06 – May 2021 AT trip – final thoughts and summary

May trip is very hard to initiate. After 9 months at home, the idea of driving 300 miles and sleeping in the forest seems outlandish. But you must overcome the initial hesitation and just do it. I had several temptations to cut the trip short, especially when I have reached the car for the first time at noon on Sunday, May 30. But I continued, and instead of mediocre trip of 28.1 mi, I have booked a 52 mi trip with over 40 mi on actual AT.
Next trip can be launched from Abol Bridge where I think parking is free. The remaining distance to cover 100-mile wilderness is 33.2 – 6.2 = 27 mi. So, potentially this can be done as a back-and-forth trip without any logistics to overcome. Nice! To get there I would need to drive 338 mi or 5H and 18 min. But reward of completing ME section of AT is great.
Conquered AT 100 miles wilderness section stretches between two private roads. Cell signal was sporadic, but every day I was able to walk into the LTE or 3G signal and manage not to interrupt my Spanish 545-day streak with Duolingo.
And in all such trips – the main theme is endless, unmeasurable, exhausting walking along the trail. No matter how many attractions and distractions are along the way, the main task and the main purpose of the trip is to cover a distance from point A to point B. In that sense too, the trip was a big success. I did exactly as planned, covered about 40 mi. of AT, and grew more confident no to be intimidated by all these private lands and private roads surrounding the AT in this section on Maine. Yes, it is a very remote area. Yes, there is no free access to it by roads, but setting is beautiful and this section worth further exploration.