Date: 2004-10-08
From: Bald Brook Lean-to

To: Maine 15, Monson
Miles today: 22.0

What a long day. What a sweet reward at day¢s end. Tonight I¢m at Shaw¢s Boarding House in Monson. I¢ve caught up to ¢Sunshine¢ and I¢m ready to sleep in a bed. After 68 miles in 3 days I¢m beat, but I¢m also on track to reach Mt. Katahdin in a week. 1WEEK¢¦this blows my mind. Dapper Dan and I took our time starting out thinking we had 18.5 mostly flat miles to do. Our day would start with Moxy Mountain. Dan Wingfoot¢s guide suggested a 900 foot rise in 0.4 miles¢¦he¢s an idiot. Instead we found ourselves walking a gently graded rock trail that felt almost like a sidewalk. We were nestled by pine trees and little red squirrels walked up to say ¢Hi¢. I of course returned their greeting cheerfully. It all seemed idyllic as we neared the top. The climb did intensify and we reached a maze of large overhanging boulders. Sadly, the trail skirted a lot of the cool stuff. There near the top we met ¢Bramble¢. Bramble is one of the biggest characters on the trail (literally). He¢s a huge guy with the physique of Gaston and the loquacity of a talk show host. You can¢t say a mean thing about him because he is a firefighter walking for Breast Cancer. He¢s an incredibly dynamic and nice guy, 32 years old, walking in a kilt. Have you every seen a linebacker in a skirt? He greeted us roundly, ¢Beatbox?¢ We met in Kincora and Trail Days. 15 minutes later Dapper and I were dizzy. He spoke of hiking the next 4 years for cancer, he spoke of a past in drugs and being clean, he spoke of wanting to go on Oprah, he told us all about the town of Millinocket, he recited the Gettysburg address (ok, I make the last one up). I can¢t imagine him on amphetamines because he is so high energy. After a fun 15 minutes we wished him on his way. If you ever hear of ¢Bramble¢ help out his cause, it¢s a good one¢¦and if you get a chance, meet him, he¢s a character. After that interchange we covered the last of the rocks and reached the peak of Moxy. We could not see the promised view of Katahdin, but I happily sprawled out on the rocks. As Dapper called Shaw¢s to reserve a room (cell phone) I looked at both my guide (the Databook) and Dapper¢s guide (Wingfoot)¢¦¢CRAP¢! We had been looking at my book which said 18.7 miles to Monson. His book said 22.0. Unless we blue-blazed, we actually needed to do 22 today. I hate guidebooks! As of 11 a.m. we had 20 miles in front of us to town.With newfound motivation we shot off of Moxy toward town. After 2 miles of hurdling downhill over rocks and roots we paused at a shelter to fill up on water and for Dan to use the privy. There at the shelter we met 3 hunting dogs with radio collars, one of whom was trying to mount the other. A hound dog and a black lab began to follow us. We covered the next 6 miles in 2 hours flat. The trail was a gradual down with some muddy spots, but not too bad. At 2 p.m. we reached the Pisquatis River. There at the river the black lab went away. The trail proceeded to cross the river with no rocks to jump across on. We forded the waters, soaking our feet¢¦ugh. On the other side I ate most of my remaining food with 12 miles to go still :-( . I had to fend off the hound dog who I was not about to share with. Finally we left to cover 3.1 miles to the shelter. I fought to not slip as I felt my feet slosh on the ground. The 3 miles were up and down, on a slant, covered in root, and generally annoying. When we did finally reach the shelter we took a break. I let my feet dry out, ate a granola bar, looked at the largest mushroom ever, and vegged. After 9 miles the hound dog left. The last 9 miles were a battle of the will. The trail being mountainless, seemed easy but boring. I feebly attempted to pray and pushed 2 miles to the other branch of the river, then more wet feet. The next 3-plus miles we talked about how close we are and reflected. As I hopped roots and joked it all felt wonderful. It¢s freaky to think I¢m so close. At 5:50 we reached the ¢blue-blaze¢ to town. Though tired, we¢re white-blazers and pushed into the night. It was tough and I was hungry, my feet hurt, and were wet, but I kept walking. At 7:10 we reached the road into Monson. Dan called on his cell and Keith, Jr. from Monson came and picked us up. Shaw¢s seem nice and I¢m all set up in the room. I just ate a large bacon, hamburger pizza, drank 2 cans of coke, and used the phone. Ahh, dry feet, food, and friends. Sunshine and I chilled tonight and I nearly died laughing as he accidentally farted while talking to his girlfriend. I called home to tell my family I¢m alive and I called my friends Zack and Jen who went me another care package :-). All told it was wonderful to talk to home and my friends, but I cannot reach the person who may give me a ride home¢¦DOH!I¢m beat, but I¢m so happy to be in town. I just watched the presidential debates until we could no longer take it and put in a Chris Rock DVD instead. It¢s cool to be here with 2 friends: Dapper Dan and Sunshine. Tomorrow we will eat at Shaw¢s famous breakfast. They serve all you can eat eggs, French toast, home fries, bacon , ham, and sausage¢¦I can¢t wait. I will try to figure out a ride again, but I hope to hike out of town tomorrow. From here the ¢100 Mile Wilderness¢ looms. It¢s actually not supposed to be too difficult, just no roads or signs of civilization. Tomorrow may be my last chance to contact home until the day before I summit Katahdin, which is 109 miles away. It all blows my mind to be thinking of only 1 week, looking for rides home, and realizing I pick up my final mail drop tomorrow¢¦WOW! The end is near. Today was tough but cool. I cannot even process how close I am or the bigger picture. I¢m simply scared and exited. Goodnight, BEATBOX   ttt