September 2, 2010
It's time for my annual trip to Baxter State Park. My friend MEB was also nearing the end of her Appalachian Trail hike. The timing couldn't be better. Five days earlier I said good-bye to her in Maine's 100 mile wilderness. She was able to update her trail journal once or twice while in the wilderness so I had a rough idea of where she was. I figured she would be finishing up the 100 mile wilderness today. At about 1:00 or so in the afternoon I began south into the wilderness hoping to run into her.
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I briefly had thought about taking a shortcut to the Hurd Brook Leanto but I figured that if she was ahead of schedule that I would miss her. I had been on the trail for only about 20 minutes when I ran into her. The weather had been extremely hot the past week so I figured she was overdue for a cold beverage. I had packed in some ice cold root beer for her.
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It was so great to see her. We hiked the next mile or so together until we emerged from the 100 mile wilderness. Congratulations MEB on surviving the wilderness! I took her pack in my car as she walked up the road, stopping on the bridge to enjoy the awesome view of Katahdin. She spent the night at the campground while I drove around and entered the park where I would be spending the next few days.
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