I woke up by 0530 (still in RV in Dover-Foxcroft) and spent some time (while my dad still slept) reading. After Dad was awake and packed up the RV to his satisfaction, we walked across the parking lot to eat breakfast at McDonalds (0630). We then drove a little bit east to get a gas fillup (0650). After that, we continued east on ME-6 to ME-11. It was nice day! Along the way, I saw a moose but Dad didn’t (bad luck?), After getting off the blacktop on Joe Mary Road, we drove to the Jo Mary Checkpoint for the KI / Jo Mary Multi-Use Forest. While my dad and I were inside, paying the entry fee, Ana ate the uneaten McDonalds breakfast sandwiches (what a scamp!). Next, my dad drove me all the way to Nahmakanta Lake (there was an AT Trailhead there where I'd last hiked in 2022). We arrived at 0915 but, even though I'd already spent plenty of time getting ready during the last 24 hours, I did yet more backpack prep before I was ready to leave the RV. Dad made me a big turkey sandwich for the road. As I was departing, we noticed a hummingbird nearby - seemed like a good omen. I was finally hiking (NOBO) by 0935. As usual, it was quite muddy - not really a surprise, though. I had only gone about half a mile before I encountered a Trail Angel in a campsite along the trail - he was giving hikers candy and I did not pass up the offer! While there, I met “Doodles” (AT NOBO Thru Hiker) and heard about other members of his "Bubble." After a short visit, I continued north through lots of standing water on trail (I was walking very close to the lake). One positive thing about this part of the hike, though, was the many good views of the lake. Overall, though, the terrain was quite frustrating. I stopped a lot and had to navigate many stream crossings, some of which were quite sketchy. Doodles blew by me with plans to make it all the way to Abol Bridge by dark - yikes! For my part, I hoped to reach the Rainbow Lake Campsite (about 15 miles from my starting point) but this goal was not set in stone. Later, I encountered a Boy Scout Troop (from Yarmouth, ME) but passed them without much commentary. When I stopped at Wadleigh Stream Lean-to, however, we talked a lot more about their reasons for being on the AT (merit badges, leadership training). It seemed like they may have underestimated the challenge of the section but I kept that thought to myself... After saying goodbye to them, I continued north by myself. It was at around this time that I started to have trouble following the trail - there were lots of blow-downs and places where the creek that paralleled the trail had washed away the obvious trail cues. Also, there were few white blazes. Still, I kept going until I found myself in a larger-than-normal (for today, anyway) climb towards the top of Nesuntabunt Mountain. On the way uphill, I caught up to an older guy (NOBO Thru) and two MYTHs (ladies who had been working on section hiking the trail for 23 years). When we finally found the summit, we all took a break at an overlook - it had great views of Katahdin and the remaining mileage of the section. The latter images made me think the advertised "easy" moniker on the section might not be accurate... The three hikers I'd just encountered left me in the dust soon after we resumed hiking but that didn't matter to me because I was just focused on making it to the end in one piece. I passed a few SOBO LASHers who gave me some intel about their hike from Abol Bridge. Of course, reports of "lots of mud" were not unexpected or surprising; by this point, I was covered in mud anyway... I also encountered a young lady with a friendly dog and talked with her for a bit. Despite my "lollygagging", however, I eventually caught up to the three NOBOs I'd last seen at the overlook and passed them. This was because the trail took a dramatic downhill direction and everyone's knees became a concern. As a result, the three of us leap frogged several more times throughout the afternoon. Even so, I was alone a lot of the time and used my mental and physical energy to fight with lots more mud, roots, wet rocks and annoying PUDs. My foot started hurting again and I started to wonder if I was going to have any issues finishing with that challenge - there was not much I could do about it anyway, I supposed, since I was miles away from getting off the trail... In several places during this part of the hike, I passed ponds with lots of boats/canoes on the shore. As tempting as it was to stop my hike and take a ride/paddle into the middle of the inviting water, I continued north. Up to this point, most of the day had been overcast. However, just as a reached a series of pretty cascades along the trail, it started raining - a LOT. I tried using my poncho but it was not effective. Miserable and wet, I started to think that I wanted to be done hiking for the day. So, when I finally arrived at Rainbow Stream Lean-to (11 mile mark) at 1715 but found it full (it only slept 6) of non-Thru hikers (two of the occupants were the two ladies I'd been with all day - the leap frog game had turned into a game of musical chairs, I guess). Feeling a bit disappointed, I took my time filling up water bottles, talking to people in shelter and trying to decide it I wanted to camp near the Lean-to or continue onward. One factor that turned in my favor at that point was that it stopped raining. So, at 1745, I crossed the river on a rickety log "bridge" and walked two more muddy miles. I passed two SOBOs who had hoped to stay in the Lean-to and had the same reaction as me when I told them it was already full... At 1845, I took a blue blazed trail to the Rainbow Dam. When I arrived, I found the place (rated as "the best campsite in Maine" by someone on the FarOut app) was completely deserted. I set up camp on the lake and noticed that I had a pretty impressive view of Katahdin from there - nice! After 13ish miles, I was tired and wet. Fortunately, it stopped raining long enough for me to eat dinner (Good to Go meal) and try to dry my clothing (that was tough. Before long, it was dark and I decided to retire to my tent. I tried to hang my bear bag but couldn't really find a good place. Instead, I took everything inside the tent and hoped for the best... There wasn't much in the way of natural noise at the campsite but I kept hearing airplane noises all evening (Bangor?). After sunset, I spent the next hour resting in my tent - I finally went to bed at 2100. Thinking about the day, I must say that I'm glad to have walked almost half way through the 25 miles of the section. Barring some sort of catastrophe, I should finish the AT tomorrow! AT Today = 13.0 miles / Grand Total AT = 2173.3 miles / AT Left = 12.0 miles
