Katahdin in the distance

Hello from Stratton, Maine and mile 1,988. That's right, we cross over mile 2,000 today and have less than 200 to go. I can't believe it.

We crossed into our final state about a week ago and the terrain has been rugged, wet and tough. The first day we did the much anticipated Mahoosuc Notch, the single hardest mile on the entire trail. It took us 2 hours and 45 minutes! We usually hike 2-2 1/2 miles an hour, but that day was a different story all together. "The notch" is a deep ravine of boulder obstacles that we climbed over, under and we even had to take our packs off multiple times to squeeze beneath the rocks. Last year a moose fell in there an broke its' leg and starved to death and we had to climb over its bones. My dad, who has hiked all of VT, NH and most of ME, said a few weeks before we got there "you're hiking my exact foot steps my dear. I left a piece of my leg there in the 70's. If you want to get that for me, that would be great." Well, I fell on the first rock and cut up my shin, so I left my own blood behind instead.

Needless to say, it was great having my dad's truck waiting for us as at the trail head as the rain was pouring down after that crazy day. Kris and two of our friends came home to my dad's house in the tiny town of Weld, Me (pop. 402ish) for some true Maine hospitality. A hurricane hit the coast that day and we spent a zero day relaxing in a nice comfy house. We even had a true Maine feast....bear tenderloin, deer stew and Maine lobster. Fantastic. Not too many thru-hikers can say that had that kind of meal!

I finally saw a moose (after visiting up here for YEARS and jokingly saying how I would never see one.) Kris has seen three total, one cow and two bulls. These things are massive. For some reason, I always thought of them more as deer, but they are like huge horses galloping through the woods. The one I saw was slowly creeping through the trees and I just stood there and watched. We have been seeing their tracks for weeks and it's amazing that they can fit their huge racks through the thick woods.

The morning we saw the moose, I said to Kris "Finally! Today is going to be a good day." Oh, I couldn't have been so wrong. The weather has been crazy up here. Saddleback Mountain, a range I had been looking forward to hiking, was one of our worst days on the trail to date. Cold weather, sideways rain, zero visibility. If a helicopter landed at any point during that day and asked if I wanted to quit and go home to my mommy, I would have been in that chopper sipping emergency hot coco before he could even finish his sentence. But, alas, we didn't give up. And we won't. Everyone has bad days. We have just had a few rainy, cold ones in a row lately.

But we move on. We did laundry, had hot showers and hot meals yesterday and stayed at the Stratton Motel and hostel and feel refreshed to head back out. In a few days, we will be in Monson, ME and going into the "hundred mile wilderness" and up to Mt. Katahdin. My dad will be joining us for the final rugged climb and we can't wait. Apparently, you can see the first sight of Katahdin from Saddleback...not that we saw anything, but we will start seeing it in the distance from multiple upcoming peaks. It seemed so far away in Georgia and now we can literally see it in the distance. Woohoo!

Keep warm thoughts coming our way as we head into the last two weeks.

All my love
Sarah