Stratton, ME 2006.1 to Horns Pond Lean-tos 2011.2 (5.1 miles, 985.8 total miles)
Catchup woke me up at 6:30AM, and let me know when it was 7 and he was heading down to breakfast. I got up to use the bathroom, then returned back to bed, feeling very anxious.
I opened my notes app, where I keep a meticulous record of every dollar that I’d spent on the AT so far this hike. I reluctantly opened my phone calculator and began adding up.
The classic rule of thumb for the trail is that it costs an average of $1,000 per month. Some people can do it for less – Baked Potato spent around $4,500 if I remember right.
Others can spend upwards of $10,000 on their thru hike, according to hiker surveys I’ve read. Those people are referred to as “platinum blazers”.
That doesn’t include gear, either. Because I want an honest account of this hike, I will include the fact that I spent $3,500 on my gear, which is on the higher end of the spectrum, but not at all unheard of.
I based my financial goal for my hike to be in the $1,000 per month category. I am not sure how long that statistic has been around for, but it certainly became a thing long before the inflation we’ve been experiencing the last couple years.
In May, I hiked half the month and spent just under $500. In June, I spent $1,300. This morning, after calculating, I realized I’d spent $1,500 in July, and had already racked up just under $900 by August 10th.
This meant I was tracking to spend $3,000 in August alone. I was $4,200 into a $6,000 ideal budget for my entire hike, with the potential to be hiking (and spending) into November.
I knew I’d spent a lot this month, but I’d procrastinated in tallying it up because I didn’t want to face it. I was immensely disappointed and angry with myself when I saw those numbers.
Now, I had worked for a long time in the car business and saved my money religiously. I’d earned the right to pay for my hike in whatever way I saw fit.
However, I want to build a life for myself that I actually enjoy after this hike, and a financial cushion is a necessary component of having the freedom to choose where I put my energy.
Now that I’d faced what I was up against, I didn’t feel that I could justify even paying $10 for breakfast at the hostel, so I stayed upstairs and tried to figure out what to do.
The only thing I could come up with was to hike out. I’d spoken briefly to Catchup the night before about hiking two small days and meeting him and Sunshine the second evening.
They were planning on hiking 15 tomorrow, so I figured on doing a 5 and a 10 so we would be in the same place.
Another night at the hostel was a drop in the bucket compared to what I’d already spent ($35 for a bunk), but I’d end up eating town food all day if I stayed, which was where all my money was going.
I knew if I took the zero with Catchup and Sunshine, I’d be in for an entire day of anxiety and restlessness. It wasn’t just the money, I also needed to hike and be in the woods, which is what I came out here to do. I wasn’t in a rush to get to Katahdin, but I also wanted to still feel like I was on a backpacking trip.
I changed into my hiking clothes, took a caffeine pill and ate some of the banana bread I’d bought yesterday in lieu of paying for breakfast. I cashed out with one of the Jen’s, for the room and resupply I’d gotten there.
While I was packing up my bag, Sunshine and Catchup came into the room, both caught off guard that I was going to hike out, and that they’d had to hear it from Jen instead of me.
I talked with them both for quite a bit, and I felt very guilty that I’d not been more explicit in my feelings about wanting to hike today. Even I didn’t know that was going to be my plan until I’d really thought about it.
I wanted them to enjoy their time till Katahdin, as I was cognizant of the fact that it was the end of their hikes, and I wanted to respect that. I may have been neglecting my own needs in the process, and saw that was something I needed to work on in the future.
This was why I had been so hesitant to join the Cult at first. I hadn’t wanted to take anyone else into account when making my own choices.
Yet the companionship and happiness I had around both the Cult and the Donks (my current trail family name) had caused me to bend my own rules and learn flexibility.
Sunshine and Catchup had asked my opinion several times now on various circumstances, and it was my own fault that I hadn’t been speaking up.
I wasn’t trying to leave them behind or hike ahead for real, I just wanted to escape another vortex and the opportunity to spend more money.
Especially because skipping meals was a dangerous game for me with a history of anorexia. I needed to be spending more money on resupply food that was cheaper and I could hike with, not town food that was much pricier.
After clearing the air with my trail family and knowing I was going to be hiking just a few miles today, I felt much more cheerful. I finished my salad from last night and ate a couple leftover pancakes from breakfast the day before that anyone was welcome to.
Now that I was feeling better, I knew I had to get out of the hostel before my resolve crumbled. Percy arrived and met up with Two Braids, and I said bye to them, Sunshine, and Catchup when I left at 11:30AM.
Jen drove two other hikers, Coach and Garmin, back to the trail with me as well. It rained a couple times as we drove, and my heart sank a little, as I’d been hoping it would only be cloudy and not rainy today.
Amazingly, when we got to the trailhead parking lot, there was a nice older gentleman doing trail magic for hikers. PTL had hiked in 2020, and had been paying trail magic forward since then.
I got to have a lunch of two hotdogs, chips, fresh fruit, Gatorade, and an oatmeal crème pie for the road. It couldn’t have come at a better time, because I was already famished again and there was literally no better time for me to receive a free meal. It felt like the trail was telling me I’d made the right decision to hike.
Coach and Garmin hiked south, while I crossed the road to go north. They were Springer flip floppers, meaning they’d started in Georgia, and flipped up to Katahdin and were hiking south to where they’d left off.
That is typically more of an unplanned flip flop, but is always an option for NOBOs who need more time to finish their hike, since Katahdin closes for the season in October.
It started sprinkling in the parking lot, so I put my rain jacket over my pack again. It was drizzling when I entered the woods, and that stayed steady for the first couple of miles.
I didn’t start hiking till 12:15, and I never hike fast when I get that late of a start. I took my time on the first 2 miles to Cranberry Stream Campsite.
There was a break in the rain there, and I used the privy on the edge of camp. I was thoroughly tempted to just stay there for the evening. There were plentiful flat spots, cell service, and no one around.
I figured it would only be worth my while if I did the rest of the 3.2 to Horns Pond Lean-tos, and got most of the ridge climb out of the way. There were two shelters there, and I was very much not wanting to get my tent wet again after the poor experiences I’d had this week already.
I knew I’d appreciate getting it over with later, so I started the climb into the Bigelows. The drizzling rain resumed, and would last for the rest of my hike.
It wasn’t too bad, though, because all my stuff was dry inside my pack, and so was my pack itself. A little over a mile in, I passed a small beaver bog, with beautiful flowers all around.
A bit further, as I was starting to climb into elevation, I saw and felt myself ascend into the clouds. The trail suddenly became extremely beautiful, a bit more rugged.
There were enormous boulders reminiscent of Mahoosuc Notch scattered on either side of the trail. Several rocks were covered in vibrant green mosses, while red pine needles littered the trail floor, and the white blazes stood out starkly in the contrast.
It became a pleasure to hike through, though after a while the trail became steep and rugged with roots and a few technical climbs as I went along.
I stopped a few times to pick and eat blueberries, since I had plenty of time. I passed two viewpoints with no views, then had a nice flat half a mile to the shelters.
At the trail junction, there was a day shelter, which I’d never seen before on the trail. It was a three-walled wooden structure, but had benches along it, rather than one large wooden floor.
I said hi to a young man working for the civilian corps of Maine, and who seemed to be filling in for the caretaker. I made my way to the shelters, sincerely hoping to find no one else there.
In one shelter there was a male thru hiker I recognized from a couple days back. The other shelter, which was very large, was also very empty.
I don’t sleep well in shelters, so to have one to myself is the ideal scenario. The rain picked up while I hung up my wet clothes in the shelter and put on my comfy dry base layers.
I texted Catchup and Sunshine to let them know I’d arrived just after 3PM, and made my way down to the pond to gather water during a pause in the rain.
I spent quite a few minutes there, contemplating a lot of things, and talking out loud to both myself and whatever universal power is out there. I voiced my concerns and the lessons I thought I needed to learn.
It was peaceful and very pretty at the pond, with lily pads floating, fish, and drops of water coming off the trees making subtle concentric ripples through the water.
My intuition, which I’d been practicing listening to more lately, told me when it was time to head back to the shelter. As soon as I got back under cover, it began pouring for 20 or 30 minutes.
I spent a little time reading my book I’d still yet to finish, and stretched and massaged my legs. It was chilly with the clouds and rain, so I bundled myself up in my puffy coat.
I made ramen with a packet of chicken and tuna each, and finished off the banana bread for dinner. Just before sunset, I saw the clearest skies we’d had in days over the shelter roof.
No one else showed up, so I had my own personal shelter all night, something I’ve always wanted. I hadn’t been by myself on trail in about a month, and was enjoying the solitude, though knew I’d be very happy to reunite with Sunshine and Catchup tomorrow.
I just needed to get my head on straight again, and let nature work her magic on my mental state. As Catchup had said earlier, I couldn’t un-spend the money. I needed to accept what had been so I could change what would be.