Make it count: Day #161

Thursday, August 20th - Day #161 - AT Hike

Miles Hiked Today - 9.8
Total Miles Hiked on AT - 2187.8/2.193 (99.76%). 5.2 miles left!!

Abol Pines (2178) to The Birches (2187.8) - tent at The Birches

Total ascent - 895’
Total descent - 368’

Total states completed - 13/14

**No Rain - Really nice weather day. High - mid 70s. Low - mid 50s

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Coming to you live from The Birches campsite - just 5.2 miles from the peak of Mt Katahdin - and the conclusion of my AT journey. This is the third consecutive day without cell signal for me - I’m hoping (if everything goes as planned) to be in the AT Lodge Hostal tomorrow night (completed with my journey) with wi-fi access.

We got here at 10:20am. It’s a great weather day. We were thinking about just going for the summit today. But - the park ranger at the Katahdin Campground area wouldn’t let us proceed up the mountain today - because they have a 1pm turnaround cut at the peak - and we couldn’t make the peak that quickly. There’s potential rain and thunderstorms tomorrow afternoon. Our plan is to get up by 3am and be hiking by 4am. We’ll use our headlamps for the first hour or so. This gives us a chance to peak before 9am. The ranger indicated that typical weather patterns have storms come through between 10am - noon.

I’m so nervous right now. My stomach is just churning. There are so many emotions going through my body - it’s really hard to process all of them at the moment. I can’t believe I’ve been hiking the AT for 161 days and I sit at the base of the mountain standing between me and my ultimate goal. My body is showing so many signs of shutting down - I just need 1 more day from it. I’ve been so mentally and physically focused for this conclusion - I just need to decompress and rest for several days after this.

After speaking with the park ranger and getting officially signed in (I’ll be the 87th finisher of the AT this year if things go well tomorrow) - I put up my tent and then fixed lunch. I next collected and filtered a couple liters of water. All these tasks were finished by 12:30pm. I’ve been in my tent resting for a couple hours. The goal is to have dinner at 5pm and then go to bed by 7pm. Alarm will be set for 3am tomorrow.

There was only 2 others signed up on the list at the kiosk this morning when we got there at 6:15am. There’s already 9 of us here at The Birches. I think it was a great call to get up early to secure our spot. If the weather moves in quicker than expected tomorrow - we may have to postpone our summit attempt. I’m praying this doesn’t happen - but it’s possible. If that happens - we would have to wait in line at the gate for day passes to try our summit attempt the next day and thereafter.

I have so much nervous energy built up right now. I hope I’ll be able to sleep some tonight.
I truly wish I had access to messages and my blog - I miss connecting with family and friends.

Sometimes in life - all you can do is put yourself in a position to be successful. Well - I feel I’ve done that. I’m so thankful I’ve been able to come this far on my journey. Tomorrow I go for the summit of Mt Katahdin - to be the 87th thru hiker to finish the AT in 2020.

The goal is to be able to sign off as “AT 2020 - NOBO - 3/13-8/21 - Raptor” by the end of the day tomorrow.

I’ll be back once I make that dream a reality. Here’s to continued good health and strength. Keep the faith!