Date: 2008-08-06
From: Monson, Maine

To: Monson, Maine
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: moderate rain

Woke up relatively late today (after all, it is a zero day!) and ate a pretty decent breakfast in back of the Lakeshore House Hostel. I had been thinking about spending my second night here over at Shaw's Bording House. So I walked over and took a look around their place. Definitely more of a hostel "feel" about it. I talked to one of the lady owners and she was very nice. She showed me the "hiker box" of items the northbounders have left behind. Actually, the accurate name would be "hiker room." There was a ton of stuff being left behind as the NOBOs head into the 100-mile Wilderness and then Katahdin.There wasn't just plastic bags of food. Large numbers of unused fuel cannisters, clothing, rainsuits, some bivy sacks. Even some packs and tents. It seemed as if their only goal was to make getting to Katahdin as easy as possible, and not to worry about no longer having the gear. I can't imagine many north-bounders behind them will pick up any of this stuff, so the intended audience looks to be southbounder or section hikers. Anyway, there were a lot of socializing folks at Shaw's talking about gear, routes, miles hiked per day, records to be broken, etc. By this point in my thru-hike I was pretty tired of talking about gear. I could care less the merits of whether to blue-blaze or slackpack. I didn't care if I managed to hike 3 miles per hour on a certain section of the trail. I just wanted to be able to reflect on what I had accomplished and would be completing shortly. Since I'm hiking alone I felt better served by staying, again, at the Lakeshore House hotel.But for probably 90% of all thru-hikers, Shaw's looks like a bang-up place to stay.Okay, during this zero day, it was time to sit down and calculate the best way to handle the reamining week (give or take a day) of this hike. Overall, I'm not in any hurry to get through the 100-mile Wilderness or to climb Katahdin. I guess that means I don't want the hike to end any sooner than is necessary. So, when I leave Monson tomorrow morning I want to get to the Whitehouse Landing Hostel, which is about two-third through the 100-mile Wilderness. Averaging around 12-15 miles per day means five days of hiking and food to carry to Whitehouse. That's what I'll leave Monson with. Once I get to the Whitehouse Landing Hostel, I can buy local food for the three remaining days hiking to the "Birches" Lean-To in Baxter State Park.Leaving tomorrow (8/7) will get me to Whitehouse Landing Hostel by 8/11. Then I should be at the "Birches" by 8/14. Finally, climb Katahdin on 8/15. I could make a date adjustment depending upon weather conditions. Also, if I were to climb Katahdin a day later (8/16) it would be on a Saturday when I'd have a better chance of getting a free hitch into Millinocket.However, at the same time I have to try and coordinate the when & how of my getting from Millinocket back to home. Anyway, I gave Trail Boss another call and we went over all of this. There won't be any difficulty getting from Millinocket to Portland (via the Cyr bus). But not sure about the ticket cost for a flight - we aren't even sure what day that will be. About the best we can do now is not worry about it until I'm in Millinocket and then check the available flights/prices. If nothing works, I'll take the Amtrak train back.I had mentioned to Trail Boss that I'd hold off entering any more journal entries (between Monson and Katahdin) until I've finished the hike. But I think I may well have iPhone reception when I get on top of White Cap Mountain in three days. I could get all entries posted through that period. And when I'm at Whitehouse Landing Hostel and the Abol Campground Store there are payphones I can call and leave the journal info for Trail Boss. So, there's a chance that all entries will be current by the day I actually climb Katahdin.After talking with Trail Boss, I looked over the gear I am still carrying. Thought about sending some items home through the post office here. Was tempted to send home my tent and rain jacket. But it just seemed that I was trying to "nickel & dime" my weight load. I left everything as it was. But I did make a decision at this point that I will NOT carry my pack, tent, bag, clothing on the climb up Katahdin. I'll do like almost everyone else does and borrow one of the day packs at the Ranger Station.The rest of the day I mostly spent sitting in one of the white, plastic chairs looking out at Lake Hebron. A time to reflect over how this thru-hike has impacted me. How there were times that I really felt like quiting, but never did. I remember a really "blue" period in Virginia where I was just going "through the motions." Then I ran into StormeNorman and Water Bear. Their company and humor and kindness were what got me through Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvannia. They get a lot of credit for my finising. And Trail Boss was "there" for me every day and in every way. Although she handled the mail drops and schedules and visits, her biggest assist was in believing in me, that I could finish this hike.But there were also so many hikers (thru, section, local, etc.) who would stop and say "hi" and chat briefly about our prospective hikes. I could be having a "down" day and meeting one of those hikers helped turn my day around.Not the least, when I was at a library or some place with internet access I would always stay caught up with my guestbook entries. It felt great to hear from those who knew me in the past and those saying hello for the first time. There just wasn't enough time to respond to each of the guest book entries but after the hike is over I'll give it a try.Okay, I'm still sitting out by the lake and the sun is starting to set. I think that makes for a good time to get one last drink (okay - maybe a double) and wrap things up for the day.Shaw¢s Bording House, Monson, Maine