Date: 2014-08-03
From: Monson, ME Lakeshore House

To: Wilson Valley Lean-to
Miles today: 10.4
Weather: overcast clouds

The 100 Mile Wilderness. The moment you step out of Monson till you get to The 100 Mile Wilderderness, you are in the most remote part of the whole trail. No towns, no resupply, little reception, just you and the trail. I'm guessing that 6 days of food will be enough, though the sign you pass once you enter says 10. I am excited to be coming towards the end, but I know that 114 miles and about a week are still ahead of me. Looking at the guide book it seems to be a tame elevation grind which is nice, but from what I hear from SOBO's is that it's very rooty and rocky. At the same time what haven't I seen at this point on the trail 2000 miles in? The rugged cold and snowy days in Georgia. The tough and constant climbs of North Carolina and Tennessee. The blues of Virginia. (Which I did not get) The relentless rocks of Pennsylvania. The nasty water supplies of New York. Hot, muggy, and mosquito infested days on Connecticut, and Massachusetts. The Vermont mud. The ridiculously difficult rocky climbs of New Hampshire. The Mahoosuc Notch in Maine. I think I got this, this 100 Mile Wilderness. Just another challenge to take on.I think I have left myself some wiggle room to be in Baxter on Friday the 8th, even though I left later than I wanted to this morning. I wanted to make sure everything was good before I left, even though I knew I probably wouldn't sleep very well due to my pathetic mattress situation. I got a ride back to the trail head about 10am. It was very warm and humid for Northern Maine today, and of course my pack was about as heavy as ever. About 2 miles in I run into Stretch and Fresh sitting on a log and not looking too good. Come to find out they both were sick last night and feeling like trash today. Neither one of them wanted to move a step further, but fortunately for them the next shelter was less than a mile away. When I stopped at Leeman Brook Lean-to for a break, the 2 of them stumbled in and laid down in the small dirty shelter. Fresh made the decision to stay and pitched his tent. Keep in mind in was about noon, and both of them are strong hikers, so they must be bad off to call it a day. I obviously didn't want to get they they had so I moved on.Not much climbing but constant 100' ups, and 100' downs were the norm. A couple of easy fords, and not many views, but the silence out here is eerie. No distant roads to hear cars rumble through. Nothing but the wild, and amazingly enough about 50 teenagers hiking southbound, and about a dozen that I passed going north. Most likely heading to the next shelter to set up camp, so I boogied ahead to secure my spot at the next lean-to in case I didn't find a stealth for the night. I ended up at Wilson Valley Lean-to around 6 and found a nice spot next to the flowing spring. The shelter was occupied by a few day hikers who had a couple of dogs with them, and a flip-flopper thru-hiker named "Second Breakfast" A big guy who already lost 60 lbs. I started to boil my water when I notice I did something stupid and careless. I forgot to buy another fuel canister for my Jet Boil. Ugh! I was very low on my current one, and knew that there was no way it would last another 5 days. Not good. Looks like I'm gonna skip coffee in the morning now.Not long after I finished dinner the dozen or so teenage boys came by and looked for tent sites. They didn't seem to mind that they were pitching a tent on crooked ground with roots and rocks underneath. On top of that they were 3 to a tent. They were fairly quiet and well knowledgeable on the basics of camping. As I laid down knowing that my mattress will be deflated in an hour, it hit me that there will not be many more of these nights. Sad.SOTD, Travelin' Prayer, -Billy Joel