Date: 2016-07-09
From: Caratunk Maine

To: Moxie Bald Mntn Lean-to
Miles today: 18.1

Hiked 18.1 miles from Caratunk ME to Moxie Bald Mountain Lean-to where the rain has created a very close knit community tonight - 2 women from South Carolina, a man from Oregon, a father and daughter from Maine, anothe man from Michigan, and me...all laying side-by-side in a shelter that's no more than about 8 feet long by about 10 feet wide. This all seems completely normal right now...What a long strange trip it's been.Will be in Monson tomorrow and starting the 100 mile wilderness section of the trail on Monday. Highlight of the day - starting the day with a breakfast cooked by Paul Fuller, owner of the Caratunk B&B where I stayed, that included a four egg veggie omelet, two pieces of bacon, two pieces of French toast, hasbrowns, OJ, coffee, and Paul's exquisite company for 30 minutes - what a treat!Quote of the day The mountains of things we throw away are much greater than the things we use. In this, if in no other way, we can see the wild and reckless exuberance of our production, and waste seems to be the index. Driving along I thought how in France or Italy every item of these thrown-out things would have been saved and used for something. This is not said in criticism of one system or the other but I do wonder whether there will come a time when we can no longer afford our wastefulness¢chemical wastes in the rivers, metal wastes everywhere, and atomic wastes buried deep in the earth or sunk in sea. When an Indian village became too deep in its own filth, the inhabitants moved. And we have no place to which to move."John Steinbeck   If you are interested in learning a bit more about Moxie, the name of the shelter I'm in and the nearby pond, see this from Wikipedia:Moxie a brand of carbonated beverage that was among the first mass-produced soft drinksin the United States. It continues to be regionally popular today. It is produced by the Moxie Beverage Company of Bedford, New Hampshire, which (through several levels of wholly owned subsidiaries) is part of the Kirin Holdings Company of Tokyo, Japan. As a result of widespread brand advertising, the brand name has become the word "moxie" in the English language, meaning "courage, daring, or spirit".Moxie's flavor is unique, as it is not as sweet as most modern soft drinks and is described by some as bitter. Moxie is flavored with gentian root extract, an extremely bitter substance which was reputed to possess medicinal properties. It originated around 1876 as a patent medicine called "Moxie Nerve Food".[2]Moxie is closely associated with the state of Maine and was designated the official soft drink of Maine on May 10, 2005.[3] Its creator, Dr. Augustin Thompson, was born in Union, Maine, but Moxie was created and first produced in Lowell, Massachusetts.[4]Moxie originated as a patent medicine called "Moxie Nerve Food",[2] which was created around 1876 by Dr. Augustin Thompson in Lowell, Massachusetts.[4] Thompson claimed that it contained an extract from a rare, unnamed South American plant. Moxie, he claimed, was especially effective against "paralysis, softening of the brain, nervousness, and insomnia".[2]Thompson claimed that he named the beverage after a Lieutenant Moxie,[2] a purported friend of his, who he claimed had discovered the plant and used it as a panacea, and the company he created continued to promulgate legendary stories about the word's origin. It likely derives from an Abenaki word that means "dark water" and which is found in lake and river names in Maine, where Thompson was born and raised.[5]After a few years, Thompson added soda waterto the formula and changed the product's name to "Beverage Moxie Nerve Food". By 1884 he was selling Moxie both in bottles and in bulk as a soda fountain syrup. In 1885, he received a trade mark for the term. He marketed it as "a delicious blend of bitter and sweet, a drink to satisfy everyone's taste".[6] Thompson died in 1903.[7]