July 30, 2025 5 min to read

AT Blog: Day 136 and 137

Smart Waters, Planes and Automobiles

Day 136:

Wake up at Shaws and run over to the general store to resupply, probably the last proper time on the AT. They don’t have everything I want but everything I need is there.

By the time I’m back, the morning coffee is ready and I chat with the people there. Lots of people like to zero or stay a while at Shaws so some of the people are still here from when I left the other day. There’s a strong thunderstorm that lasts for an hour or so.

After breakfast I get the last of my stuff together and head to the shuttle. Longshot takes me today back to Katahdin Iron Works Road. It begins raining hard as we drive up there. Fortunately by the time the drive is done, the rain is done too.

I pass the West Ford of Pleasant River with little hassle and run into a couple of southbounders.

Trail is still flooded, with some actual waddling through an overflowing stream. I head up to Gulf Hagas Mountain and continue on through Hay Mountain and White Cap. The top of White Cap is rocky and has some good views of nearby mountains.

A side note, its a common joke among hikers that guitars are the worst luxury item to bring. Often times people bring them with them and then ditch them a week into the trail as they are large, unwieldy and not used enough. So when I got on top of White Cap, I chuckled when I met a SOBO group with a guitar. We chatted for a bit and I didn’t bring it up before I started hiking again. A few minutes later I hike into another group with another guitar. Assuming they knew each other I asked about it. Turns out these two SOBO groups had not ran into each other yet. Despite not hiking with them to see their meet up, I like to think the two SOBO hikers with guitars had a guitar battle on top of whitecap.

Heading down takes some time but I make it to East Branch Lean-To with several section hikers there. 2 of them are doing the whole 100 mile wilderness.

Separate thing happening is my parents are coming to see me finish. We already came up with that plan and my dad has his own “5” seater prop plane. He flew with the air force and actually built his own plane.

I mention this cause the lord blessed that plan. Cause a big incident just happened. The crowdstrike incident affecting flights across the country happened. Lots of thruhikers are struggling with end travel plans, but I have my parents to help me out. Im also glad they flew themselves (a longer flight due to the slower speed of a prop plane vs commercial).

Lastly, this whole time I’ve been communicating via my Garmin Inreach. It works off of satellites so I use it when my phone doesn’t work. Shaw’s did not have any Smart Waters, which fit better on my sawyer filter, so I get my parents to bring one via this text.

Here’s what the app looks like

Day 137:

Start at East Branch this morning around 6:50 AM. Head out and have to ford the river, which takes some time.

The climb up to Boarman Mountain takes some time but after that the trail follows what looks like an old logging road. Which means that the trail is a lot smoother and has fewer bogs. My pace increases by a lot, especially since there’s no cliffs to climb or rivers to wade through. I pass by Cooper Brook Falls Lean-to and a few hours later I make it to Jo-Mary Road.

For my parents it was a 2 hour drive to the middle of nowhere. They had to rent a car and it was bumps galore on that mountain road. But the drive was worth it! Its been a hot minute since I have seen them, but its great to have that reunion. Mom of course has plenty of sweets and food for me, including a hot chicken sandwich from some fast food place. We also run into a southbounder on his second trail thruhike and give him some stuff.

We talk about plans and discuss what the finishing plans are. By our estimates I have 3 more days on the trail before summiting.

Eventually I head out, continuing to Antlers Campsite and Lower Jo-Mary Pond. Its a beautiful pond with glassy water and sand beaches. I take a snack break before heading further. I end at Potaywadjo Spring Lean-to, where there’s a southbounder taking a nap and a couple hiking the 100 mile woods.

I chat with the couple before the SOBO decides to head out. We don’t really see the logic of heading out so late with an hour of daylight left, but he wants to make some more miles that day. He didn’t have a great sense of direction though as he decides to walk way back to the water source before heading back up the trail.

Either way it meant I had the shelter to myself as the couple sleeps in a tent. Or at least I thought I would be alone as it seems like a dozen mice are living in the shelter too. That is one thing I am looking forwards to soon. No longer sharing a room with mice.