I knew I had to get my pack as light as I possibly could and so before 10 Bear and I left Monson, ME for the last time, I unloaded everything I felt I didn’t need. I sent home extra batteries for my phone, a shirt, a pair of socks, and my sleeping bag liner. I hated carrying the winter gear, but one never knows when the weather will change and things could get deadly without that gear. So I sucked it up and continued North.

Sometime during the last 6 days, I started catching myself saying, “This is almost over. I never have to climb that hill or take that step again. Every step I take brings me closer to home!”  I just wanted to be done.

A strange thing happens when you hike with another person. You start to rely on them and they start to rely on you, but if there isn’t a lot of communication things can go wrong. Well, that is what happened 5 days out from Katahdin with 10 Bear and I. It was a sunny day full of climbing. Neither one of us paid attention to the water situation. I didn’t drink a lot of water in comparison to 10 Bear.  She drank A LOT of water and so when we got to Barren Ledges and realized the water sources were way off the trail, we knew we were in trouble. I had only one container and she didn’t have much more. I took off down the trail because I knew how much water 10 Bear needed and was afraid she was going to have trouble if she didn’t have any water. I thought it would be a short time and I would be happily filter water for us.

The rest of the my day was spent looking for water. I could see it at every summit, but it was miles away. At 9 pm in the pitch dark, I reached a cross roads in the trail. I stopped and could hear water running just ahead. I put down my pack on the ground and as it was dark moved cautiously ahead with my headlamp and water container.  I was able to fill up a  2 liter bag and then I went back and retrieved my pack. Then I headed east and started looking for a site to camp. I didn’t know if 10 Bear was still coming or not, but I found a place just to the east, and so I set up my tent and then went back to the trail with a note and placed it in the trail for 10 Bear to know where to find me. I then went back to camp and filtered 2 bottles of water. I was hanging my food bag when 10 Bear arrived. I gave her a bottle of water and then we cooked and ate supper and I drank 20 oz of water. We were reminded to never take anything for granted and to be especially vigilant so close to the end, for this is when accidental deaths happen.

The next day we had a great relaxing morning. I even took time for a second cup of coffee and we went on a photo adventure before we started hiking.

It was a beautiful day with awesome views.

The last 2 days before summiting Katahdin were not enjoyable after that. The miles were taking their toll. I would need to do 26 miles and then 25.5 miles back to back in order to reach my husband, Tom by 11 am at Abol Bridge on the 20th of Sept. Those days Zuko joined us.

We ended up hiking in the dark to make the miles. It had become a marathon. In those last 2 days I also lost 10 Bear. (The good thing was, I found out later, she had found Little Bear and St. Nick. Hikers she had hiked most of the trail with and she was able to spend her last evening on the trail with them.)

My last night I spent chasing a mouse away from my gear, but in the morning discovered he had gotten into the last of my food.  Zuko shared some of his breakfast with me and we had our last camp fire and waited for 10 Bear until 9:30 am.

A half an hour past what I told Zuko we would wait, she hadn’t shown up and so we started hiking the last of our miles to Abol Bridge.

At 10:40 am. we got to the road and saw Tom waiting in our vehicle. As he heard us, he got out to greet us. I was never so glad to see him at this moment. I knew the end of my hike was near. He quickly opened the back of the vehicle and started handing us food, cookies he had made and Subway sandwiches, chips, pop, and candy. At 11 am, 10 Bear wasn’t out of the woods. I told Zuko, “We will wait 10 more minutes and than we will go and Tom will wait for her.” And within seconds, I hear Zuko say, “THERE SHE IS!” She came running across the road, fell to the ground and told us she had just run 11 miles in 2.5 hours with a 40 lb. pack.

We all sat there stunned that she had made it. With smiles we watched as she devour the food. When 10 Bear had finished, the 3 of us got up to hike the last 11 miles to Baxter State Park. TOMORROW WE SUMMIT KATAHDIN!