An abandoned building on top of a ski mountain can provide comforts enough to make me smile all evening. That is one of the unexpected joys of this thru-hike—an appreciation of simple blessings. The old gondola hut here at Sugarloaf has electric power, so there’s a small radio, a light fixture and a toaster! It gave us a beautiful view of the sunset & rising full moon and is now shielding Rockhound, Condor, DGO, some other hikers and myself from the winds whipping by the summit. The cell phone reception is great too, as the cell tower is only 100 yards away! I was able to talk to Heather and catch up with a few other friends.

200 miles left. Two big climbs tomorrow, then only little stuff for a while after that. The trail’s been beautiful, full of waterfalls, rolling forest and occasional exposed peaks. I talked to Condor tonight about the end of the mountains. He asked “won’t you miss them?” But I’m ready to try something new & different. Hopefully the flatter terrain will give my knees and feet a bit of relief since they’ve been hurting steadily since the White Mountains.

Chestnut, a thru-hiker I’d last seen in northern PA, caught up to us today. He’s still planning on doing the International AT. That’s about 650 miles extra beyond Katahdin to Cap Gaspe in Quebec. Great to have lunch with him & learn more about the crew behind us. He says Hoplite & the Ratpack are likely 3 days back, so I fear they won’t catch up by Katahdin. But I can still hope!

We have a longer day planned for tomorrow—15.5 miles. I hope it’s as smooth and enjoyable as the last several days have been.