Make it count: Day #159

Tuesday, August 18th - Day #159 - AT Hike

Miles Hiked Today - 21.6
Total Miles Hiked on AT - 2162.9/2,193 (98.63%). 30.1 miles left!!

Antlers Campsite (2141.3) to Rainbow Stream Lean To (2162.9) - tent at Rainbow Stream Lean To

Total ascent - 2,885’
Total descent - 2,376’

Total states completed - 13/14

**Rain — All day rain. Started at 2:30am and ended around 3pm.

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Today was a brutal, 21.6 mile course - completed in heavy rains much of the day. Last night, the rain started about 2:30am. It started slowly and then picked up its intensity. When I woke at 5am - the rain was coming down heavily. (Have you ever been camping when you’re warm inside your tent/sleeping bag. The rain is pouring down outside - you have to get up - you know you’re gonna go from warm to wet/miserable in seconds ———it’s not a great feeling. That was me this morning)

My last 20+ miler of my AT journey. The course was much tougher than yesterday. This section is often referred to as ‘the root canal’ - because there are tree roots nonstop throughout the course. You just pray it stops - but it never does.

11-1/2 hours on the trail. We started at 7am and I rolled into camp at 6:30pm. That’s a very long day - made even longer by the rain. Luckily - the rain subsided by mid afternoon. The forecast is for clear skies the next 2 days. Rain is expected late afternoon on our summit day of Katahdin - but we hope to be finished and in a hotel by then.

I can’t believe I’m 3 days from finishing the AT!! Going back to my analogy of running a marathon - I’m at 25.84 miles of the race. Less than 0.4 miles to go. I know I can do it!! Everything hurts, my tank is empty, I’m weak and fatigued - but I’m not giving up! I’m inspired, I have waves of emotions throughout the day. All the effort - all the hard work - it’s about to pay off. I can hear/see the crowd at the finish line (we can see Mt Katahdin). I just have to stay focused, stay committed — and bring it home!!

30.1 miles to go! We’re hiking 15 tomorrow. I’ll go over the complex sign-up and registration involved at Baxter State Park (the home of Mt Katahdin) tomorrow.

It’s 9:15pm now. It’s been a short night. Into camp at 6:30pm. I setup tent, cooked dinner, got water and filtered it, and hit the privy. Then I just spent about 45 minutes on the blog. Shut eye time for me.

Goodnight for the final time from the 100-mile wilderness - this is day 5/6. Tomorrow I’ll be exiting the 100-mile wilderness and staying at Abol Pines (at the southern end of Baxter State Park)

Here’s to continued good health and strength.

“You cut him. You see - he’s not a machine - he’s a man. You can beat him. All your strength, all your power, all your love - everything you got ——- and in the end - you’ll be the one standing”.