enough snacks to last six solid days with some food to spare. Like Croc mentioned, we definitely will be back to stay at Shaw’s, solely because it was indeed an iconic stop for hikers and perfectly situated for both NOBO’s and SOBO’s. Later that evening we stopped in a nice (and busy) pub in town for dinner before calling it a night.

Croc: I made sure to get up early this morning so that I could catch up with Gator and ensure we were the first to cross the Kennebec River. There was such a large group at the shelter that I didn’t want to get stuck waiting a couple of hours in line at the river for everyone to cross. I estimated that it took maybe 5-10 minutes to cross, so each round trip could be 20 minutes of waiting. And I believe the canoe also only held two people at a time, so with a group of 10-15 people would last a while.

As Gator mentioned, the hike today started with an immediate ford where I didn’t even bother to take off my shoes. I figured there would inevitably be another river crossing, and I only had 4 miles to hike today. They would dry soon enough. I was actually hiking so fast to catch Gator that I apparently missed a moose that was right off the trail in a nearby pond. I found out when everyone who caught up to us at the Kennebec River showed us photos of the moose. It would have been an intersting animal to add to the list of sightings, but I had fortunately seen many moose before in my lifetime. When I did get to the river, I decided to make some breakfast and coffee as well since we had some time before the canoe guy would come. It was completely volunteer work, so I shouldn’t complain, but it was kind of unfortunate that the canoe hours were limited (9:00 AM – 11:00 AM), so it created a bottleneck of hikers at a certain time. But thank you for your service canoe guy!

It was ultimately became a fun story to tell people that part of the AT was actually canoeing, especially since we decided to bypass the water-blaze in Virginia. When we got to the other side, and popped out of the canoe, we were greeted with some amazing trail magic up the trail. It was actually very timely since Mom got lost down the road, so we could at least relax, eat, and say a final goodbye to all our friends. When Mom did arrive, we took a long drive down some sketchy logging roads in the Maine wilderness. Our next stops were Greenville, ME, to check into our bed and breakfast for the night and Monson, ME, to not only visit the town of Monson but also to check out Shaw’s Hostel (notably one of the most famous hostels on the trail) to resupply with snacks and new shoes. The hostel was nothing fancy, but I think it was a symbolic location for NOBOs hitting their last hostel and SOBOs hitting their first hostel after a tough 100-miler wilderness. Since we weren’t staying at Shaw’s Hostel, I decided to grab an AT mug from the shop as well as a memento off trail. Someday we will stay here on a future hike.

The rest of the day was very relaxing and much needed before our final 100-mile trek through the wilderness. We got to spend the day with Mom and enjoy a couple of meals including the Dockside restaurant for lunch followed by the Stress Free Moose Pub & Cafe for dinner. Gator and I finished the night by pre-packing and getting rid of any extra weight for our final stretch. Some of the extra weight included extra shirts, pants, gloves and socks we figured we wouldn’t need. It also included some luxuries like my journal, inflator, extra wires, and medical supplies I still haven’t used. Mom brought some clothes from home and it felt amazing wearing real clothes again. I quickly slipped off to bed ready for tomorrow.