It was a long, difficult, yet fun filled week working our way through the 100 Mile Wilderness.

7/14

We started with one last breakfast in town before shuttling back to the trailhead.

(Left to right: Chocolate Rain, Karaoke, Luna, Spice and me)

There seemed to be a nice stream or lake around every bend in the trail. You could tell right away that this final section would be something special.

We called it a night at the Wilson Valley Shelter early enough to get set up, eat and still have time to play cards and enjoy ourselves.  We were determined to enjoy every minute of this final stretch.

7/15

Today was cool, foggy amd misty as we hit the trail. The trail was flooded in some areas and the rest was full of mud and roots.

We had several streams to ford.  Chocolate Rain worked to move some rocks to hop across.

The afternoon was pretty foggy as we worked our way up and down several climbs to the Chairback Gap Leanto where we stayed for the night.

7/16

There were four mountains to hike up today, including Whitecap Mt, the last major peak before Katahdin.

We were treated to some beautiful views as the early morning mist burned off the mountains.

The trail itself was very nice today, very few rocks and covered in pine needles as it wound through the forest.

Late in the afternoon, I summited White Cap mountain,  the final peak before the trail levels out prior to Katahdin.

From the top, you could just make out mt Katahsin through the afternoon haze. It was exhilarating to finally get a glimpse of the famed peak that would eventually mark the end of my journey.

We camped near the Logan Brook leanto for the night, eating the last of our food, eager to pick up our food drop in the morning.

7/17

We woke up and trekked the 8 miles to an old logging road where we had arranged a food drop. This would provide us with enough food to finish the 100 mile wilderness.

After picking up our supplies, we found a little sandy beach and took a quick dip before moving on. We stopped for the night at the Cooper Brook leanto. We had heard about it and its swimming hole for a couple weeks and were not disappointed!

There was even a cascading waterfall that made a great Jacuzzi at the bottom.

7/18

We found a surprise waiting for us on the trail this morning….trail magic!

It came in the form of two barrels full of snacks left for hikers by a boyscout troop!

Afterwards the day got even better when Spice and I spotted a young Moose near a pond just off the trail. It was a juvenile moose, but still larger than anything else we had seen on the trail so far.

After seeing the Moose,  Spice and I met up with Comet and Cpt Underpants again.  We found a sandy beach that we couldn’t pass up in the heat of the afternoon.

After swimming a bit, we noticed fresh water mussels on the bottom and started collecting them for a meal on tje beach. We found about two dozen and steamed them over rocks in a pot.

I had some butter packets that Spice mixed with seasoning turning out a great little meal!

After eating, we still had about 11 miles to make it to the leanto we planned on camping at.

The trail was full of roots and mud making progress slow. It also rained for about an hour (though it somehow stayed sunny at the same time) making for a rough trek.

By 7pm we realized we weren’t going to make it before sundown,  so we stopped short and camped near a pond.

It turned out to be a great decision. We walked up to a beautiful sunset over the pond.

This ended up being one of the most enjoyable and memorable days on trail

7/19

We woke to a very hot and humid day on trail. It was a long day, full of mosquitos, flooded trail and mud.

It was a long day, but we did get to see mt Katahdin again, it looks a little closer every time we are afforded a view!

We also found some ripe blueberries growing near the trail for a quick snack

We camped at Hurd Brook leanto for the night, eager to wake up and finish our last day in the 100 mile wilderness!

7/20

We woke up early,  so we could hike out of the 100 mile wilderness and over to the Katahdin Stream Campground to feast on their breakfast buffet. The trail was flat and we kept a quick pace

After breakfast we hung around the campground with some other hikers enjoying the nice weather and talking about our adventures on trail. Katahdin loomed large in the background as we talked, laughed and reflected on the journey so far. Hard to believe it is almost over!

After lunch we hiked about 10 miles to Baxter state park where we camped just 5 miles from the summit of Katahdin!