Date: 2014-09-24
From: Pond Not on AWOL'S Guidebook 

To: Shaw's Lodging
Miles today: 4.3
Weather: clear sky

I woke up again at 5:50, the sky is just beginning to get light. I walked to an opening near the shore of the pond hoping to see my first moose. I did see two objects swimming across the pond in the distance but they didn't look large enough to be moose. Last night about 12:30 something hit the water close by, it sounded like a huge person doing a cannonball off of the diving board. I'm pretty sure it was a moose with the munchies doing his nocturnal feeding. I did see some loons and ducks this morning pretty close to shore. The moose couldn't be seen but you could hear them across the pond in the woods. I gave up on the moose and headed back to my tent at 6:30 to start packing up. I will see a moose when I least expect it, probably in town today. We left our campsite about 7:00 and headed off for town. This will be our last shower and laundry on the trip and we need more food. We were out at the road by 9:00 and called Shaw's for a ride. One nice lady even turned her car around and came back and asked us if we needed a ride into town but we told her we had one already. When we got to the hostel I got a semi-private room with pink decor for my son Carson and I. I thought it would be easier for us to get organized if we weren't in the bunkhouse,it was only $5 more anyway. The pink decorations were meant as a joke. I was working on journals when Carson arrived, I went downstairs to meet Emily. She lives in Maine and was kind enough to give Carson a ride from the airport in Bangor to Monson. She even fixed him a lunch and brought lots of treats for Carson and I. Apples, cupcakes, sodas, sandwiches, and other snacks. She wants to do a through hike next year and we visited for awhile. Hopefully, we can meet up again after I summit Katahdin and can discuss the trail in length. She really went out of her way to help us out and Carson and I are both grateful for her Trail Magic. I wish her the best next year and hope that she enjoys her journey as much as I have enjoyed mine. We went uptown for some food and came back and split it up for six days worth of food for each of us. My daughter Meghan also sent us several Mountain House meals to get us to Baxter State Park in six days. Our food bags and backpacks are filled to the top, but at least we won't go hungry. I actually saw my first moose today, unfortunately it was laying on a trailer going through town, someone's trophy moose. We went to dinner at the Lakeshore House and Carson got to meet Miss Janet and Baltimore Jack, two well known people on the AT. No Rush, Astroguy, Route Step, and Hog Driver were at the same table as Carson and I. Astroguy slackpacked south back to Monson today and said he met about 45 hikers going north. There are a lot of hikers in this bubble just ahead of us. We will set out in the morning and hopefully be at Baxter State Park sometime next Tuesday. If the weather is good the next day we will summit Katahdin and complete my journey of 2185 miles. It will be great to finish with family and my hiking partner No Rush who I have hiked with since July 16th, almost half of the trail. He has been a great hiking partner and will remain a lifelong friend. Only 114.5 miles to go!