South Arm Road 1947.5 to Bemis Stream 1959.9 (12.4 miles, 934.5 total miles)
It was a foggy and cloudy morning when Catchup and I hiked out around 9AM. We were only planning on 12 miles, so we took our time getting out of camp. Sunshine departed around 7, and I said bye to her before she left.
The day began with a climb up Old Blue Mountain, which was an ascent of 2,200 feet over 3 miles. The steepest part was the first .7 to a viewpoint on the way up.
I was dragging again this morning, in need of the zero days that we were hiking toward. My calves hurt again, and I let Catchup hike ahead while I took advantage of cell service at the view.
At the view, we were above cloud line, and could see the clouds dispersing through the valley below, which was quite beautiful. At the view, a NOBO named Cash and Halfway passed by on their way up the mountain.
The climb evened out after the view in a big way, and I put on some music to get me up the mountain. I saw Sunshine close to the summit, and she wasn’t having the best day but had taken a break for a while to rest.
There was no view at the top of Old Blue, so we both just hiked on toward the water source that was 1.5 miles further.
Cash and Catchup were at the very small stream when Halfway and I arrived, with Sunshine just behind.
There was a nice piece of birch bark making a funnel for the water, which was clearer than what we’d been seeing recently. It had been a dry summer, with a lot of empty water sources and slightly brown water.
I left after everyone but Cash, and hiked on up three more hills and up Bemis Mountain. I was feeling quite drained as I went up the the mountain, but admired the beautiful moss in varying shades around the forest.
There were still rocks and roots over most of the trail, that required careful navigating over, especially with plenty of places to get my trekking poles stuck by accident while I walked. It was a real momentum killer when that happened.
Legz, Rude, and Daddy Long Legs hiked by me going south, finishing out a three day slackpack courtesy of the Pine Ellis Hostel. It was nice hiking around them again.
Sunshine and I saw the Swiss Family Robinson near an overlook after the summit of Bemis that showed Rangeley Lakes. They are an actual real life family with three young boys who I had seen last in Dalton, MA.
We chatted with them for a while about our hikes. They were flip flopping from New Jersey, and they told us about trail magic ahead, at the road we were ending our day at.
The trail magic was going till 5PM, and it was about 1:15 then. We hurried on to the shelter ahead, Bemis Mountain Lean-to, where we found Catchup, Cash, Beast Mode, and Halfway.
Sunshine hiked ahead to get to trail magic, while I ran to the privy then back to the trail. Catchup and I hiked a couple mostly flat miles to Bemis Second Peak, which was lovely with exposed rock, tiny evergreen trees and moss growing around the edges.
We could see a nice view in front of us with the road below, and hustled down another 2.4 miles to Bemis Road, gray clouds gathering overhead.
It started to rain gently, water making the rocks slick as we traversed down them. I had exchanged my umbrella for my rain jacket, but didn’t have a pack cover.
I was hoping that it wouldn’t rain so hard my pack would get soaked. I use a trash compactor bag to line it and keep my gear dry, but the wet pack can soak up water weight, making it heavier.
It rained on and off, and we debated whether or not the trail magic would still be there due to the rain. I tried to reign in my expectations just in case.
As we got to the bottom of the mountain, we heard happy voices and sped down the final stone steps to the gravel road.
There were two tents set up with the most amazing cookout trail magic I’d seen since Harriman State Park in New York, hundreds of miles back.
Several locals had been putting on this trail magic during the season once per week, and had just happened to switch up their normal day of the week, fortunately for us.
Sunshine was having a great time, her day totally turned around, she was so happy. Halfway, Cash, Beast Mode, and two other hikers named Ketchup and Scrambles were there with us as well.
There was pasta salad, chips, soda, cake, cookies, and the most amazing bacon cheeseburgers I may have ever eaten before. It was heaven.
It rained just a little on us, and during a break in the weather, Catchup and I headed down the trail a short way to get set up for the evening.
Sunshine joined us after a while, and the sun came out nicely while we were at camp. I expressed interest in soaking my feet in the beautiful stream next to us, and the other two agreed.
We spent an hour or two sitting on rocks in the stream and talking about the trail and some personal things in our lives, too.
It was emotional for me think about Katahdin. It was emotional for all of us, really. It was strange to me that Catchup and Sunshine were almost done, it was almost hard to wrap my mind around the fact that they’d started in Georgia.
I still had a lot of trail ahead of me, but I was so proud of myself for hiking through Maine. It felt very far away from where I’d started in West Virginia.
Because I had quit at Route 2 in New Hampshire last time, I’d missed out on the amazing state of Maine. It truly had its own vibe, and felt just a little more wild and rugged than anything else I’d seen so far.
I was immensely excited to see one of my very best and oldest friends, Ashley, in Rangeley. Her grandmother had generously agreed to let us stay at their lake cabin for a couple days.
I’d been looking forward to this since the beginning of the trail this time. I’d been to Rangeley several times between traveling on or near the trail, and going there with Ashley. This would be even more special, because I hiked there from so far away.
It had been a lot of hard hiking for the past week, and I was exhausted. I felt broken down, but stronger than ever at the same time.
Sunshine was hanging in there, and making the best of what life had thrown at her lately. I was going to miss her and Catchup deeply after Katahdin, but I felt extremely lucky I’d get to travel there alongside them.