Date: 2015-10-06
From: Bald Mountain Lean To

To: Monson Maine and then My brother's house.
Miles today: 18.7
Weather: few clouds

I was up early as I planned to reach Monson, Maine today. The weather was nice, and fairly warm which was nice as I had rivers to ford and was hoping that it wouldn't rain and swell the rivers. The trail climbed up together over Moxie Bald Mountain and I had the Moxie to conquer this mountain! Then it was down to the Moxie Bald Lean To for a quick snack break. The trail was a peaceful and easy down from the shelter to the Marble Brook. It was about lunch when I reached the West Branch of the Piscataquis River. There was a group there getting ready for the crossing including a thru-hiker with the trail name of Waterfall. I changed into my sandals and unbuckled my pack in preparation. I asked him if he could use my camera to record my fording. He agreed but warned that he might fall and couldn't be blamed if the camera was damaged if that happened. I told him that I had bought the Samsung Galaxy S5 with a Tech21 case because the phone was waterproof from the factory and that water wouldn't hurt it if I made sure it was properly secured, which it was. I then made my crossing on the right of a line of rocks, using the rocks and my hiking poles to stabilize myself. The current was pretty strong and I almost fell on two occasions. I made it across without incident and waited for Waterfall to make his crossing. He had barely made it in the water when down he went and as I dropped my pack and started back across he got to his feet and started again, almost going down again. I waited halfway across in the river until I saw that he was ok and then returned and changed into my shoes and socks. He gave me my phone which hadn't even gotten wet but, unfortunately, most of his pack had gotten soaked. I hiked on and checked out the Horseshoe Canyon Lean To and I caught up to the group at the East Branch of the Piscataquis River and walked around the corner only to see a naked woman right in the middle of the trail! I backed up and waited while she got dressed and then made my presence known. She and her husband, trail names of Trial & Error, had actually got naked and crossed the river! Already at the crossing were Waterfall, Ice and Lego. I asked Trial & Error for advice about crossing the river and then asked Waterfall to record this crossing as well for YouTube. There was a rope at this crossing and the water was about waist deep so I tried something new. I put my whole pack into a trash bag and tied the top with only the loop to hang the bag accessible. I then put a carabineer on the top and after changing into my sandals, hooked my pack onto the rope and began pushing the pack across the river on the rope. This worked well to give me stability and only became a challenge as the rope got higher at the end and I had to climb a rock with one hand in order to reach high enough to unhook the clip. Soon Waterfall came across and returned my phone and I walked a short distance down the trail where I met Joker and Sterling again engaged in a safety meeting around a fire. I joined them and warmed up and had something to eat before moving on as I still had miles to go. There were numerous road crossings and a short road walk before I reached ME 15 and caught a ride to Shaws. It was getting dark when I rolled into Shaw's Boarding House and called my brother with their phone as I had no service. I checked out the hiker box and bought a drink and a snack while waiting. Soon a car pulled up and I was happy to see my brother get out of the car! I had not seen him since I had been to Maine back in 2010 on a motorcycle road trip on my 2 month leave from work after I had donated my Kidney in California. It was only a short drive to Guilford where my brother had moved since I had visited last and not far from where we lived when I had left Maine back in 1988. We stopped there momentarily and then we were off to the Parkman Community Church for worship practice as my brother was a member of the worship team playing the guitar. It was good to see my niece - Felicity and Clay's wife Mandy again who were also part of the team. Pratice was an our and then we went back to Clay's house where we visited for awhile and ate dinner. Their dog - Sampson, a large Chocolate Lab didn't know what to think of me and kept barking for a while after I arrived. My niece had grown so much since I last saw her in 2010! It felt strange to be back in Guilford and I was exhausted after the long hike so I soon excused myself and after taking a shower, slid into the warm and comfortable bed and was soon fast asleep.