Date: 2018-07-08
From: Monson, ME

To: Stealth Campsite mile 2100.7
Miles today: 24.3
Weather: scattered clouds

I want to start off by thanking the crew of NOBOs at Shaws last night. We were outnumbered by southbounders- which was cool- but we all managed to go out to the local restaurant together around 7 to eat, drink and reminisce on the trail. It was real nice and we ended up staying there a long time. I think we were all pretty amazed. Thank you Hungry Cat, Apollo, Skutch, Gumby and Red Bird. It was a nice way to spend the last night in a trail town and in the last hostel with you guys.I slept really well last night but was up around 5:15. I went downstairs and hung around drinking coffee and looking at some of the AT photo books in the hostel living room. Eventually, more people came down and I'll say, this place was packed! Like I said-- it was mainly southbounders and section hikers so us five going North definitely connected well.Gumby, Red Bird, Skutch and Apollo were planning a bigger day than Hungry Cat and I so they had attempted to arrange an earlier shuttle. Well the amazing breakfast of eggs, bacon and home fries with all you can eat blueberry pancakes ran a bit longer than expected. They got out around 8. Hungry Cat and I squared up our bills with Poet, the owner. Seems like he was stretched thin trying to do so much there but this was definitely a sweet hostel!Our shuttle got out around 830 and we got to the trailhead. Everyone except Hungry Cat, a section hiker and I were going south. The three of us said thanks to Poet then headed North. We took our pictures at the warning sign for the 100 mile wilderness. 10 days of food needed???--- how about 4.5???I took lead and we spread out in our own pace. I had said goodbye to Hungry Cat too because I was hoping to summit a day before him meaning he could take it slower. The terrain in the beginning was fairly easy. Tons of roots and such but I can't complain. The bugs held off until the evening too which was nice! Some sun but not too hot, a pretty great hiking day.At the first river forde, I caught up to Apollo and Skutch. They had both managed to rock hop the stream as I rolled up and I figured it would be no problem! Well, I was mistaken. My trekking pole, which is pretty much broken but hanging on for the last 100 miles, collapsed as I relied on it to stretch from one rock to another. That put me off balance on the slippery rocks and I took a swim. It was loud enough for Apollo and Skutch to hear and they turned around to make sure I was Okay. More embarrassed than anything else! I was good though. I am very clumsy.I took a mental break after the fall and ate a snack. Soon enough I caught up to them and we laughed about it. I was pretty much dry! The next forde, I just walked through. I must have looked crazy to the southbounders putting back on their shoes after they had changed into their camp shoes. I didn't hesitate to walk in haha. At this point I don't care. I have 100 miles and just need my gear and things to last a few more days!I ran into some vets doing a charity hike through the Wilderness carrying rocks for the Wounded Warrior Project where they'll end on Katahdin. It was cool! I saw tons of people on trail today. More than I have in a while! I thought this was supposed to be a remote wilderness! There were people day hiking Barren Mountain!On Barren Ledges and at the peak I had some sweet views. You could get the sense for the desolate area you were in. I could only see some windmills in the distance, other than that I couldn't see any man-made things. Humbling for sure. I did hear what I thought was a logging operation going on which I later realized was a trail maintainer clearing blowdowns who I ran into shortly after.There was a shelter just below the summit 0.4 miles off trail. I had done 19 and didnt plan to do much more than that but I couldn't bare to walk that far off trail. Unfortunately, the next water was almost 6 miles from there with few stealth sites in between that I could see. So- I killed myself to get there. The 6 miles wouldn't have been tough normally but they were just PUDs (pointless ups and downs) that killed me. I was hurting. I made it to the stream and found a pretty crappy stealth spot just off trail on a blue blaze. I was too tired to care though and set up shop. I ate as much as I could to lessen my load for tomorrow then listened to some James Taylor as I wrote this and relaxed in the tent. Tomorrow will get me over THE LAST elevation of any significance until Katahdin!P.S: Hiker Bios:Gumby: A retired Air Force service member who has six kids and he's around 50 years old. He's from somewhere down south and is a really cool guy. He can push big miles!Skutch and Apollo: Probably a little older than myself. They both ran college track and are dating. I believe they are from Ohio but it could be Michigan. I'm blanking right now. Really nice people!Red Bird: A bit older than me from somewhere down south. I don't know much more about him though! He plans on thru hiking some more trails in the future though. Also a great guy.Hungry Cat: Go read his Journal! He's the man!Kind of terrible bios but it may help you picture them better