Date: 2004-09-10
From: Monson, ME

To: Monson, ME
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

I woke up late. My left leg hurt a little. The weather looked iffy. The rivers would be high. 30-30 and Giggles were staying. Polar and Pilot were arriving soon. I still couldn¢t find peanut butter in a small container in town¢¦Whatever excuse I chose, it didn¢t matter. I was staying a second day. This is my last trail town and I wanted to enjoy its charm before finishing.It still rained in the morning but stopped in the afternoon. The sun didn¢t come out until right before sunset.I went over to the General Store to eat a late breakfast and fraternize with the locals. Tim ran the store while Diane cooked in the snack bar. Tim told me about a jamming session at the store that evening and invited me to join them. I considered showing up to watch even though he knew where he could dig up a harp for me to play. Harps just don¢t jam well, in my opinion.As I sat there eating and looking at the maps, a guy next to me said, ¢Planning out the next week?¢ I thought he was a local making small talk with one of the many thru-hikers that pass through this area. When I turned to answer, I noticed it was Jalan Jalan. I last saw him in Harpers Ferry before he took some days off to rest his shin-splinted legs. He was having lunch. Was it that late? 30-30 and Giggles showed up as well and we all got milkshakes. I was informed that Polar and Pilot had arrived and were, not surprisingly, staying at the charming Lakeshore House Lodge for the evening. They did not want to take a zero day and we would all be leaving town tomorrow morning for the 100-mile Wilderness and our last week on the Trail.I was concerned about how long it would take for me to get through the Wilderness. People say 6.5 to 7 days. Some people were planning on 8 days. But I kept hearing about another hurricane making its way up the coast. I wanted to be done before then. I also didn¢t want my family dealing with Baxter State Park on the weekend during the brink of foliage season.Jalan Jalan told me that Postcard and Alleghany had stayed in town last night and left this morning. I found that hard to believe. Last I heard of Alleghany, he had been bitten by a snake and took a few days off. Now he was finishing his adventure before me. Way to go!Most of the day was leisurely getting things together for an early start tomorrow. I checked the convenient store at the Mobil, the C&G Country Store, and the General Store but still could not find a small jar of peanut butter. They all had 8 oz jars. So I headed over to Shaw¢s again and fished through their hiker box. I never thought in a million years I would take a used jar of peanut butter, but it was the right size. Unfortunately half of the contents was forked out of it. No problem. There was another leftover jar of peanut butter and I combined the two. 30-30 later said, ¢Let¢s play the game of ¢who had this peanut butter jar before you picked it up¢¢ Just don¢t think about it, I told myself.The Shaw¢s kept seeing me walk in and hang out in their livingroom. They didn¢t seem to mind though. I met 81, a section hiker who has been hiking the trail in week-long increments. He started in 1981, thus the name--a very friendly Georgian eager to hit the trail for his last week after 25 years.There were other friendly section hikers at Shaw¢s hanging out who offered me their leftover denatured alcohol for my stove.Set for the Wilderness, I managed to finish the borrowed book and return it to the library, hang out and chat with Polar, call home and make sketchy arrangements for getting a ride back to MA, and enjoy the sun as it made a brief appearance before sunset. I also got a surprise call from Bluebearee. She was heading into the Wilderness as well but starting about twenty miles ahead of me and heading north. I might be able to catch up with her but chances are doubtful at this point. We shall see.