Date: 2005-09-14
From: Shaw's Lodging (Monson, ME)

To: Shaw's Lodging (Monson, ME)
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: haze

10:23 am - The Waiting is the Hardest PartI was awoken yesterday by three men in orange safety vests tramping through the woods. "Hey," they asked as they approached my tent, "do you know where the trail is?" I directed them to the river thirty feet away. "Gotta love these talking tents," one of them remarked as they walked away. I wondered if this sort of thing happens often to them.Since I was awake I figured I'd get up and moving. I did a lot of blue-blazing as I hiked toward Monson. The trail weaves on and off a logging road for a mile or two, never more than thirty feet distant. Last time I hiked the trail; this time I hiked the road for variety. To top things off, I took an early side trail that led two miles down a gravel road right to town. I'd already hiked the additional three and a half miles to the main road. This side trail let me see some new sights, walk less, and avoid hitching. It was nice - I even ran across a friendly local in his front yard and talked with him for a good fifteen minutes or so.I settled into Shaw's Lodging with a shower upon arrival in town. A quick swing by the local library to check my e-mail brought good news: I've got floor seats to an upcoming Springsteen show. Also, my camera is finally back from the repair shop! I rushed to a phone to let my Dad know where to overnight it. It'll be nice to have that back for the final stretch.While hanging out at the convenience store with other hikers, Blister Sister showed up with bad news. She was hiking with Low Bridge out of Caratunk when he took a bad spill on his bum ankle. She helped him arrange a ride out with a section hiker. It sounds like Bridge is off the trail, at least temporarily. Blister Sister feared that he'd torn something.I spent most of the afternoon working on my secret summit plans. It took a lot longer than I thought, but I'm very pleased with the results. I packed it up in a heavy duty water proof bag and put it into my pack. It's not coming out until the top of Katahdin.Shaw's had a full house last night - Professor, myself, Sam-I-Am, Origami, Pumpkin and her husband Mike, Little John (as in the one I last saw in Georgia!), Bear Tracks, Just Bob, Baltimore Jack, and Lion King were all around. I hung out for a long time by the picnic table as Mala, Blister Sister, Sam, and Professor all swapped old hiking stories. Everyone who's spent a few seasons on the trail seems to know all the other trail fixtures. The hiking community is large, but there's a fairly small core that everyone knows. Also present was an '85 hiker named Wood Chuck. He's quite the workman - in fact, he was the person who built and erected the halfway marker in Pine Grove Furnace. He told us to keep an eye out for a few of his bird houses near Abol Bridge.I awoke this morning to the sound of yelling, a door slamming, and a car peeling out of the driveway, horn blaring. No idea what that was all about, and everyone I knew seemed to be around this morning. It was a well-timed disturbance, though, since it got me up in time for breakfast.Breakfast at Shaw's is quite the tradition. You tell Keith a number - one-by, two-by, four-by, etc. I said three-by-scrambled, and soon a plate of steaming food appeared before me with three blueberry pancakes, three strips of bacon, three sausage links, three scoops of hash browns, and three scrambled eggs. I supplemented it with an additional one-by-scrambled round once my plate was cleared. Nobody leaves the table hungry, and if they do it's their own fault.Now it's time to wait around. UPS and my camera should be coming in the early afternoon, and then it's off to the start of the 100 Mile Wilderness!