Date: 2008-06-08
From: Wilderness Camp Logging Road

To: Shaws Hostel, Monson ME
Miles today: 114.5

114.5 miles done... Jeff and I exited the 100 mile wilderness today. Today I think I expirienced the most pain that I have ever felt in my life. We got up this morning at 4:00am. We were back on the trail by 6:45am. Jeff woke up in worse condition than he fell asleep in. I don't want my journal to be about Jeffs condition. He might not appreciate me describing so much about how his days progressed. Once again I admire Jeffs will power to continue with his injuries. The one thing that he said to me this morning was... I'm good as long as we aren't going uphill. Today we hiked for almost 14 hours. We summited 6 more peaks and each one required going uphill. It was a long and torturous day. There was no fun being had over the past 2 days.One of the first challenges Jeff and I faced this morning aside from climbing mountains was forging a 50 ft wide river. Both of our bodies were tapped before the day began, but this brought it to a new level.As we approached Big Wilson Stream we were grunting and swinging around trees for balance. We both looked like zombies walking toward some magnetic force. Then we saw Big Wilson. The word "stream" throws you off. This stream was a raging 50ft wide mouth of white water roaring through giant slate and granite slabs and then feeding in to a clearing of fast moving water... this is where we crossed. I was pissed that I had to take my boots and socks back off. It is such a challange to get them to all fit togehter for a "comfortable" hike. The water was moving fast and it was a little bit higher than the knee. I could already invision losing my footing and going for an early swim in the freezing mountain water. As we observed closer we realized that some angel had fixed a line of rope from one side of the river to the next. This way you could fall back and use the rope to catch your balance. Sounds good right? Wrong! The rope had about 5ft worth of slack and play to it. It was almost a false sense of security. Jeff and I strapped our boots to the backs of our packs. We grabbed our walking sticks with the right and the rope overhead with the left. Forging the river took almost 30 minutes. I can't describe the pain of my freezing cold feet being jammed into sharp, jagged rocks under water. Every time I attempted to place my foot strategicly, the current would readjust my footing just enough to land my foot on to the corner of another sharp rock. Once again, it was horrible.So at the end of the day we arrived at Jeffs car in one peice. Honestly I just need a little time to recover and I'll be good to go on Wednesday. Jeff on the other hand... we evaluated his condition upon arriving at the Jeep. His shoulders were torn up, literally. The straps from his pack had grinded off skin and inflamed the whole armpit and dettoid area. His hips had a similar inflamation from the packs hip pads/belt. Both of his knees were shot to hell and his left hamstring was pulled... now that's some good hiking! Honestly I just hope he doesn't have any permanent damage to his knees. Jeff has always been one of my only hiking buddies and I would sincerely miss his company.Tonight I am staying at Shaw's. Shaw's is a hostel in the town of Monson ME at the exit of thr 100 mile wilderness. The town of Monsons economy greatly depends on hikers coming through to rest and resupply. I read about Shaw's in one of my thru hiker resources. If I had known how great this place is I would have been looking forward to it more eagerly.FYI town of Monson population= 666 people...I am about 3 miles from where Jeff and I got off the trail. I intend to walk or hitch a ride back on Wednesday morning. When Jeff pulled in to this old farm houses dirt driveway there was a woman with white hair and glasses waiting in the screen door smiling at us. Before I even finished getting out of the Jeep she made a comment about where she guessed I was coming from. She (Dawn) is the most hospitable person I have ever met. It was about 8:00 and I told her I wanted to check in so that I didn't trouble her and her husband during late hours. She embraced me and brought me in to this house (Jeff was waiting in the Jeep so we could catch a bite to eat before he went home). As we entered the front living room (lounge) there was a young couple wrapped in homemade lookking quilts and blankets on the coutch watching TV. They both smiled and greeted me. Dawn brought me through the lower section of the giant farm house. The kitchen is huge and has all sorts of country looking cast iron cooking equipment and ols school appliances... I loved every minute of it. Dawn offered me the all you can eat breakfast for tomorrow morning for $7. I told her I would put her out of business with my appetite for $7. She laughed and hinted at some excitment that there was someone on board that would devour all of the food she could produce in the morning.Before we continued on, I offered to settle up with Dawn and get the finances taken care of. I explained that I would need 2 nights here and that I wanted the all you can eat breakfast for both mornings. She reminded me that she can not take credit and said for $3 I could use the washer and dryer and all of her detergents etc. I told her it was a deal and paid her $67 for 2 nites in my own room, 2 all you can eat breakfasts, acess to the whole house as it was my own, a bathroom with shower and all of the toiletries... bargain if I don't say so myself. Dawn showed me the little room (amongst many many other rooms and bunkhouses) on the second floor of the house. She showed me the linens and rolled out a rack of misc. clothing. She told me that she would expect that everything I owned was dirty and smelly from the hike. The misc. cloths were to be worn after a fresh shower and while my laundry was going... I love this place.Jeff and I drove around the corner to realize that not only was there nothing to eat but the town was already shut down before 8:00pm. We settled with a couple of Italian subs from the local gas station. The employees and customer knew excacly where Jeff and I had come from. They were all very frindly and the woman behind the counter made 2 of the biggest subs I have ever seen. She made some comment aboit how we would need all of that food after the 100 miles. I'm liking the idea of tis hike more than ever. These people are so nice.Well, I'm showered up and in the process found som cuts, bruises, bites, bumps and some other unidentifyiables around my body. I plan to get a good nites sleep and head in to town tomorrow to make some phone calls and resupply my food before heading back out on Wednesday. Phoenix3"by myself but not alone"