This is the day that Brent and I will walk out of the wilderness. Of course, I have a side trip to take in the early morning. Brent and I left Rainbow Spring Campsite at the same time, but I hurried ahead to try to build a lead. I came to my side trail.
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I'm not so sure about the easy part. It was all uphill, but the views were great. I had a great view of some of the peaks in Baxter State Park and . . .
another great view of Katahdin.
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I made my way back down the mountain to where I left off on the AT.
The AT continues to follow Rainbow Lake.
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Both last night and this morning, I heard a couple seaplanes take off and land.
Now I got to see one take off.
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My last view of Rainbow Lake.
The lake gets its name from its arch shape, and I was at the end of the rainbow.
Unfortunately, there was no pot of gold.
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Where's the trail???
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Nearing the summit of Rainbow Ledges
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Here's the sign at the top. Just 6 more miles of wilderness.
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Brent was waiting for me and enjoying the view.
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Katahdin is getting closer.
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The trail tried to keep us back with some rough sections.
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It seemed like it took a lot longer than it should have to hike the two miles from Rainbow Ledges down to Hurd Brook Lean-to, the last lean-to in the wilderness.
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Just a little over 3 miles to go.
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More bog bridging
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We reached this caution sign for those heading south.
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We finally came out on Golden Road.
Here's the mileages back to some of the places we had been.
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This was the first paved road we had seen in five days. Brent's blisters had blisters by now. Despite his sore feet, he quickened his pace once his truck was in sight.
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Once we reached Brent's truck, I threw my pack in his truck. He followed me in the truck as I walked over Abol Bridge.
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From the bridge is an awesome view of Katahdin. We had planned to climb Katahdin together tomorrow, but the forecast doesn't look good so he will be heading back early.
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I continued my walk across the bridge and then passed the small general store for Abol Bridge Family Campground.
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A couple hundred yards up the road the trail cut back into the woods. I guess this is a good spot to end for today. Brent gave me a ride back to my car which we left near Katahdin Ironworks. The gentleman at the gate was very kind and let us in without paying since we already paid a few days earlier and were just returning to pick up a vehicle. I said good bye to Brent and got in my car. Phase one of this trip was complete. Now I was planning to meet some friends for 5 days of hiking in Baxter State Park. On the way back to Millinocket, I stopped at South Twin Lake to clean up.
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After a swim, a fresh change of clothes, and a shave, I felt like a new man. I bought some more food in Millinocket, gave Lynn a call to let her know all was well, and headed up to Baxter. Our reservations weren't until tomorrow, but I've heard getting into the park can be difficult at times. I pulled off the road outside the park at a beautiful lake. It was hot that night and I had trouble sleeping. The moon was full and I couldn't resist a moonlit swim on this pristine, crystal clear lake. After a refreshing swim, I was able to fall fast asleep.
