Date: 2017-08-10
From: Moxie Bald Lean-to

To: Shaw's Hostel
Miles today: 17.9

I was up and on the trail before the sun this morning, taking my first steps just as the sun crested some low hills on the opposite side of the pond. Today was the day that I'd get to Monson, last town on the trail, and when I'd catch up to Lost. I cruised this morning, knocking off miles while listening to a couple podcasts but eventually just settling into listening to the sounds of nature. The morning had a number of water crossings, some with small bridges to span the stream, some with a loosely organized line of rocks which could be hopped, and some with no assistance save a rope strung across the stream to assist with balance. These tended to be larger rivers and for both branches of the Piscataquis river I removed my shoes, put on my flip flops, and crossed using the support of my trekking poles (the rope was a nice thought, and is probably useful for people without poles, but I found the poles to be a lot more stable). I passed a pond, traveled along some quiet woods roads, and otherwise enjoyed the trail, though I was still anxious to get to Monson as soon as I could this morning to give myself as much of a zero as I could get (at least having the afternoon off). Towards the end I threw on some music and soon enough arrived at the road and called for my shuttle.Poet, owner of Shaw's hostel, arrived in just a couple minutes and we chatted on the way into town. As soon as I stepped inside he handed me a complementary beer and showed me around and I immediately availed myself of a hot shower. After finishing my beer I headed into town and got some lunch and a beer and the lakeside restaurant and texted Lost, asking if she wanted to join me. I finished up my meal, and not having heard from lost, walked around upstairs (in the hostel she said she was staying at) looking for her, but saw no sign of her. I made my way around town and picked up food for my resupply and spent most of the afternoon at the hostel, lounging and napping until I got hungry for dinner. I headed back down to the Lakeside restaurant, having enjoyed the steak and cheese I had for lunch, and again headed upstairs to look for Lost. Again no luck, but this time I asked around and was eventually directed to a small bunkroom where I found, vegged on her bed, LOST!! It turns out that, having AT&T, she has no service in Monson and so hadn't gotten my text earlier in the day, and had been chilling up here pretty much the whole time. We hung out on the couch for a bit with another hiker (who shared a couple of his beers with us) and watched the news (which happened to be on the TV) for about a minute before deciding that we wanted nothing to do with it. We headed downstairs to participate in the evening festivities... Lost had said there was karaoke tonight which sounded fun, but it turned out to be an open mic night (which is not the same as karaoke). The music was entertaining and we sat with a group of other hikers, SOBOs who had done the 100mi about 2 months ago and then had to get off trail, but were back to do some more.All and all, a good night. While I've loved hiking solo and getting to move at my own pace and push myself for the past couple days, it is really good to have caught up with Lost. Tomorrow we head into the 100mi wilderness. She's going to get a head start while I hang back, get a couple last pieces of food, and mail a box of stuff home for her (so that she doesn't have to wait for the post office to open at 9), but I'll catch up to her before tomorrow night. 100mi wilderness, the final stretch, here we come!