Day 1.  We drove up to Maine yesterday - left my parents house in Charlotte, NC at 4am and arrived in Millinocket, Maine at 12:30am.  This morning we got up bright and early and left for Baxter State Park, leaving our dog Nola in the hotel room (my parents will watch her for us while we hike through BSP which does not allow dogs and they will meet up with us tomorrow so she can join us for the 100 mile wilderness).  When we got to he park we found out that we had missed the ranger who would have registered us as "official" AT hikers, so we decided to go ahead and start our hike and register in the morning.  Whew!  What a hike up Katahdin (kuh-TA-dinn)!  People had told me that it would be a bit of a climb, but I didn't realize that we would literally be climbing up the mountain.  Half of the hike was spent climbing up and down boulders.  But it was totally worth it.  Some of the most beautiful views I have ever seen from the top.  We're staying in a little lean-to at the Katahdin Stream Campsite tonight.  All-in-all, it was a great first day.

Day 2.  Today was our 4 year anniversary.  We plan on celebrating at White House Landing, a small lodge in the middle of the 100 mile wilderness, about 3 days in for us.  We made great time hiking out of Baxter and met my parents at Abol Bridge for lunch.  Then we said our goodbyes and began the trek through the 100.  It was a relatively easy hike in to the first lean-to, but there was a group of about 10 teenage boys hanging out there so we hiked on a little further and found a spot to pitch our tent by a brook.  Met 2 NOBOs (north bounders) today who are about to finish their 2nd AT hike: The Missing Link & Red Dane.  Also met "Just Jack" from Chapel Hill who is section hiking south.

Day 3.  We have had amazing weather.  Today we stopped at Rainbow Lake for a swim.  The water was so cold but it was great to feel clean and refreshed when we got out.  Found some blueberries growing along the trail - sweet, tart and delicious.  Every so often we catch a glimpse of Katahdin, reminding us that we haven't gone very far.  Tonight we are staying at Rainbow Stream lean-to. I had wanted to keep hiking so we wouldn't have to rush ourselves to get to White House Landing tomorrow (it's about 17 miles from here), but this was such a great spot with a rushing stream next to it, and our feet were so tired, it was pretty easy for Robbie to convince me we should stop.

Day 4. Today we hiked the 17 miles to WHL.  Got here by 6:30pm and had just missed dinner.  We are starving and exhausted, but so happy to be here.  This place is awesome.  To get here you hike out to a dock and then blow an airhorn, then wait for one of the owners to come out and get you on their boat.  Bill and Linda started WHL about 20 years ago.  Bill had owned a chimney cleaning business but one day had a nasty fall that caused him to have a fear of heights.  One day when he was out fishing he saw this house and a year later he and his wife bought it and turned it into a lodge for fishermen, hunters and hikers.  It is the only place in the 100 miles that you can get a shower, a bed and awesome food like their famous 1 pound burger!  They are hoping to sell the place this year and move down to Florida, so I'm glad we caught them this year.  They tend to keep pretty busy (last night they had 16 guests) and I guess they just want a break.  But we are the only people here tonight, so it's very quiet and peaceful.  

Day 5.  This morning Bill made us english muffins, sausage links, scrambled eggs and blueberry pancakes.  It's so nice to have a break from oatmeal.  We decided to stay here until after lunch and take a "nero" (nearly -zero) day.  This morning we took their canoe out on the lake and paddled around, looking for moose.  We didn't see any moose, but it was very beautiful and peaceful.  Also hand-washed our clothes in buckets with lake water and found some wild rasberries to snack on.  At lunch we were joined by Billy Goat (NOBO) and Crash Test (SOBO).  Crash Test is also from SC and started hiking the day after us and we met him when we were heading out of Baxter.  He has been trying to catch up to us ever since.  So after lunch the 3 of us hiked on another 5 or so miles to Antlers Campsite, a great spot with lake on either side.

Day 6.  Today, like everyday, we saw tons of moose skat and tracks but still no moose. :(  We passed by a "pond" (in SC it would be referred to as a lake) that looked so glorious I just wanted to jump in, but we were on a schedule and had to keep walking.  We finally made it to the East Branch lean-to in time for dinner and bed.  There is a river next to this lean-to but the water looks so gross I can't bring myself to wash in it.  Better luck tomorrow I hope. 

Day 7.  It's kind of crazy when I think about the fact that this is going to be my life for the next 5+ months.  I get excited thinking about it.  SO far it has been great.  I mean, not the hiking part.  The hiking is ok, sometimes miserable, but the views, swimming in these awesome lakes, the wildlife, meeting interesting people... that part is great.  We hiked several mountains today, including White Cap, the highest peak in the wilderness.

Day 8.  This morning I woke up to Nola growling.  Looked out towards the woods and saw a doe grazing.  Later in the morning as we were packing up we saw another deer staring out at us from the tall grass to our left, maybe 20 feet away.  Then, a few minutes into our hike, we encountered our first trail magic.  Trail magic is when strangers do something kind for AT hikers, like give rides or food.  In this case, some lovely people who called themselves the Pine family left a cooler full of whoopie pies and soda pops.  What a great start to the day.  Pine family, we love you.  Those whoopie pies and cold pops gave us the extra boost we needed to climb up Chairback mountain, which is every bit as intimidating as it sounds.  We passed 3 hikers (2 girls and a guy) today who looked to be just out of high school.  The guy had fallen when hiking up Chairback and cut his ankle to the bone.  The girls were carrying magazines, huge bottles of Dr. Bronners and peroxide as well as hair products, and now they were carrying his stuff as well.  I offered to help them out with his stuff but they said they were only hiking to the next road where someone would meet them and drive them to town.  Climbed a few more mountains for the day and met the famous "Roaming Dude", who has apparently been hiking in the wilderness for several weeks (it usually takes people 7 - 10 days).  He asked us to save him a spot at Cloud Pond shelter, where we planned to spend the night.  If you have read Bill Bryson's "A Walk in the Woods", you may remember that he refers to this shelter as one of his best days on the trail, but it is also where he decided to quit the wilderness.  I had my first fall hiking in to the shelter - fell flat in the nasty bog.  I didn't get hurt other than a scrape on my knee but it was pretty nasty to be covered in bog mud.  SO after dropping off my pack at the shelter, I walked down to the "pond" (all these ponds look like lakes to me) to bathe.  Saw a beaver swimming in the distance as the sun set on the horizon and listened to a song about hiking the AT that a hiker named Cologne was playing on his ukelele.  It was very serene, and definitely one of my favorite moments so far.

Day 9. Today was not a great day.  I had so little energy.  Then, I lost some things down the river while filtering my water.  Things I can live without, but still, it was discouraging.  And those stupid jackflies kept stinging me - I hate those things.  Robbie (who is going by the trail name of Super Turtle) and Crash Test were very patient with me all day.  My sweet husband was especially kind and helpful all day.  Tomorrow we arrive in Monson, our first town since starting out from Katahdin!

Day 10.  Today we hiked 7 miles into the tiny town of Monson, ME.  We decided to treat ourselves and spent the night at Lakeshore House Lodging and Pub, a great little hiker hostel on the lake.  We shared a room with another SOBO hiker named Mason.  All the rooms in the hostel are left open, and they have what is called a "hiker box", where hikers leave items they don't want/need and other hikers can take what the do want/need.  It was overflowing, we barely had to buy more food b/c there was so much left in the box.  My guess is that a lot of people quit the AT once they get out of the wilderness and leave their stuff at the hostels.  They had a laundry room downstairs which I happily used - first time I've been able to wash our clothes (besides hand-washing them at WHL).  Yay!  Tonight we went to the General Store which turns into a pub by night and listened to some locals having a little bluegrass jam.  Very cultural experience.