Because I was so tired last night, I got up early this morning to repack and make last-minute decisions regarding what I would carry. I didn't weigh my pack, but with all my gear, my food and Forest's food, it was pretty heavy. Forest's pack was his usual 6 pounds, with three days of food and our SPOT GPS locator. We checked out and left the hotel at 11 a.m., and headed back to Baxter State Park to start my SOBO hike. It had been an emotional night, so we tried to make our goodbyes quickly today. I headed back down the Trail, over Abol Bridge (which provides the best views of Mt. Katahdin and the surrounding mountains) and in a short period of time entered the 100-mile Wilderness, which is (according to Wikipedia), "generally considered the wildest section of the Appalachian Trail, and one of the most challenging to navigate and traverse." I don't expect to have cell service much through this part of the Trail, and I will only have one resupply package which will be dropped in a predesignated spot by the Appalachian Trail Lodge.
At about 2 p.m. we stopped for a break, as the temperatures were up to 91 degrees today. I put a wet Frog Togg cloth (which I fondly call a "ShamWOW") over Forest, both to help cool him and to keep some of the bugs off of him. We are hiking toward the end of the black fly season in Maine, but the remaining black flies, mosquitoes and gnats are still swarming. Before I left North Carolina to flip flop, I sprayed my clothes, our tarp and our hammocks with Permethrin, which is supposed to repel most bugs. It seems to be working for me, but I was afraid to even spray Forest's pack, so the poor guy is snapping at bugs if we aren't moving.
We hiked a little more in the late afternoon, collected water and stopped for the night near the Hurd Brook Lean-to (SOBO mile marker 18.6).
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