It's a clash of epic proportions

I did not sleep well last night, which is never good. Sleep is a key ingredient to a successful days hike. I certainly was not the happiest hiker today.

I woke up at 4:50AM and was walking north with Cookie and 5:30AM. Right off the bat I had to ascent 1,500 feet to the summit of Carter's Dome, which afforded views of the Presidential range. After descending to Zeta Pass it was time to ascend to the second part of the Carter Range. A lot of the views of this ridge are of the Presidential's, which really are mammoth beasts.

Once I noticed a storm was coming in the distance I kicked it into high gear to get off the ridge before things started to become sketchy.

We managed to make it to Rattle River Shelter for lunch around 12:15PM. We knew we only had 1.7 miles left in our day, and they turned out to be fairly easy miles.

At US route 2 we hitched into Gorham and completed a couple things which included looking at the "outfitters" and hitting the post office, where I discovered my Maine maps had not arrived. We then hit Dunkin Donuts where we called the White Birches Campground and had them pick us up. After settling into the hostel we hit (gasp) Wal-Mart for resupply.

What you must understand is that Cookie is from Arkansas, where Wal-Mart is based. This naturally makes him favor Wal-Mart. I am from Portland, Maine, a small liberal city, which naturally makes me want to see Wal-Mart destroyed. It's a clash of epic proportions.

It seems that I have run into the SOBO party scene, they are currently somewhere in extreme southern Maine, but hitched into Gorham and intend to slackpack tomorrow so they can be in town for the fourth of July.

Tomorrow I hope to enter Maine, the final state on trail. 13 states would be down, only one to go. I now only have 297.9 miles to go.

With the end of the trail in sight, it's time to think about life after the trail.

The future is a series of winding roads that lead to the unknown.

Good night, and good luck.

Kirby

Ga>ME 2008.