Day 129 - Last Day in Wilderness (August 15)

There was a view of Katahdin across a lake today. Its lookiing much bigger than when I first saw it from White Cap Mountain yesterday. I hear its the hardest climb on the entire trail. There are supposed to be a lot of rock climbing to get up and down.

I'm at the Wadleigh Stream lean-to tonight with Captain Jack, Pipi & Hamburgler, Sage, and Sailboat. I met Captain Jack somewhere before, but I don't remember where. He looks like Johnny Depp in the pirate movies. He got off the trail for five weeks, and then decided to flip flop. I think he lost his trail legs. He thinks the Hundred Mile Wilderness is hard.

This should be the last night camping at a shelter on the trail. There is only 38 miles to Katahdin, and 23 miles to Abol Bridge. There is a private campground at Abol bridge that I will probably stay at tomorrow night. From there, it is a 10 mile hiike to the base of Katahdin and 5 miles to the top.

I may try to summit on Sunday. The altenative is to do a 10 mile day to the Birches campsite for thru hikers, which is at the base of Katahdin. If I decide to summit on Sunday, I will have to get up around 4:00 AM to get to the base early enough to make it up and down.

I think I may have been sick for a while. I'm feeling like I have more strength than I've had for a few weeks. I've been feeling drained. I thought I was feeling burned out, but I'm not so sure anymore. I've had a caugh and a stuffy nose since the Whites. My energy level decreased after the caugh started. I've been feeling a lot like I did after I had the fever in Demascus except I don't think I have a fever.