Day 6
Thursday, 6/15/00
Carl A. Newall Lean-to to Cloud Pond Lean-to
16.8 miles
I’m utterly exhausted, so this might be brief… Woke up around 4:00am to “The Bull” saying a prayer for me… Got up about 6:45, but didn’t leave until around 9:00
6-mile downhill warm-up before hitting some killer mountains. Knees felt fine all day though. There were some climbing sections! (By that I mean you had to use your hands, similar to the Hunt Spur on Katahdin). Doesn’t the MATC [Maine Appalachian Trail Club] know about switchbacks!!? So steep I wanted to cry! Didn’t get any view from the summits either because of clouds. AARGH! Staggered into lean-to (which is located ½ mile off the trail!) around 6:00. Ate, wrote, slept…
By far my hardest day so far. Slept alone. Kind of lonely… A day and a half until Monson! Can’t wait.
Oh… while fording the W. Branch of the Pleasant River, I fell in! Felt refreshing. Wasted half an hour though. Good night!
One particular thing I remember about this night was hot-dog flavored water. Though there was a beautiful pond nearby, I was too tired to go down to it and filter water. Fortunately, there was a bucket full of rainwater by the lean-to, so I filtered from that. My pasta tasted fine with it, but my dessert (Carnation Instant Breakfast, another thing that didn’t work out well for me) tasted quite salty and meaty. I guess someone must have boiled hotdogs and dumped the water in this bucket. That’s what I get for being lazy!
A view of the "trail" in the Barren-Chairback Range.
Day 7
Friday, 6/16/00
Cloud Pond Lean-to to Little Wilson Falls
12.5 miles
Woke around 6:30, ate oatmeal (!), gone by 8:30. Climbed a mile to summit of Barren Mountain. There was an abandoned firetower, but it was all cloudy, so I didn’t bother climbing it to see the view. Steep 3-mile descent to a pretty river. Next section of trail was horrible! Extremely overgrown with blowdowns every 100yds!
Passed Wilson Valley Lean-to then came to a railroad track! Ah… wilderness (Just a reminder here, the first 100 or so miles [last 100 if you’re a northbounder] are known as the “100-mile Wilderness” because of the remoteness and lack of resupply opportunities). Had to ford Big Wilson Stream. Chilled out there for about 45 minutes (I remember sunning myself on a big smooth boulder with my feet soaking in the icy water while Tiger swallowtail butterflies flew around). I was so thirsty, I put the hose of my filter in my mouth and just pumped away! Refreshing! Kept my Teva’s on for the rest of the day to let my feet air out…
Got to Little Wilson Falls around 3:00. Very Pretty. Decided I’d tent it since I carried that stupid thing 100 miles and I’m only 4 miles from a shelter and maybe 7 from Monson. (The tent I started off with was a Eureka “Solitaire” which was quite light and compact, but also extremely cramped and uncomfortable. It was fine this night, but later on I’d have trouble with it in a couple rain storms and eventually sent it home.) Oh well, I just hope I don’t get trampled by a moose at night…
My right pinky toe has been one big blister since day one, but it hadn’t hurt until today, after I stopped. Now it’s all red. The toe-nail is just kind of floating in a big blister. Yuck! I’ll probably lose it (the nail, not the toe!). Everything else seems to be ok, except for all the bug bites, and my shredded shorts. (I started off the hike wearing some mid weight hiking boots that I had worn for a year or two. Though they were pretty comfortable, they fell apart pretty quicky, as you’ll see. This blister on my pinky toe was the ONLY blister I had the entire trip.)
Hopefully I’ll make it the ~10 miles to Monson before noon so I can pick up my first maildrop before the P.O closes. Sure hope it’s there Mom! After my super-fast beginning, I decided to slow down and enjoy it (that, and I finally hit some mountains!). (Before the trip, I packed several packages of food for myself and arranged for my mom to send them to post offices near the trail. This was common practice when I did it, but from what I hear isn’t done much anymore. Also, I never really did slow my pace down very much.)
I will write a conclusion to the 100-mile wilderness in Monson. I plan to stay at “The Pie Lady” (hostel), or maybe Shaw’s Boarding House. We’ll see…
Day 8
Saturday 6/17/00
Little Wilson Falls to Shaw’s Boarding House (Monson, ME)
6.6 miles (+3.5 miles into Monson)
Awoke this morning before 6:00! Didn’t eat breakfast and was on trail around 6:00. Mostly flat, made good time. Incredibly humid though! Felt like I was back in Mississippi! Made it to Rt. 15 [The road into Monson] around 9:00.
Walked in scorching heat for 3 miles (with no water left) before some rednecks picked me up and drove me the last half mile.
Shaw’s is a “hiker hostel”. Supposedly a legendary one… over 28,000 hikers have stayed here! Plus, they have AYCE (All-you-can-eat) meals for cheap. (Shaw’s also caters to snow-mobilers in the winter time. Keith Shaw, the proprietor was still alive when I went through, but he died a year or two later. However, the place is now run by his son. http://www.shawslodging.com).
As soon as I got to Monson, I went to P.O. (15 minutes before it closed!) and got my maildrop. It will suck to add more weight to my pack… I’m sending some thing back though: maps, guide-books (minus the Maine section), extra pot (no, not marijuana!), container that had Bailey’s, cup, etc…
After going to the P.O., I took a shower. FINALLY. It felt so gooood!!! But, I had to put dirty clothes back on. Then, I went to the Laundromat and did laundry, except for what I was wearing of course. Had a really good sandwich too, with veggies and FRESH stuff. Quite tasty.
Then, I came back, drank a half gallon of O.J. and read/wrote. Thanks for the book, y’all. That’s about it for right now…
Ate dinner here at Shaw’s. Had chicken, mashed potatoes, veggies, etc… Keith Shaw is relentless about eating as much as you want. Didn’t eat much though. Went to bed around 10:00. (I think Keith mistook me for a north-bound thru hiker. By the end of the hike, or after a month or so in my case, your appetite becomes huge and you can eat an amazing quantity of food).
Day 9
Sunday 6/18/00
Shaw’s Boarding House, Monson, ME
0 miles
Woke up about 7:30 for breakfast. It was huge and very good. French toast, bacon, hash-browns, eggs and O.J. As much as I could eat! Very good deal for only $4.50.
Lounged around all morning, cleaned stuff (pans, water filter, etc.), packed, and got stuff together to send home. I am sending back some food because I don’t want to carry any more than I have to! (Again, a clear sign I hadn’t been on the trail long. Later on, I would eat everything in my maildrop while at the post office, then head into town to buy groceries for a week or so. Without fail, I’d eat all that in 3 days and have to go back into town sooner than I’d planned. But we’ll get to that…)
Finally got to check my email today. I was a little disappointed at how few I got! Come on people! I wrote emails to a couple people too…
There’s nothing to do here! The population is 500 and none of them seem to be in town! Oh well…
Staying in town is expensive! I need to budget my money. I’m eating some of my extra food for dinner tonight to save money. Same with breakfast tomorrow. The P.O. opens at eight, so I’ll send my postcards and box and then hit the road, I mean trail… (Hey, does anyone still have any of the postcards I sent?)
I’ll be hitting some BIG, STEEP mountains the next couple weeks. Oh no! Hopefully it’ll get my fat ass into shape! 8 days and I have to be in Rangeley (To meet up with my folks). Shouldn’t be too hard. Can’t wait to see the family and my new sleek, black trumpet! Yeehah! (I was/still am a trumpet player. Back then, I was really into it, and my highschool graduation present was a black-lacquered trumpet. She’s still just as pretty as she was then).
I’m glad the 100-mile wilderness is behind me. Hopefully I’ll catch up to some more people soon. I guess there are a bunch about 4 days ahead. I probably won’t catch them before Rangeley, but I have about 5 months to catch up! No hurry I guess…
I hope whoever reads these entries and the ones to follow enjoy them. I hope there is nothing offensive in them either. I will try to keep everyone informed of my progress (or lack thereof). Enjoy!
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