Journal

Well I made it. It was 75 miles, with the first 35 or so being surprisingly easy. I got to a viewpoint at the northern tip of Long Lake, just south of Madawaska, and saw some great views of the lake, relaxed for a bit, then headed back out. The road along the northeastern edge of the lake was packed pavement and it was pretty smooth. Can't complain too much, not many cars, not many people and it was easy riding. 

But then once that ended it turned into gravel trails that were really meant for things like ATVs and dirt bikes. So I was on these gravelly trails for about 25 miles, which may have been the most difficult 25 miles I've ever done. It takes so much more effort to ride on gravel, and when going downhill you have to be so much more careful not to hit any large divots or rocks, which could send you careening.

But after a final grueling 10 miles on pavement, I made it to Arndt campground and was greeted warmly by Athena and the rest of the people who own and operate this campground. They were flabbergasted by my trip and very impressed, and even donated $20 to my fundraiser. Very generous! 

As I'm writing this, I'm enjoying a beautiful sunset from on top of a hill and while I would have preferred to see some hot air balloons from a an ongoing festival nearby, the weather wasn't quite perfect enough for the balloons, so I didn't get to see those. But the sunset is quite lovely. I'll head to bed soon and be out early in the morning. After today's tough day, tomorrow will surely be pretty rough, but I know I can do it even if it takes a bit longer than I'd like.