It was a cold start to the morning but we got to hike up to see another view of Katadhin. A fellow hiker we’ve been bumping in to from time to time camped up on top of the mountain and took amazing sunset and sunrise pictures. He shared some of them with me. Just beautiful! I cannot believe I’m so close. We stopped for lunch at Rainbow Stream Lean-to. There are tons of amazing tent sites all over this area and the stream is just amazing to listen to. It’s an awesome shelter area. Too early to stop though so we continued on to Rainbow Spring Campsite. It has limited spacing for tents and it was already full of tents with no one around. There were entries in the FarOut app saying the MATC crew were here doing work in the area but would be out by the 2nd. I guess they stuck around longer? It’s the 3rd and all their tents and gear are still here. No one around though. Sparkle and I had to set up our tents in a spot that was badly slanted. We’re making it work though. Oh well. I can deal with anything right now. I’m just ready to finish this. The mosquitoes around here are vicious though and I’m all out of bug spray. I’m having to wear my base layer pants and sun shirt with the hood up just to protect as much skin as possible. While putting my stakes into the ground, I could see 6 or more mosquitos at a time heading for my legs. I’m kicking back relaxing in my tent as I type this into my HikerFeed journal app and there’s literally around a dozen mosquitoes trying to come in through the netting of my tent. I’m dreading having to go out there to use the bathroom and make dinner. Anyway, tomorrow I’m hiking about 11.5 miles and will cross over Abol Bridge and am going to the Abol Pines Campsite. I’ll have to pay for a site but it will put me only .7 miles away from the kiosk in Baxter State Park where I’ll get to the following day and hope to be one of the first 12 hikers to get my name on The Birches signup sheet. That’s my only goal right now. Once I’m locked in to be able to stay at the Birches on Monday night, I’ll be lined up to summit Katadhin on Tuesday the 6th. I hate that they turn this hike into a game of cutthroat right at the end where all the hikers in the area are all rushing to be the first in line at the kiosk, or at least up to the 12th in line, so they can get into the park to stay at the lean-tos there to have a shorter hike up Katadhin and only have to pay $10 to stay at The Birches instead of up to $35 at the other campsites further away. It’s going to work out. I have to just have faith. I just wish it wasn’t during Labor Day as I’m told all the campsites are already booked solid for the holiday and because the native Indian tribe is there having their rituals. Wish me luck. I want to get this climb over with!