Date: 2009-08-25
From: Monson, Maine (Route 15)

To: Monson, Maine 
Miles today: 0.0

As far as I am concerned, Monson is the best Trail town to be found. The reason I say this is simple ¢ it¢s the people. The folks at Shaw¢s, as well as at the general store and those who I¢ve run into at the Lakeshore Pub and Grub (and hiker sleeping rooms) are all extremely hiker-friendly and genuinely fun people. The day began with what is reportedly the ¢Best breakfast on the Trail,¢ and for very good reason! My breakfast was four blueberry pancakes, three scrambled eggs, a mountain of delicious hash brown potatoes, three lengths of sausage, four strips of bacon, coffee, and pie - and I was told, ¢If you want some more, just let us know.¢ Needless to say, I did not have much for lunch (well, admittedly, I did go for a freshly made spice donut and a carrot with chocolate moon pie that was made at the general store as well). The day was beautiful and could not have been a more pleasant one ¢ or for that matter, effective one ¢ for me to spend doing ¢R&R¢ (resting and re-supplying). I accomplished a great deal, including getting my journal brought up to date, doing laundry, and a trip to Greenville (thanks to ride made by my friends at Shaw¢s) to get some additional gear and replaced what had not make it through the 100-Mile Wilderness. Although the outfitters in Greenville could not find any used poles, they simply took a brand new pair off the shelf and handed them to me ¢ 100% complete guarantee from ¢Lucky.¢ I couldn¢t ask for more than that! While I was there, I also bought some shorts for sleeping and as an alternative for hiking, as well as a new camel pack and a tummy pouch by Kelty. Dinner was at the Lakeshore Pub and was nothing short of stupendous. The owners and wait staff are extremely congenial, pleasant people, as I observed from my seat on the patio while people came and went, talking and enjoying a good combination of locals and hikers interacting and enjoying one another¢s company. It was really a delight to see. For dinner, I had a plate of ¢Pachos¢ that were far more than I could eat (but that did not stop me from trying!). Pachos are homemade French fries with bacon and melted cheddar cheese and some sour cream ¢ no calories there to worry about for my cholesterol, either! My entr©e was a Lobster Caesar Salad, and for dessert I had the ¢Colossal Brownies,¢ which was a brownie about the size of a cake, covered with vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, and hot fudge sauce. Needless to say, I certainly have enough calories to hike the Bigalow Mountains more than a few times over before all that gets burned off. Tomorrow after another stupendous breakfast, I intend to head down south, after being dropped off by Dawn (one of the owners of Shaw¢s) in Stratton, ME and head north rather than continue on my planned journey southbound. By doing this, I will get the section including Bigalows out of the way before my friend, Dick Hurd, joins me in Caratunk on Friday evening. The reason for this decision was pretty clear ¢ this trek up Stratton and Caratunk (that I was originally thinking Dick and I would do together) with 6,800 vertical feet, 34 miles that we would need to finesse. The difference between Caratunk and Munson is approximately the same distance.