Date: 2014-09-06
From: Monson/Lake Shore House

To: Long Pond Lean To
Miles today: 15.1

Went next door to the Pie Lady's shop to get some snickers bars as they were out yesterday when I was getting my resupplies. I also grabbed a banana and 2 donuts for breakfast to make sure I had something before I headed out. Rebecca the owner of the Lodge gave Marathon Man and I a ride to the trail head at 730. Marathon Man headed south and I north into the 100 mile Wilderness where a sign says not to take this area lightly and to have enough food for 10 days as there are no resupply points along the way. This may have been true about 30 years ago, but I was planning on doing it in 7 days and there are some outfits that will give you a 5 gallon bucket that you can fill and they will leave for you about the half way mark. So things have really changed over time like everything else.As I said I am planning on completing this last leg of my journey in 7 days and have 6 days of food. My plan for the 7th day is to go about 11 miles to Abol Bridge where they have a store and a restaurant and eat then. We'll see how that works out. The trail was pretty good starting out as it meandered around numerous ponds and lakes at which I carefully walked in hopes of seeing a moose. It's especially hard to do this as around bodies of water there seems to be twice as many roots which requires you to watch your step even more so than usual. Alas, despite my attempts to be stealthy at these sites the moose continued to elude me.I did have to ford/cross a steam by wading through it today. At the "BIG WILSON STREAM" I had to take off my boots and put on my crocs and eased across the stream with the water reaching up to my mid thighs. The water was still relatively warm and actually felt good. The strange part of this crossing was that when I reached the other side, there lie the remains of a moose carcass. I'm not sure what happened but it was kind of weird that it was at the side of the stream. As I made my way up the side of the hill away from the stream I thought I might have a chance to beat the rain that was called for later in the afternoon, but I wasn't that lucky. About a mile out it started to spit and then rain, but fortunately not too hard. While I did a get a bit wet, I had put my pack cover on as well as my rain jacket and my boots did not get very wet at all which was most important to me. A thru hiker who was flip flopping, Hard Way, was there already and we chatted for a while and then 2 SOBO Section hikers showed up. One decided to stay in the shelter with us and the other put his hammock and tarp up. As this adventure winds down, I find myself reflecting more and more about many things; one of them being family. While I have always realized how important my family members were to me it seems even more so now and I look forward to being even closer to them than before, especially the kids. I feel quite fortunate in that despite our short comings and faults and even disagreements from time to time we always accept each other for who we are and remain close and when any one of us is in need we quickly rally to their side. I have been truely blessed. I really hope to pass this important realization on to the future generation.