I was driving until 11:30PM Wednesday night to make it to the campground off of the Golden Road on the outskirts of Millinocket. When I drove by, everything was pitch black. I wasn't even sure if the campground was still in operation because the number they had listed everywhere on the Internet was coming up as disconnected when you tried calling. My backup plan was to go to the Wilderness Edge campground closer to downtown Millinocket if this one didn't work out.

Because it was so late, I decided to just pull off onto the side of the road where I found an opening. It was right under the powerlines but looked flat and far enough off the road. There was no cell service at all, so I setup the Starlink to let people know that I had made it.

Thursday I had to work, so I setup the awning, table, and chair at my powerlines spot and got busy with a few meetings and projects. My plan was to get checked in with the campground by 1pm. Right around noon, a black pickup truck pulled in. A guy wearing an all greenish-tan uniform stepped out, and I immediately realized I was being checked on by a Maine game warden. He gave me a warning and explained that I'm not allowed to camp wherever I want and that there were plenty of campgrounds close by. I told him that was my plan and that I was just there to work. He seemed alright with it all and left, but I'm sure he came back to make sure at some point.

At Abol Bridge campground, I picked a campsite right on Katahdin stream, a jut out of the West Branch Penobscot River right outside Baxter State Park. Some of the sites were wooded, but this one appeared to have enough sight line to the sky to get my Starlink connected. It worked well and I had multiple meetings Thursday afternoon and Friday morning. For dinner that night I decided to try the restaurant at the campground. Hard to say no to Thai chili chicken wings and Baxter stow-away IPA on draft, especially with Mikayla behind the bar.

I found out that the appalachian trail passes close by the campground before heading into Baxter state park, so a lot of through-hikers stop at Abol Bridge to do laundry, get a hot shower and have a day of rest before heading up Katahdin. I enjoyed talking with the hikers, finding out where they were coming from and how long they'd been on the trail. We were all laughing and talking and having a good time so I decided to buy a round for everyone in the bar. All 7 of us. All the hikers were appreciative and called it some good 'trail magic'. I also met Bradd and Matt who were doing some back country boondocking up in the Allagash wilderness area. We all went back to their campsite after the restaurant closed at 6 and shared some more stories and drinks.

Friday evening I hung out at my campsite, watched the sun go down over the river and gazed at the stars as they came out. Saturday I grabbed a shower, packed up camp, and decided to head west to Colebrook, NH to meet up with Cory for the annual labor day pig roast and horseshoe tournament.