Date: 2009-08-31
From: Horseshoe Canyon Lean-To 

To: Monson, Maine (Route 15)
Miles today: 9.0
Weather: broken clouds

Although it rained lightly for a while last night, we rose this morning to another glorious day: perfect for hiking ¢ cool and sunny with light breezes. Hurdy-Gurdy prepared scrambled eggs and bacon burritos with cheese, while I packed, stretched, and did odds and ends in preparation for my last day on the Appalachian Trail in the state of Maine. After 17 days in the woods and 187 miles of walking, I¢m ready to return to my own place and my own (real) bed. But I¢ve really enjoyed the Trail here in Maine and the experiences it has afforded me. I am sad not to have more hiking in Maine to look forward to, and for that matter, to have only 212 miles of the Appalachian Trail yet ahead of me before I finish it.Today¢s journey was a relatively easy one with only one river to ford and the highest elevation gain of the day of only 700¢. Along the way, we encountered a cooler of ¢Trail Magic¢ containing sodas and apples; we paralleled the raw beauty of a rolling Maine river (Piscataquis); we skirted the western end of picturesque lake Hebron and, all the while, picked our way around and through the inevitable abundance of roots, rocks, and mud that is so characteristic of the Trail at this time of the year here in Maine. Along the way, we walked for long periods in silence and chatted for others. In spite of his apparent increasing discomfort from aching knees and incipient shin splints, Hurdy-Gurdy led the way and maintained a steady, even pace. We arrived at our end point on Maine Route 15 a little before 2:00 pm. After 20 minutes or so of trying to hitch a ride to town (the first time that ¢Wilson¢ ever let me down!) we called Shaw¢s, and Dawn¢s co-owner, Sue, quickly came and picked us up. After the requisite hot showers, we took Dick¢s truck and went to the general store for sodas and snacks, put our laundry in the machine the Lakeshore Pub¢s Laundromat (an interesting combination of retailing!), and went to the local mini market for a couple of slices of pizza ¢ all typical hiker things to do when returning to town from the Trail. While our clothes were in the dryer, we carried some lawn chairs from the Lakeshore Pub¢s Beer Garden out onto their dock and sat in the late afternoon sunshine with the sun glinting off the water of Lake Hebron. As we sat we enjoying the antics of two eight-year-old girls jumping into the warm lake water and then climbing back out into the crisp Maine air ¢ giggling ¢ and doing it over and over again and again. When we returned to Shaw¢s, we sat down to a family style dinner with four other hikers and enjoyed what was really more of a feast than just dinner ¢ corn on the cob, zucchini casserole, real mashed potatoes, chicken breasts with stuffing, and raisin-stuffed apples with maple syrup baked in a homemade pastry. The dessert was topped off with vanilla ice cream to make it perfect. After dinner, Hurdy-Gurdy retired to his room, and I decided to stretch my legs by walking back to the mini-mart for a cup of decaf. When I arrived, the cashier recognized me from our earlier visit and wanted to know where my friend was. It seems that when we were in there earlier, Dick had used their ATM but had failed to take all of his money out of the till. They had put the $20 bill he had missed in an envelope for him hoping that he¢d return which, of course, he did once I got back to the lodge and told him about it. This kind of behavior is certainly not something that would occur in many places in the world and seemed like a fitting culmination to my wonderful experiences in Monson, which, you may recall, I had already conceded to be the ¢best trail town¢ I had visited over these past five years of hiking the AT! Now, sitting outside of Shaw¢s, bundled up against the cold night air, I¢ve just about finished this journal entry, my decaf coffee and my final Trail cigar. The stars are out in force, and the night air is crystal clear. The moon is now almost full ¢ a big change from the fingernail that rose my first night of this trip, which now seems so long ago. As I sit here, I can¢t fail but remember how, when I started to hike the AT back in Georgia in March of 2004, my stated intention was to only ¢go 100 yards and then as far beyond that as continued to appeal to me.¢ Since then, I¢ve gone 1,963 miles beyond those initial 100 yards, and the idea of continuing on still holds as much appeal to me as it did when I took those first uncertain steps 512 years ago. With only 212 miles left to go, I still look forward to what lies ahead for me as ¢Bumpo,¢ a Long Distance Section Hiker on the Appalachian Trail. The journey continues.