Friday June 28, 19.2mi/30.9km

Hwy 15/Monson (2077.5) to Cloud Pond shelter (2096.7) (ME)

I woke up to the smell of bacon and coffee, which is a pretty awesome way to start a day. I stuffed myself full of breakfast, packed up, and got a ride back to the trail. After hiking only a minute, I passed this sign. The Hundred Mile wilderness! The suggestion for ten days of food was humorous…

There were plenty of nice views of ponds and lakes along the way today.

Which also meant plenty of bugs, but some Deet kept most of them away. My favorite spot today was Little Wilson Falls, a 60-foot waterfalls with a canyon at the bottom.

I stopped there and had an early lunch. My Nutella had a message for me!

After lunch, I got into a nice rhythm and the trail was smoother, and the distance flew by.

There was a spot where the trail disappeared, since a beaver had built a dam in the same spot. I had to walk on the sticks to get around the new pond.

And of course, it was very wet there. So many mushrooms!

There was one climb, at the end of the day. Barren Mountain was short, and had a view to the south.

I continued on, and arrived at Cloud Pond shelter at 6pm. There was a large boys group camped nearby, who were all very interested in my hike. I camped near the pond, and it was a nice spot to see the sunset.

Two other section-hikers arrived, and we chatted about other trails. One of the guys is from Tasmania (Australia), so of course he was encouraged me to hike some of the trails there! But first, I need to finish this trail – only 95 miles left!