We had originally planned to make the distance from Gorham to Stratton in four days, but the trail said no, so we will do it in five. That meant today our revised goal became the Caribou Valley Road. Several undermined bridges, etc., have closed a large portion of this gravel road, but our Trail Angel Susan found she would be able to drive to a barricade only a half mile from the AT, and that’s where we’d meet her to go into Stratton for the night.

We were the first folks out of camp at 6:40 this morning, immediately noting the flow of water at the nearby waterfall had greatly lessened overnight. Any sign of a drier AT is a good thing!

We made the 1,700′ climb up Lone Mountain in two fairly easy stages, and bypassed the Spaulding Mountain Lean-to at about the five-mile mark before climbing another 800′ nearly at the Spaulding summit. After descending from the 4,000′ elevation (we need to see how many more times we’ll reach this height, now that we are under 200 miles to go!), we stopped for photos at a bronze plaque marking the completion of the AT 75 years ago this past August.

We stopped for lunch with a gorgeous sunny view of Sugarloaf Mountain, but were chased from the spot by a sudden change in the weather: a cold windy mist replacing the sun. The afternoon foretold the freeze warnings for tonight, and we were glad we would be off the trail for the next two evenings. After skirting Sugarloaf, we made a steep, slow descent to the south branch of the Carrabassett River. Two days ago, crossing this rain swollen stream would have been a hairy adventure, but today we trusted a 16′ board and made it across easily. We were able to text Susan our location and meet her at the barricade 20 minutes later.

Tonight tiny Stratton is like an AT convention with everyone in our little hiking bubble coming through town. A special treat is joining the Charons (Manula & Tree Trunk) for dinner. We have been trailing them by a day or two ever since Connecticut and it is great to see them again, especially as we are still nine miles behind them in trail miles.

We are up well past hiker midnight sorting food drops that Suuz will take to Caratunk and Monson tomorrow after dropping us off for a day of slack packing back to Stratton. Her logistics support over the past week has really lifted our spirits, as we enter the journey’s final phase (where our impatience and frustration with tough, hard terrain threaten to overwhelm our enjoyment), and we can’t thank her enough for all she’s done.

Tomorrow we begin our sixth month on the trail…

[And, finally, from our “Still a long way to Kathadin” Department: In his most embarrassing fall to date, N tripped today while walking down the Caribou Valley Road! But as this was technically not a part of the AT, we will not mention it here, other than to say if he can survive the next two weeks and 196.5 miles, it will be a miracle…]