We woke up at 6:45am. We had a great breakfast, mainly because some one shared coffee. I don’t normally bring coffee on my hikes, so this was a nice treat.
The first hill we climbed after the shelter was easy and then there was a great downhill section with lots of time for conversations with my sister. It was a tough march up Abe full of lots of day-hikers but the summit was well worth the climb. Shortly after that, at Lincoln Peak, I was given an apple by a day-hiker. I love fruit on hikes but it’s usually not worth the weight. So gifts of fruit are always greatly appreciated.
We rolled into Stark’s Nest at 4:45 again. Allison and Collin were there and a few others. We all went out to watch the sunset. I brought out the beer that I had stashed in the woods and announced that I had just completed the Long Trail. I did it fairly awkwardly but Kim was appropriately shocked. Thanks Kim! We all shared swigs from the bottle. I wished I had more so we all could have drank our fill, but it was at least a good taste.
The night was so beautiful we slept out on the deck under the stars. It was a fitting and beautiful end to my Long Trail journey.
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| Kim’s famous pan biscuits |
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| Lounging in Stark’s Nest |
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| Kim prepares her trail biscuits |
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| Beautiful sunset my last night on the trail |
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| My celebratory bottle of Long Trail Ale..luckily it didn’t take me 25 years |