August 31 (Day 123)

It was a comfortable evening, and I was glad not to spend it in the rain. The hostel was pretty crowded, but I still slept well. Breakfast was complimentary, and I had a lot of cereal and orange juice.

The morning was very leisurely. Everyone got up late and sat around watching TV until 11 a.m. Then people started moving, and four of us got ready to go out to the trail and the rest decided to stay at the hostel for the day.

We got started on the trail about noon, so it was going to be a short day. It was rainy this morning, and this weather was supposed to last all day.

The first big climb was up Saddleback Mountain, which goes above tree line, and which, on this day, went up into the clouds. It was very misty on top, and I couldn't see more than 20 yards ahead of me. So, no good views today.

After that the trail went up and down a bit, over the Horn and Saddleback Junior. I did feel a few real raindrops at one point, but it didn't last.

After a little over 10 miles I came to the shelter where I plan to spend the night. There is a large group of college kids here. They have set up tents, but everything else they brought is strewn all over the shelter. I might have considered walking farther on, but it's been so rocky and steep I can't be sure how far I would have to walk before I found a decent campsite. Especially since every flat, open space is pretty muddy from the rain.

September 1 (Day 124)

Last night did not go as badly as I feared. There were two groups of about ten kids each from Colby College. One group was headed south and one was headed north, and both groups happened to meet up at the shelter last night. They were loud for a while, but things soon calmed down, we managed to get a fire going, despite the wet wood, and the groups had what was necessary for making smores, which they shared with us thru-hikers.

I stayed up past my normal bedtime but still got up early. I went up and over Spaulding Mountain, but it was still in and out of the clouds while I was up there. On the way down the other side, I passed at least ten people out hiking for the day, which is to be expected, I suppose, since this is the beginning of the Labor Day weekend.

After a few more miles and a couple more mountains, I came to Maine Highway 27. The town of Stratton was 5 miles to the west, and there was a grocery store 2 miles to the east, at the base of Sugarloaf, which has pretty good skiing in the winter.

I wasn't planning on staying in Stratton, and I'd heard that the grocery store to the east was better than any of the general stores in town. So I walked the 2 miles. Also, I've heard, this grocery store has the last ATM on the trail.

I met another hiker there, and we sat for a while outside the store eating a bunch of food. We started walking back to the trail, and he was sticking his thumb out at every car to try to get a ride, but most cars were full of people and recreational equipment of people going on vacation. However, after walking about ½ mile, a guy stopped for us. This guy had thru-hiked the AT before, twice. Once south → north, once north → south.

Back at the trail, I'd already walked about 20 miles today, so I knew I wouldn't be going very far. Just inside the woods from the road, there was some Trail Magic: some Cokes and Mountain Dews, so I grabbed one to take for dinner. Two miles later there was a nice campsite, where I've pitched my tent for the evening. Bigelow Mountain tomorrow, where if it's nice, I'll be able to see Katahdin. [Ed. note: Katahdin is the northern end of the Appalachian Trail and Ben's goal.]