Date: 2013-08-25
From: Horseshoe canyon Lean to

To: ME 15 Monson , ME
Miles today: 9.0
Weather: few clouds

Start Horseshoe Canyon Lean-to, mile 2062.4Stop ME 15, Monson, ME, mile 2071.5Hiked 9.0 miles NorthboundSleep Shaw's hostel bedCell none114.5 miles remaining 119.1 miles hiked 2013 ATOld Goat's notes:Today was excellent. We started hiking at 6:45am, our earliest start yet. There were 2 reasons we were so fast. One was that we stayed in the lean-to and didn't have to pack up our tent. The second reason was the night was cold last night and we needed to move to stay warm. The terrain was relatively smooth and we were able to make good time. We had one ford today that ended up to be ankle deep. The two local woman who stayed at the same shelter rock hopped it, they did get their boots a little wet but they had high tops on and the water didn't penetrate the boots. The best part of our day came when our friend and one of my 2006 hiking friends Sara (NEFFA) met us on the trail. She lives here in Maine and was able to come up to Monson to see us. She is a true Trail Angel. The first thing she did was take our packs in her car while we hiked our last 3.2 miles, this is called Slack Packing. Those last few miles went fast. When we got done hiking we came into town and ate lunch at a local Bar-b-que joint and then checked in at Shaw's Hostel. Sara then drove us to Stratton to pick up our car. We were planning on hiring someone to drive us there tomorrow but this worked out better. We spent the time bringing each other up on family, friends, and things we've been doing. It was a great ride with a great friend. Thank you Sara, you are a true friend. Oh yes one more fact; we had approximately 230 miles left to complete the whole Appalachian Trail when we arrived here in Maine. As of today we have 114.5 miles left to go. Check 6's notes:What a fabulous day!!! The hiking terrain was decent most of the time so we were able to hike quickly. And then we had a wonderful surprise where the side trail into Monson connects with the AT...our friend, Sara, was sitting next to the trail waiting for us! Her car was parked 2/10 of a mile away. She offered to take our packs to let us slack pack the final 3.2 miles of the day. So we went to her car, put our packs in her car, and hiked the rest easily! Heaven!Old Goat met Sara (trail name NEFFA) during his 2006 thru-hike. We visited Sara and her husband, Bob, last year after we left the trail. Nice people!As we were near the end of today's hike, Sara had hiked in and met us. We expected to see her at her car in the trailhead parking lot. We had a wonderful visit hiking with Sara to her car. We bought her lunch, she took us to the hostel to check in, and then she drove us to Stratton to get our van so we can take it to Monson and park it at Shaw's! It was a long drive, so we had a fabulous visit with Sara! (It will be much easier to get our car from Monson than Stratton when we finish hiking!)Can't thank you enough, Sara!!!! Love your trail magic, loved the surprise, and loved spending the time with you. Now we're heading back to Monson to get clean and relax. We'll be there 2 nights...hiking again on Tuesday if we stick to our plan. Only about 10 days left to finish the AT!!!!By the way, no one else showed up at the shelter last night, which was real nice.