Considering an Appalachian Trail thru-hike, or curious about trail life? You’re in the right place! This post continues our week-by-week trail-life journey.
Hi! I’m Cindy. In 2022, my husband, Barrett, and I completed a thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail! 🥳
I journaled daily on the trail. Now, each month, I share another week of our AT journey for anyone interested in our thru-hike tale!
🔗 Want to start at the beginning with week one? 👉 Click here.
🔗 Browse all the weekly trail journals 👉 here.
If you plan to attempt an AT thru-hike, be ready for an incredible adventure! Before diving into week sixteen, here’s some background on how our journey evolved.
After months of research, we originally planned to hike northbound (NOBO) from Georgia starting in early April.
However, by week thirteen, we assessed our pace and progress relative to the main NOBO group and decided to switch to a flip-flop thru-hike, adjusting our route to better suit our needs and preferences.
(Looking back, starting as Flip Floppers from the beginning, or as NOBOs but starting in March instead of April, would have matched our pace and style better from the start.)
Just know, when picking a route for the Appalachian Trail, you can always change it up anytime!
👉 Click here for tips on where and when to start an Appalachian Trail Thru Hike. 👈
👉 And click here for advice on thru-hiking backpacking gear. 👈
Alrighty! Welcome back to my Appalachian Trail journal series! Now, let’s dive into week sixteen and pick up where we left off on the trail.
Week sixteen of our Appalachian Trail hike was the week everything changed and the start of one of the most beautiful sections of our entire journey! We summited Mount Katahdin in a storm, officially kicked off our SOBO flip, and stepped into the legendary 100 Mile Wilderness in Maine. Every day brought incredible scenery, peaceful lakes, abundant wildlife, and ultimately, a renewed excitement for the trail.
Day 106
July 19, 2022
Today, Barrett, my mom, and I started our drive to Maine and made it halfway there, spending the evening at a hotel in Sturbridge, MA.
The other main thing I did on this day was research outfitters that would be willing to do a food drop for us during the upcoming 100 Mile Wilderness section of the trail, dropping half of the food needed for that stretch halfway along, so we don’t have to carry all of the food needed for that 100 miles for the entire distance.
✔️ Length: 0 AT trail miles
Day 107
July 20, 2022
Today Barrett, my mom, and I completed our drive to Maine!
Upon arrival in the Baxter State Park area, we first dropped off our halfway 100 Mile Wilderness food supply at the Appalachian Trail Lodge.
While there, Barrett and I filled a Lowe’s bucket with all the food we’d need for the second half of the 100 Mile Wilderness in Maine, and they agreed to have it placed halfway at an agreed-upon location for us to pick up on 7/25.
Next, we reached our gifted Lean-To campsite at Kathadin Stream Campground in Baxter State Park.
Upon arrival at the campground, we had to secure our AT Hiker Permit Cards from the ranger station.
Then we relaxed at the campsite with my mom that evening and got ready for our Mount Katahdin summit, which would take place in the morning!
✔️ Length: 0 AT trail miles
Day 108
July 21, 2022
There really is only one deadline on this entire trail: summit Mount Katahdin before it closes for the winter.
During our NOBO hike, we were sick of Katahdin running the show. So we decided to flip, meaning: we would drive up to Maine, summit the mountain now, and then walk back to where we stopped while hiking NOBO, Harpers Ferry, but SOBO this time, to wrap up our thru-hike!
There are tons of added benefits to doing it this way, but one big one is better weather. We just got here, and we are already loving it!
Honestly, I underestimated how reinvigorating this flip would be. We noticed such a resurgence of energy and excitement for the trail, which had been lacking for a while.
So, without further ado, today is the day we officially kick off our flip!!
We took off from our Lean-To in Kathadin Stream Campground around 7:50 am.
We ascended the mountain on the Hunt Trail.
The Katahdin summit itself was insane. It’s not so much a hike as a rock bouldering exercise.
Near the summit, we got hit by a very quick yet brutal rainstorm that completely drenched us and everything with us in about 15 seconds. Kinda like getting hit by a truckload of rain.
But then we got to the sign! 🥳 We hugged it at the top in a storm and took a TON of pictures.
After celebrating, we opted to take the steeper Abol Trail back to the campground, which reached flat ground faster but was a bit longer.
In this picture, you can see the Hunt Trail we went up out there in the distance, from the Abol Trail:
For the last two miles, we had to walk the road back to our campground, but for the last half mile, we got a hitch in the bed of a pickup truck.
Overall, it was wild and took a lonngggg time.
✔️ Length: 5.2 AT trail miles, 5.8 backtracking miles, 11 total hiking miles for the day
Day 109
July 22, 2022
We woke up this morning, once again, in our Lean-To at Kathadin Stream Campground.
We spent some time with my mom in the morning; it was really awesome having her here the past couple of days.
After packing everyone up and saying goodbye and “thank you” to my mom, we started our SOBO hike late, around 11:50 am.
We took off with the sense that today was going to be hard, no matter how many miles we went. We were worn out, sore, and tired from yesterday’s climb.
But the day was actually not very hard; the trail was very tame, which was extra good since our packs were bursting at the seams with food and resources for the upcoming stretch. (Although I did note at the end of the day: I thought my feet were rested, then I walked all day in my full pack again…)
As I mentioned yesterday, an unexpected benefit of our flip so far has been a lift in our spirits and a sense of rejuvenation.
The day was “wow” level beautiful.
We saw a ton of wildlife, including frogs, tadpoles, snakes, squirrels, toads, and ducks.
The forest is epic in this area, filled with gorgeous streams, rivers, ponds, and waterfalls. We followed a river for a long time, and throughout the day we saw canoers, kayakers, and people watersliding.
It was hot, but not like the heat we’d been encountering in the past few weeks further south.
We ate lunch by Little Niagara.
And then also passed Big Niagara.
A group of people out enjoying the day yelled across the waterfall to us to smile and that they would Airdrop us a picture if we’d do the same for them: 😃
So far, to me, Maine feels like a combination of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and Colorado.
At the end of the day, we saw a beaver dam.
And then we also saw Mount Katahdin, which felt wild to us!
It was very clearly visible and seemed free of storms. We were happy for the people up there finishing today, and, weirdly, also happy about the gritty storm ending we had yesterday, since we started in a storm too.
We ended our day’s hike around 6:45 pm and shared an awesome campsite on the river with a thru-hiker named Tortoise (who will ultimately become someone we keep pace with for a very long time).
✔️ Length: 9.8 AT trail miles
Day 110
July 23, 2022
Last night, Barrett cleaned off in the river by the campsite, and I did the same this morning.
In the morning, we went to the shop across the street and got coffee, sunscreen, and better bug spray.
We now feel prepared to enter the 100 Mile Wilderness!
We started hiking at 10:00 am. There was a great view of Mount Katahdin from a bridge right away.
Then we were in the forest for a while. It felt like we entered another world, with tons of pine, ferns, and moss, all a very light green and densely full.
We saw moose prints, but no moose. It was very quiet in this forest.
We reached a large, open, rocky ledge, saw another view of Katahdin, and ate many big, delicious wild blueberries.
We went up and down big rolling rock hills with moss and trees growing on them, with views of mountains all around.
Throughout the day, we also met another flip flopper and got to say congrats to some NOBOers who were almost done!
We saw tons of tiny toads and snakes throughout the day:
At the end of the day’s hike, we walked along Rainbow Lake for a bit, then finished for the day at 6:45 pm at a campsite right off the lake. We went for a cool-down swim before bed.
In the evening, we listened to loons calling to each other across the lake. That was pretty darn cool.
Also, we saw the nuts family! (A family hiking the trail, all with nut trail names.)
I don’t think I mentioned them when we first encountered them, but it was a long time ago, around the NOC in North Carolina.
They have also flipped, and they all had just completed their summit of Mount Katahdin, even 6-year-old Donut! Then they went 20+ miles the next day. Beasts.
✔️ Length: 11.5 AT trail miles
Day 111
July 24, 2022
My mat got a microtear last night, so I had a very sad sleep. Barrett woke up and fixed it, though, so I have high hopes for tonight.
This morning, we were hiking by 8:30 am. Today was another beautiful day in the 100 Mile Wilderness, just epic.
We took two pond breaks. On the second one, I saw the smallest frogs I’ve ever seen at Crescent Pond.
We had more views of Katahdin and hiked along lakes, ponds, and cascading streams all day.
This area is so remote. It really feels like we are in the backwoods. The scenery is full of pine trees, lakes, cascading streams, moss, rocks, and roots, all of it just magical-looking and so untouched by man. This has been some of the wildest and most beautiful scenery I’ve ever seen.
It has been reminding us of many of our favorite spots in the United States, including Voyageurs, Acadia, Tahoe, Teton, Michigan, and Colorado.
We wrapped up our hiking for the day around 7:00 pm.
We enjoyed dinner, skinny dipping, and camping at a spot right off the giant, awesome Nahmakanta Lake that we had all to ourselves for the evening, right off the trail. 😻 This is what I wanted from the AT.
Once again, we are so happy we flipped and grateful to be here in the summer when we can enjoy all these lakes throughout the 100 Mile Wilderness in Maine.
Also, we officially hit 1000 miles! 🥳
✔️ Length: 12.9 AT trail miles
Day 112
July 25, 2022
We had total seclusion this morning! Barrett and I ate breakfast on the beach in complete privacy.
This day came with the threat of some storms, but they never got bad, just sporadic mist of precipitation in a few moments throughout the day. It did, however, make the rocky path slick, and we each had a bum fall.
It was a pretty tame hiking day overall, with lots of rocks, water crossings, and vines, but almost no elevation whatsoever.
It was also a bit more humid today. My face accumulated much more sweat today compared to the other Maine days so far.
We had moments of following the trail on beaches, which was pretty cool. I didn’t even know the AT had beach portions!
And then, we also followed a stream between lakes.
Since there’s been so much water, it’s been a bit boggy and buggy, but honestly, I don’t think it’s much worse than it was in Virginia. Except here, they’re mosquitoes, so they bite. (In Virginia, it was just gnats that sometimes bit.)
We’ve seen a fair amount of moose poo the past two days, but no moose sightings yet. Just toads, frogs, and the longest snake we’ve seen in Maine so far.
Despite arriving at camp around 6:30 pm, we still managed to secure a tent spot on the tip of the peninsula (as mentioned in Farout and what I was hoping for), with 270-degree views of Jo-Mary Lake! 😻
We set up our tent, enjoyed the lake views, ate dinner, took in the purple and pink cotton candy sunset surrounding us, and then fell asleep to a 60ish-degree, breezy evening, vestibules wide open, looking up at the bright, shining stars. They were shining so bright I kept thinking I saw shooting stars, but it was just them flickering in the sky.
Honestly, Maine has felt like a dream.
There were so many days down south we would hike, plop down at the end of a long day, set up the tent, eat, go to bed, and do it all over again the next day, knowing pretty days were ahead. Down south, the payback for our efforts sometimes took days, and it was disheartening.
Maine is not like that; every day of hiking is beautiful. Every camp spot is gorgeous. And our legs are more built up, so we’re getting to camp earlier, leaving later, and still putting on the mileage we desire. So we’re getting to enjoy it more.
I’m in absolute love with how this hike is going right now, and all I can really say is it’s about damn time. 😹
✔️ Length: 12.3 AT trail miles
Week Sixteen of our Appalachian Trail Hike Recap: Katahdin, the Flip, and the 100 Mile Wilderness in Maine
Week sixteen was a turning point and provided everything we hoped for in our flip-flop hike.
We reached the summit of Mount Katahdin, started hiking south, spent three days falling in love with the breathtaking beaches, loons, lakes, wild blueberries, and more in the 100 Mile Wilderness in Maine, crossed our personal 1,000-mile mark, and rediscovered just how magical life on the Appalachian Trail could be, all in one incredible stretch.
Stay tuned for week seventeen, where we tackle more remote miles, continue our push through the 100 Mile Wilderness, pick up our resupply food drop, and experience even more of Maine’s unforgettable lakes, forests, and wildlife.
