August 8

Not much to write about today. Rain was everywhere. The Fire Brigade in the heavens was practicing today with hoses instead of buckets. Plenty of flood warnings for Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts (turns out one-half of the parking lot at my hotel tonight is under water). The biggest disappointment was seeing so many vehicles with Maine license plates not having front and rear lights on, even though plenty of signs on the road saying it is a Maine law to have lights on when wipers are in use. The Monument is basically split into two sections (there is a third area, but hard to access). The town of Patten is right in the middle; 25 miles to each entrance, north and south. And the city’s Lumbermens Museum has a contact station with a NPS ranger… though, only when it is open… this is not a hustling and bustling metropolis, so read the museum’s website for dates and times. Today, the museum was to open at 10 AM. I made it back on route 159 from the north entrance at 9:50 AM. Lights were on and the door was open, so I walked inside. The Passport Cancellation stamp was on a table to the left. No ranger yet said the museum volunteer. Time to go to the south entrance. The Messer Pond Road at the north entrance had not been exciting, mainly because there was so much rain, and I did not want to walk around in all the wetness. Therefore, I was looking forward to driving on the Katahdin Loop Road, an old logging road, in the southern section which I had been told holds up pretty well in wet weather. But as I approached the point of entry a park ranger stopped me and said a culvert near a bridge had to be replaced, so the entry road and the loop road were closed. Snowmobiling and hunting are allowed in another area of the monument, but I was not going to try and drive to and through it. Stargazing in the 88,000 acres is considered wonderful. Not too many places east of the Mississippi River where there are no light sources for miles upon miles. But this is one of those.

One unexpected treat was learning I had been on the International Appalachian Trail. I had wondered why there was an AT stamp at the museum in Patten since the beginning (or ending, depending on your direction) of The AT is in Baxter State Park, not in the Monument. But the IAT connects to The AT and goes through the Monument for thirty miles along the East Branch of the Penobscot River. I had been on the path while I was on the Old River Road. I did not know this IAT existed. The route is truly international, extending to Canada, England, Ireland, Spain and North Africa, with more additions planned.