Date: 2013-06-19
From: Shaw's - Monson, ME

To: Shaw's - Monson, ME
Miles today: 0.0

DAY 10Zero day"It's not about the goal or end point. It's about the journey and the people you meet. Enjoy the journey, bask in the goal." -LostI think I got used to sleeping in lean-to's and on the ground because I actually had a hard time sleeping last night in a comfortable bed. It could also potentially be from the 2 cans of orange soda that I had right before bed. Who knows.Shaw's AYCE breakfast. They're famous for it. Hikers that aren't even staying at Shaw's will come through JUST for this $8 AYCE breakfast. I've never had an appetizer at breakfast but we had French Toast as an appetizer. It was there before I even sat down! I got to finally meet more of the hikers at breakfast. I met my 4th NoBo named Prospector. He was from Nashville. We talked for a long time. Probably over an hour about the trail, funny stories, and so on. This kid was tough. It was so cold when he was hiking down south that his water filter froze so he just drank the water straight and of course ended up getting Giardhia. We made jokes about the random mountains that show up on the trail even though not mentioned in the guidebook (it happens unfortunately). You'll be climbing over rocks and be like " I thought this was supposed to be a flat section?!" and you hit 3,000 footers. And I also learned I'm most likely to see bears in New Jersey. Weird. After breakfast everyone sort of hung around in the front yard while people slowly started getting ready to get shuttled back to the trail head to begin their hike again. Most of the people there had had their zero day the day before. I just sipped my coffee in a lawn chair and chatted with everyone. There was a couple hiking the trail named Sprout and Turducken with their massive dog Mr. Hucksley. That explained the huge paw prints all along the trail in front of us. She was the only other female I had met hiking SoBo, but she might be stopping in NH. They were the first to be shuttled off. Next off were the Stoners with Boners. Crazy kids. Next was Ben the boy from Indiana. Im sure I wont see him again because he is much faster than I. Him and a few other hikers were shuttled off that I didn't get the chance to talk to but who knows maybe I will meet them down the road. As we were all hanging out there this guy Lost came over from Lakeshore Lodge just down the road and we got talking for a longgg time. This guy was incredible. He was a veteran and had had more accidents and injuries than I can keep track off. I told him he was like a cat, his response was "oh I'm passed that". Just to name a few, he had his head run over by a Hum V and had nerves ripped off his spine and had a lobe separated in his brain. He now has a machine in his body to help the nerves fire correctly that he has to plug into every two weeks. He needs a spring to assist his legs, his right arm doesn't work from the elbow down, and he is blind in one of his eyes. These are a FEW of his injuries. He's done triathlons galore and more and now he was attempting the AT SoBo. His mind won't quit and it was so inspiring. Another hiker named Fireball had started alone but I guess was drawn to Lost and now they hike and stick together. Lost had a go-pro with him and was filming because apparently when he finishes someone plans to make a documentary about him and his journey. He has a camera guy following him but he is sick. I guess wounded warriors is backing him. Sounds pretty incredible After he left it was just me, my dad, and Big Swirl. Big Swirl was this super sweet guy from South Carolina who was taking his second day off now because of some bad poison oak. He was the only other hiker staying the day aside from us! It was time now to head out and get some supplies and groceries in the town over. Greeneville, ME.Unfortunately when we had set our tents up to dry I noticed a huge rip in my fly. Now I've only used this tent 4 times total since I bought it and have not done anything that could have caused a rip like that. REI will be receiving some emails from me. Aside from that the only other casualties to the 100-mile wilderness were my spork and my poncho. Both of which I got new ones at the outfitters in Greeneville. We also did some grocery shopping. I know you're not supposed to go grocery shopping when you're hungry but I did it anyways, and it's worse when you're a hungry hiker. Of course I bought too much food. Decided to send half of it off to Stratton.When we got back we grabbed some steak bombs and brews from the deli and headed back to Shaws. As we were eating and relaxing in the front yard the shuttle pulled up and out came Hugh! Now if you remember Hugh was the older man we met going in the opposite direction in the 100-mile wilderness. I couldn't believe he was already out! He was all chummy and once he got settled we got to visit with him and Big Swirl. Hugh had quite the infected for that the doc wanted to cut out but he insisted not to. Hugh is a funny guy from Boston (dope) and quite the gear head. I got a lot of good info/advice from him about gear.We talked some more, finished up laundry, and then headed to Lakeshore for a later dinner. It was nice to have been able to relax for the day but it did feel weird. Especially when everyone was heading back to the trail earlier. You really do feel drawn to the white blazes (the AT is marked by white blazes every 100 ft, or so they say), but I knew my body needed a day off. When we got back from dinner I made sure to massage my Achilles and calves and ice them down for a long while. Earlier that morning my left achilles was more swollen than ever and was even making this creepy creaking noise/feeling. It was time for some serious TLC. Hopefully it does me well because tomorrow we're slack-packing (hiking with a lighter pack instead of your full back pack)!