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When we passed Piazza Rock Lean-to the privy was named Your Move. It was a 2-seater with a cribbage board between the seats!

Maine weather seems to be overcast mornings that clear after noon. We arrived at the top of Saddleback Mtn with perfect timing for our first view of Mt Katahdin!

This was a long difficult day, even with the late start. In 13 miles we climbed and descended over 4500 feet. We hiked until 7 pm and found a campsite above the stream. It was full of pine needles making a soft, comfy bed. We slept well until something rattled our cook pot just outside the tent door. Marcia banged on the tent walls and Ken shined his light out the door. No signs of any creatures, so we went back to bed. A few minutes later something disturbed Marcia's shoes. Still we couldn't catch sight of the critter. We gathered everything close to the tent door and had no further incidents.

Another tough day in the wilds of Maine. We got off to an early start and worked hard all day. Today was another day with lots of climbing. The last 2 days contain 9800 feet of climbs according to the Maine ATC.

The weather continues to be great for hiking. It is overcast part of the day, but the views of the lakes and mountains with fluffy white clouds is spectacular.

We climbed on 2 of Maine's highest mountains today without summiting either. We did high traverses around the peaks. We still got some good views. We ended up on Maine highway 27 at 6:40 pm. At least we got a ride with the first passing car. It was a local who lived here for years without a car. He said he is still in payback mode.

We got back to the trail in the late afternoon planning to hike about 5 miles. This would take us part way up a huge climb that we would finish in the morning. It would also get us a little closer to the Kennebec River with a ferry crossing. The ferry is a canoe that operates 9-11 and 3-5.

The needle duff trail doesn't hold water like a hardwood forest leaf trail so walking was pleasant. Clouds gradually broke up as we climbed and we got increasingly picturesque views.

AWOL was at the first shelter out of town and we thought there would just be the three of us. A south bound hiker, Crash Test Dummy, who started at Cape Gaspe came in late and we were glad to hear his stories of his International AT travels.

All of us put our food in a metal garbage can provided to protect it from aggressive chipmunks. Some of us ate well before going to sleep.

This was a day of huge climbs and descents. There were many overlooks as we climbed. The lakes and ponds below were absolutely beautiful. Thin mist was strung through the valleys that we gazed down onto.

The big peak of the day was Avery Mtn that was a regular cone shape and very pretty to look at. It was fun and a challenge to climb and above the treeline we enjoyed the rocks and plants. Miniature blueberry plants no taller than my thumb produced full size berries.

We ate lunch at an overlook with a photo view of Avery Mtn. It was hard to believe how far we had gotten after a few hours. The ATC chose one of the best peaks to name after one the AT founding fathers.

BIG news: the road had 2000 miles painted on the surface! We had 172.6 miles remaining at that point.

The shelter at the pond was as perfect as the rest of the day. We had beautiful weather, views, trails and an occasional tree showing golden fall leaves. As things got quiet we heard a few loons out on the pond.

We got to the Kennebec an hour early after passing a south bound hiker who told us that we missed the last ferry and that he was the last passenger. That was true for the morning but we were there for the afternoon schedule. The ATC has hired a canoe and paddler to ferry hikers because the river can rise 2-4' without warning as water is released from a dam upstream.

After an hour of sitting in the sun at the river we heard the canoe scraping on the rocks. At the same time the river level began to rise so Jeremy, the paddler, had to work hard to get Ken & me across. Then he took our picture with the canoe.

Caratunk was a very short distance past the river and the guide mentioned food. We went in to the hostel and ordered a cheeseburger. It was so good that we each ordered another.

As we waited for the second cheeseburger two hikers arrived. One was Liteshoe, a hiker we have been following on TrailJournals since before she started - March 1. We never believed we would catch her. Well, we really haven't yet because she is really 1 trail day ahead of us.

We left Caratunk a little later than we wanted. As we hiked up the mountain we heard the blues band setting up at the tavern below. We were entertained by music echoing up the ravines for our last hour of hiking. We also heard a snort from the creek and were certain it was a moose but couldn't see it.

The map profile showed the afternoon as a flat/downhill hike. We found ourselves climbing a couple hundred feet repeatedly as we followed the river down a canyon. We passed hikers camped along the way - some we knew. We arrived at the shelter just before dark. We pitched the tent and cooked supper in the dark. It was a long, but satisfying day.

Our Maine weather continues to be great. The worst we have had is a couple gray clouds, but they blow away.

When we got to Monson we found the barbeque restaurant was closed for a few weeks and other cafes were also closed. We rode to the next town, Guilford, for Subway sandwiches for lunch with Jan LiteShoe.

We got a private room at Shaw's, one of the hiker hostels in town. The General Store had food enough to buy to get us thru the 100 mile wilderness. We figure that 7 days food should be enough to finish our trip. We plan to carry all the food out of Monson and just go for it. We are ready to finish.

Ken is repairing his equipment. The front part of his sole is pulling off both shoes. He is gluing them back down. I found a tip for a hiking pole stuck in the trail. Since Ken's tip is very worn he is replacing his tip. We also went thru our packs and mailed everything we won't need ahead to Millinocket, the nearest town to Mt Katahdin. Seven days food weighs a lot and we were ruthless in pruning down our pack weights. The best part of Monson was that Marcia and new shoes were united. UPS did forward the shoes to General Delivery, Monson and after calling around town I found them at the general store. Success just in time for the big mountain!