Kevin's AT Thru Hike

Day 158, Sunday, 8/21 – Birthday, Genie, and Splitzy hiked up as I was waking up. Apparently, they just camped a quarter mile behind me. Birthday wasn’t able to setup his tent last night, so he just slept in it like a bivy. This technique is called the homeless burrito.

We started the day off with a river crossing. This one was wide, but also shallow. I went through barefoot again and stayed dry.

After the river crossing, we opted to take a 3 mile side trail which cut off 1 mile of AT. The trail was called Gulf Hagas, and is known as the Grand Canyon of Maine. The trail walked along the waterfalls and gorges of the West Branch of the Pleasant River. It was really pretty, and I’m glad I did it, but Grand Canyon of Maine might be a bit of an overstatement.

After Gulf Hagas, we had a few mountains to climb: Gulf Hagas Mountain, West Peak, Hay Mountain, and White Cap Mountain. There would have been a view of Katahdin from the top of White Cap Mountain, but it was kind of hazy, so I didn’t get a good view of it.

I hiked off of White Cap Mountain, and hiked the last 5 miles of the day with Splitzy. I ended the day at East Branch Lean-to (Mile 2126).