Date: 2018-09-04
From: Mile 2073.1

To: Thompson Brook
Miles today: 12.6
Weather: scattered clouds

We had just over 3 miles to go to get to the road leading to Monson, but those 3 miles seem to go on and on and on forever. I was tired and sore and ready for a nice long break. I also had a bit of a bad attitude that I blame on pop tarts for breakfast. They are quick, easy, contain a lot of calories and seem to be readily available everywhere. However they provide no good food energy. Another excuse for being grumpy....the glue didn¢t hold on Cole¢s boots. Duct tape would be our next solution!Once we reach Highway 15 we started up the road towards Monson. Whenever a vehicle approached I stuck out my thumb. It took about 10 minutes before somebody pulled over to give us a ride. It was a gentleman driving a disability service vehicle. He lowered his wheelchair ramp and instructed us to get on. Once we were on, he raised the ramp up and we walked right into the van. He drove us to Shaws which is a very popular hostile and re-supply store in Monson. I had been very leery about resupplying here because I had read on guthooks that the prices were horrendous, however they were really very few other options in the area unless we were going to try to hitchhike to the next town. Outside of the Resupply store at Shaw¢s was a hiker box. A sign above read ¢For Shaw¢s guests only¢ however, the lady inside gave us permission to look through it. I lifted the lid and the first thing that caught my attention was a pair of boots. They were Solomons. Aside from a chunk missing out of one of the tongues, they looked perfectly fine. Not really expecting much, I picked them up and checked the size. 11.5! Cole¢s size! I couldn¢t believe it. Cole didn¢t look quite as overjoyed as I felt, but obediently he tried them on. They were missing laces and insoles but he easily swapped them out from his dilapidated pair. They fit. A song came to my mind. A children¢s song that my boys learned many years ago at Vacation Bible School. I couldn¢t remember much of it...just one line. It was enough to swing my hips and dance to, to the embarrassment of my son.¢Oh, oh, I know, ow, my Jesus provides¢Shaws did not have everything that we had wanted, so afterwards we headed to the town¢s general store. It was very small, just as pricey and the selection was just as limited. However, they did have a deli and our tummies were very grumbly. We ordered sandwiches with turkey, bacon and avocado. They were delicious. We also downed a litre of chocolate milk and bottles of Mountain Dew. A giant sized cookie sandwich finished off the meal.Once our bellies were full, we felt quite content. Now what? We really hadn¢t made a concrete plan where we would stay. All of a sudden, I didn¢t feel like staying after all. I wanted to get out of this tiny expensive town. I wanted to hike.¢Do you want to stay or hike?¢ I asked Cole.¢I want to hike.¢ He replied confidently.¢Then let¢s go!¢As we were packing up, I realized that I had forgotten to get toilet paper and a lighter for our stove, so I went back inside the store. Fresh fruit was on display and on impulse I picked up a bunch of bananas.¢Are you going to eat those?¢ Cole asked when I returned to our table with the bananas.¢Not now. I am going to pack them out.¢¢Seriously?¢¢Yes!¢¢You¢re bananas!¢¢Ha! Ha! Funny guy!¢We heaved our food laden packs onto our backs and headed down the main road towards the trail. I threw out my thumb at the first vehicle that came by and it pulled over just a short distance past us.¢Really?¢ Cole said, amazed that we had found a ride so quickly.It was a small C class RV that had stopped for us. The retired husband and wife inside were on their way to Katahdin. They were working their way through climbing all of the mountains in the state over 4000 feet. Our destinations were the same but our methods of getting there were very different.They dropped us off at the trail head and just like that we were back on the trail entering the 100 mile wilderness.We passed the sign warning us to be prepared because the trail was very remote. We walked a mile. Then another. Then a few more. Somewhere inside me a little bubble burst...a bubble in my brain that had surrounded this daunting thing called The 100 mile wilderness. I don¢t know why, but I¢d been worried about crossing it. I feel weaker, slower and more tired now than I have, and that made the task seem harder and more immense. But as we continued further and further I realized, this is just the same trail that I walked through yesterday and the day before. There is nothing here that I haven¢t already conquered. There is nothing here harder than, or even as difficult as I have done before. I am strong, even if I don¢t really feel that way. I¢ve got this! As for Cole....there was never any doubt. For dinner I smothered peanut butter on bread and sliced up a banana for a peanut butter and banana sandwich. Delicious! I was perfectly pleased with myself for packing those bananas. I may not be as please hauling the peels around for a week though.