Woke up and got ready in my tent and then packed everything up while the bugs ate me for breakfast. We were camped out in the Moosehorn National Wildlife Refuge and the bugs were one of the things that we had to just deal with. Nothing we could do about it but keep steppin… so we did.
It took us a while to get out of the refuge. It was beautiful but the bugs were relentless and the heat was rising with the sun. Still had no complaints though. We’ve definitely been through worse. We had light traffic and beautiful views. We chose to focus on the good and keep pushin.
We came into the town of Calais. Calais (pronounced like callous) is the last town on the East Coast Greenway. This is the trail that we have been using as a guide for most of our journey. We hopped on and off of it when we were able to find other routes that better suited our direct needs. It was still our main guide though. The trail alliance was very supportive of our walk and our cause since the beginning. While we didn’t take the trail turn for turn, we can still say that we walked from one end to the other of the East Coast Greenway. There aren’t many people who can say that. Pretty cool stuff.
We came through Calais and it started to get surreal for me. I could see Canada in the distance. It was the first time I’d ever seen Canada. We walked through the town and down to the place where they have a monument that marks the northern terminus of the trail. We took some photos and did some light celebrations. Then Stick was hinting that if he didn’t eat soon that he was going to eat Domino. I took the hint. I had forgotten to stop for our usual snack break in the excitement and we needed food bad. We went to a little pizza joint in town.
A family friend of Jessie was waiting there for us to take us to our car. We ate quickly and then drove 50ish miles out to Machias where our car was. We then drove all the way back to pick up our carts and gear. While we were loading up, our friends Diana and Damien came to say hello. They were traveling and happened to be passing by. I had met them on my last walk in Colorado then they walked with us in New Jersey on this walk. So cool how all this stuff happens. We talked for a little while and went our separate ways until our paths cross again.
We left Calais and headed for a cabin with the family friends of Jessie. Willow and Greg have an amazing piece of paradise that they call home on Lake Pocomoonshine about 15 minutes away from Calais. We arrived and were welcomed right in. Stick and I had our own small cabin with a stocked fridge and a freezer full of ice cream. There were a lot of people all hanging out on the back porch of the main house so we went up to be social.
We spent hours just talking and hanging out while overlooking a beautiful lake. I went for a little kayak ride with Domino to get some alone time to reflect on the success of the East Coast Greenway. I came back just in time to watch the amazing sunset with beautiful people. A glorious ending to a special day. There was a party going on and everyone was incredible. I still had moments of self-reflection during the sunset. I was taking in the moment during the moment. I was so happy to be right where I was with the people that I was with. Life was good today.
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