Date: 2004-08-18
From: Moxie Bald Shelter

To: Shaw's Lodging, Monson, ME
Miles today: 17.9
Weather: scattered clouds

The morning light woke me early around quarter of six, before sunrise. East was across the lake, so, with pad and bag I reestablished camp on a rock on the shore of the lake. Mists rose from the lake forming clouds that mimicked the hills as they surrounded the lake. Strains of the Yes tune, ¢Round About¢, echoed through my head.¢In and around the lake, mountains come out of the sky and stand there.¢ It always sends chills through my body.The sky faded from grays to pinks and oranges and finally to a crisp clear blue. A loon or duck paddled across the mirror of water splitting it in two with an ever moving chevron of just one ripple. The sun rose golden bright over the dark trees bringing color and warmth to the entire lake scape. The trees on the adjacent shore were no longer just dark shadows but glowed vibrant greens with underpinnings of browns. This of course brought to mind strains of a Moody Blues poem.¢Brave Helios, bring forth thy steeds. Bring the warmth the country side needs.¢Now even the still water was painted with the colors of the very sky that illuminated it. I hung on that rock for quite some time in a stunned fixation on the beautiful show unfolding before me. No theatrical experience could ever match the wonder of this scene.Back at the shelter we each had our breakfast, packed our pack and moved on up the trail. Even with my early rise they got out ahead of me. It didn't matter one bit.It was a fine hiking day with sun and river fords. This time the Crocs came in very handy. Sure, changing out of boots, slipping on the Crocs and then putting socks and boots back on takes time. But dry, clean, comfy feet are so worth it.Around noon I was stopping at Horseshoe Lean-to for lunch with 9 miles already under my feet. Nice. Another 9 miles and another ford or 2 would get me to ME-15 and the town of Monson for the night. There was not a lot of elevation change today, just little ups and downs. Still, roadhead fever was strong and it seemed to be taking too long. There was some confusion on my part when confronted with a sign pointing down a blue blaze trail and professing to lead to Monson. No, this wasn't right. Could it sill be 3 miles.My camera SD cards were both full. The last picture was at Horseshoe Lean-to. They needed to get copied to CDs. There was a real need to get to Monson before places closed as if such a place might actually exist in Monson. Who knows.An older guy met me coming the other way. He was glad to meet a thru-hiker. He knew the area pretty well and gave me a clue as to how much further it was to the road. He was pretty sure no place in Monson could take care of my digital needs. The trail here was pretty muddy and full of roots. Just keep going. It was probably between 4 and 5pm by the time I hit the road. This was the last stop before the hundred mile wilderness and finally Katahdin. My thought was that Dover-Foxcroft would be the only place big enough to be able to make CDs. Before too long a guy with a big pickup truck gave me a ride. He groused at me for a bit about hitching on the curve on the hill. It was a tough place to pull over and even tougher to pull out. Not that there was lots of traffic. It was just that occasionally someone did come and they would whip around the bend and over the hill before you knew what happened. What's a hiker to do. That's where the trail crosses the road.He asked if I was going to Shaw's or the Pie Lady's place. Shaw's was my thought for the night but first there was the business of finding someplace to deal with my digital photos. I asked if there was some place in Dover-Foxcroft. He said sure but he was pretty sure the Rite-Aid in Guilford had a machine. OK, that should be closer. Of course he lived in Monson and wasn't going all the way to Guilford. As it turned out he lived right on the road to Guilford just the other side of Monson. So when we reached his place I just stuck my thumb out at the end of his drive.Before too long someone else picked me up which was pretty cool because there just isn't much traffic around here. It was only another 12 miles to Guilford and my ride dropped me right at the Rite-Aid. The place was empty except for the 3 women running it. In response to my question the woman at the main counter directed me to the digital photo machine at the photo counter. The woman at that counter had never used this machine so the first woman was going to use me as a teaching tool. That sounded fine to me. We were all having a good time as together they showed me what to do.You'd think this would be easy but once again poor software design strikes. The machine would only put 120 photos on a CD and my SD cards contained over 300 photos each. There was no way to select all or even all that would fit. Nope. Each photo had to be selected from a touch screen of 9 thumbnails at a time. So, after touching the first 9 images you touch the page down button and select another 9. This is annoying but it works. Then the first 120 are selected and sent to the burner. Now we start again but not where we left off. Oh no. We have to page down through the first 120 to get to the second 120 and then start selecting one by one again. Boo hiss. The woman learning the machine, seeing how tedious this was, offered to take over for me and finish it up. That was mighty kind. Besides it allowed me to wander the store and find other ways to spend money.Now that she had been so kind and the disks were all paid for there was one more request. It had gotten late and surely the post office was closed. I asked her if she could mail the CDs for me. She agreed and took my address and I gave her $5 to cover the postage. That was just great. They gave me directions to the grocery store that was just about a mile down the street and we said farewell.The walk was in town and it was too close to hitch. The store was small but stuffed. After my shopping was done it was time to hitch another ride back to Monson. Would anyone be going to Monson at this hour. It was still daylight but not for long. Once again, a guy stopping to pick up some groceries said he'd be right back and give me a ride. He lived somewhere up the road in Monson. The most memorable parts of this ride were his dissertations on the benefits of living in the country such as "if a man wants to pee in his yard he can." That about says it all doesn't it. He dropped me at what he thought was Shaw's Lodging. As soon as he pulled away, someone in the door across the street waved me over to the actual Shaw's Lodging.Shaw's was in a fine old New England house. It was too late for dinner. I signed on for a private room (better sleep for something like another $5) and breakfast. The place was decorated in a very homey way, after all, this was the Shaw's home. The floors were wide pine boards and not exactly level anymore. The kitchen had refrigerators and freezers along with a big commercial gas cook stove and oven in the middle next to the chimney. The cupboards were bursting with dishes and food stuffs. It felt like "The Walton's" kitchen.A back room was set aside as a kind of hiker lounge with a TV and a hiker box to which my shopping spree was happy to make some donations. There were laundry machines but not for this kid. Upstairs there were several bedrooms and a pair of bathrooms each with a shower. Ah yes, a shower. Some of the bedrooms were bunk rooms and could be had for less money. That's not to say any of this was expensive.These folks have been in the business for 27 years. Their son has apparently taken over the business lately but mom and dad obviously can't help but keep helping out.I dropped my stuff in the room at the end of the hall upstairs and headed out in search of dinner and a pay phone. Apparently the only places open at this late hour, almost dark, were the gas stations at either end of town. The one on the southeast end of town was reputed to have good pizza and sandwiches. It was maybe a half mile up around the bend.Having ordered my sandwich I stepped outside to use the phone but someone had beat me to it. The sandwich was ready and was eaten in the company of another thru-hiker at the picnic table out front. Finally the phone was free. A call to my home voice mail using my calling card required a miraculous 45 digits. Arg.Behold, a call from my doctor. Yes, it was Lyme disease. It was in its early stages so a course of antibiotics, doxicycline, in pill form is recommended. He offered to forward the prescription to a pharmacy in the town where I was. Just call and tell him where. Hmmm. There's a conundrum. If only I had called from the Rite-Aid in Guilford. The idea of going back there in the morning when the hundred mile wilderness lay 4 mile up the road in the other direction was just impossible. Honestly, my doctor had noted in the message that he hadn't heard from me and assumed correctly for the most part that the symptoms had probably subsided. There wasn't any real urgency in his voice. There was no question. There was only a week to go. Just cross my fingers and start the hundred mile wilderness in the morning.Once again calls went out to some of my hiking friends to try to confirm with them my Katahdin date. Alas there were no answers, just machines to record my messages. There was no telling whether anyone would be there to celebrate with me.Before turning in for the night the food repackaging ritual was put into practice on the bed in my room, actually for the last time this trip. The final stint began in the morning. That was beyond comprehension.