Date: 2018-08-23
From: North Pond

To: ShawÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂs Hiker Hostel
Miles today: 3.8

Woke up to a beautiful crisp morning. The tent actually dried last night in the wind though my clothes and shoes did not.  Love camping alone because I can let Rusty wander without worrying about him barking and he loves to explore in the morning.Everything looks sparkling since it¢s wet and the sun is shining. It¢s perfect hiking weather except that it¢s still very slippery. I started off not watching my step and fell hard on my elbow and got a big knot.  Oh well now I¢ll just go slow and enjoy the view.  Less then 4 miles to walk to be done the wilderness and get to take a shower. I still am looking forward to stopping at Shaw¢s Hikers Hostel and getting everything cleaned up. Also need to stop since it is known for the best breakfast on the trail.  A poor kid I met 2 nights ago is hobbling along in tremendous pain from blisters.  He had bad blisters two nights ago then yesterday¢s all day rain really messed him up. I call Shaw¢s Hiker Hostel for a shuttle and get picked up by a bus. Poet drops off about 8 hikers and picks up 4 of us.  Shaw¢s is an awesome place!  We arrive and are immediately offered a beer or soda - a PBR at 1030am a great way to start a lazy day. Poet looks at blister kids feet, Swiss Cheese, and decides he will need to go to an actual doc for treatment and antibiotics - so happy Kel found a way out!We are greeted there by a beautiful Aussie pup and a group of hikers sitting around.  I was happy to see 2 that I had met 2 nights ago Andy who just started and Headbanger a flip flopper. Hopefully I¢ll see them some on the trail though they are faster.  Poet and Hippie Chick own the hostel and were thru hikers in 2009.  They have an adorable son who fist bumps greetings to the hikers.  Fist bumping is the hikers greeting so germs aren¢t passed. Poet gives us a tour of the main house which has a kitchen, laundry, bathrooms and different size bedrooms. There is also 2 addition houses with a tv room and bedrooms. The bedrooms are singles, doubles and bunk rooms.  Rusty and I get a very comfortable single.  I start sorting out my stuff. I go to their supply store to get a spoon and ask about how to fix my pad since my duct tape method did not work. Poet gave me a piece of tenacious tape. It seems like it should work well.  And yes last night I enjoyed my freeze dried Shepard¢s pie bag watching the sunset in the drizzly rain eating with my hands!   There are loaner clothes here so that after showering you can wear their clothes and wash all your smelly stuff. I picked bright blue tee and sweats and was so comfy. I threw my load in with 3 other hikers - it¢s funny how normal it seems with strangers. Hikers really are a team and Poet and Hippie Chick really have set their place up to encourage it.  While laundry was going I stopped in the deli down the road and asked if they had readers. (Yes I lost my glasses already but I did have my mini backup pair fortunately.)  The woman at the counter gave my her old pair - so nice!  I still don¢t have hiker hunger but I was excited to eat real food and got a great panini.After lunch I sat around talking with the other hikers and Rusty went up to bed. (We had laid down on our bed for a min and I had not yet put any of my stuff in the room but he knew it was his bed smart pup.) The doors in the place are left open to air out the place which was great for Rusty.  I did go up for a couple hours to write my blog, catch up on my phone and pack my bag.  I went down to brush Rusty before dinner.  He has an undercoat that needs to be brushed at least once a week or he¢ll get painful knots.  Then sat back with the group of hikers making dinner plans.  Fluff had just bought a bottle of bourbon and was passing that around - yum! Fluff was a nobo all the way to Maine but then was offered a job on a sailboat for that sounded fun so he took it. Now he¢s doing the 100 mile then going back to the sailing job. He¢ll fit the rest of Maine in on his breaks. What a fun life style!That night we went to dinner at the Lakeshore House Lodge andPub. On the 1/4 mile walk there a nobo offers of a Budweiser from his 12 pack. I said we¢re going next door for food and beer. Everyone else took one and he smiles and says one for the walk so I took one too and we popped them there. Love walking down the street drinking beer!The Lakeshore House was a beautiful waterfront friendly place and also owned be a thru hiker. She even brought us blankets when it got cold.  Yay we got trail names Dorothy and Toto.   When we got back to Shaws there was a fire going. About 9 it was bedtime and I was sound asleep from 10-5.