Cooper Brook Falls Lean-to to Wadleigh Stream Lean-to---July 8th

Fast. Fast. Fast.  The trail which ran between 910 and 500 feet was made for big miles.  By 10 a.m., I was already at Potaywadjo Spring having covered 11.4 miles.  Snorkel had signed the hiker register and from what I could deduce, must have summited Katahdin on July 4th, breaking the women's unsupported record.  Nobody at the shelter, so I had a quiet second-breakfast and filled up my water bottle.
The last five miles from Nahmakanta Stream Campsite and along the lake shore were rooty and muddy.  Tried my best to avoid stepping into mud pits that were ankle deep by dancing across logs, two-stepping on top of rocks, and jumping from one side of the trail to the other.  Sometimes the technique works, but at others, once you experience a misstep, you might as well just trod straight ahead through the slop.
I was in the lean-to by 2 p.m. and did my best to entertain myself.  Eventually, a few southbounders passed, bringing news of a fellow hiker struggling up the trail.  From what they said, he'd been asking for water, since his own supply had dwindled.  In the evening, a female hiker arrived carrying a smaller pack in front.  She dropped it off at the shelter, explaining to me that it was the struggling hiker's food bag, before she left to set up camp in the nearby tent sites.  Round about seven, the person I'd been hearing about stumbled in.  His pack was very heavy, but no more so than its owner.  Huffing and puffing, trying to catch his breath, he told me how he had hiked eight miles that day.  Eight Miles!  I thought he had to be joking.  Eight miles and he looked like a wreck.  Now I understood why he was carrying a separate food bag in addition to his pack.  At that rate it would take him a full two weeks to clear the 100-Mile Wilderness.  Because of the way he felt, he said he was seriously thinking about taking a zero tomorrow and just hanging around the shelter.  When he'd recovered somewhat from the day's exertions, he wandered down to the stream to get some water.  Back at camp, I soon discovered why he was so dehydrated.  He'd only brought back a liter in his cook pot, which he set on his stove to boil.  He had to wait a long time before it cooled down enough for him to drink.  He claimed he boiled all his water to purify it, but didn't boil any more water in his pot that night, which meant he didn't drink any more water that night.  Exhausted, he lay back in the lean-to and went to sleep.
I couldn't help thinking about how ill-prepared he was physically to attempt a thru-hike and how relying on other hikers to give him water when their own supply might be limited, or requiring another to help tote his gear, was definitely not the right way to make progress on the trail.  Eight miles total from Rainbow Stream, when the only thing between here and there was a 1,500 foot mountain!  How was he going to reach White Cap, which is more than twice as high?  For his own sake and the sake of others, I believe that he should turn back.  My honest opinion is that the 100-Mile Wilderness will prove too much for him.

Cooper Brook Falls
Forest Floor
Roots
Mud