August 2 - 15.3 / 2,006.6

It doesn't fail. I was not motivated to get out of bed when in town. I knew it had to get done though. Once the local general store opened, I was heading across the street. Resupplying wasn't too bad here, but there were a few things lacking that we usually get. After the resupply, the four of us were standing by the street trying to get a hitch. The owner of the other general store walked by and offered us a ride. Without hesitation, we accepted.

While in the car, the guy mentioned that a family friend of theirs hit a moose last night. I told him I saw a sedan with a smashed up windshield. He said that it is not uncommon for someone to hit 8 to 10 in their lifetime in this area. We got to the trailhead by 10. The first few miles were very easy, and those were followed by a steep climb. The air was still. The temps were fairly hot. That combination didn't help with the climb.

During the climb, I came across Horns Pond. There I met Otis, a ridgerunner. I spoke with him for a while before heading on. He gave us a heads up about the upcoming parts of the trail and told us where to find water in the next few miles. I left Horns Ponds and climbed up and over the two peaks of Bigelow Mountain. Bigelow is the last mountain over 4,000 feet until Katahdin. The view from each of the peaks was pretty spectacular. It was to hazy to see Katahdin in the distance though. I didn't stay on the peaks too long as a storm was just a few miles away. The last place I wanted to be was on an exposed peak.

The climb down from the east peak was met with the 2,000 mile mark for this hike. It was a good feeling to know I had made it this far. Sonic, Riverdog, Samurai, and I took our fair share of videos and pictures. We also took a snack break there before heading down the rest of the mountain. Once at the bottom, we turned and started our ascent right up Little Bigelow. There were quite a few false summits on this one. I also think all of us felt we were climbing higher than what our maps and guidebook had.

Finally, we made it to the shelter. Good tent spots were limited so I ended up setting up my tent part way on the path to the privy. I headed to bed knowing we had a possibly of rain coming in.