The End-ish

Two Bad and Mom took Hansel and Gretel to the trail head early in the morning.  They had a 10 mile hike to get to the base of Mt. Katahdin in Baxter State Park and then there would be a 5 mile climb to get to the top.  Their hike to base of Katahdin took a bit longer than they expected because "there was a stupid river that wasn't listed in the guide book that we had to ford."  Because it wasn't listed, they spent about 15 minutes trying to figure out where the trail went.  It seems as though other hikers were also a bit confused by this river and ended up creating other trails going up and down the shore in an attempt to figure out where the trail went and the best way to cross.

Finally, Hansel and Gretel realized they had to ford it.  Hansel was actually able to jump from rock to rock to get across, which is pretty extreme.  There was one leap in which he hopped about 4 feet to the next rock over the rushing water!  Gretel wasn't quite as daring so she took off her boots half way and waded through the river.  This not the most comfortable for her because the rocks at the bottom were really sharp and she didn't have her Crocks with her since they were only taking the bare essentials to climb up Katahdin.  They made it across, frustrated that they had waisted 15 minutes (time is precious to a thru-hiker who has made it all the way to Maine).  Half a mile later, the white blazes led them to cross right back over the very same river.  The rest of the trail was pretty easy and they blew through the remaining miles to the Katahdin Stream Campground, where I was waiting at the base of Mt. Katahdin.

Happy Trails!

That is Mt. Katahdin as seen from Katahdin Stream Campground

Hansel and Gretel coming out of the woods and not quite recognizing me yet.  Note Hansel's confused countenance as I snap this photo.