(Daily Mi: 17.0) Maine is as brutal as they say, and you can almost tell right where it begins from the increase in difficulty.

Left with a big group of thru hikers via the motel shuttle. The shuttle driver, Bruce, is an awesome cat, an avid local hiker and a full-on character.

It was hot and not especially pleasant hiking. I just can't seem to keep the oomph in my legs. One of the older hikers, ERTman, waits up for me with his dog Red (that's his trailname, his real name is Blue). ERTman is mainly slacking the Trail and meeting his wife each night at a roadhead in a VW Camper. Except on sections such as this, where the roadhead is more than 25 miles of bad Trail on, he carries for a night.

Can't really find my rythm but have a nice walk with ERTman and Red to the Gentian Pond Shelter about 11.5 miles into the hike. Everyone stops for lunch, but I linger almost an hour after they have moved on, licking my wounds and feeling maudlin. Just before I leave, a giant thru hiker name Redman stops by the shelter for a moment.

The last 6 miles to the shelter are just comically rugged -- Mt Success 3565 ft) > Mt Carlo (3565 ft) -- Hell, the side trail to the shelter was one of the roughest 1/4 miles on the AT. Don't know how many times I fell. At one point I found myself at the bottom of a boney root grabbing descent only to discover there was close to no way up the other side. Took almost 45 minutes a mile. Was feeling feeble, but at least everyone else at the shelter, had at least a couple of gashes from tumbles that day.