Date: 2006-09-01
From: Maine 15 - Shaw's Boarding House

To: Zero Day
Miles today: 0.0

Sunrise: 6:00 AMSunset:   7:16 PMClear skies with some cumulus cloudsTemps: 67o High/Low TBDWaxing Crescent Moon   A ¢Zero Day¢ not exactly spent doing zilch, nada, nothing. But, for all intents and purposes it was a a day spent without phsyical taxing challenge; free of exhaustion and ¢trail trudgery¢!We celebrated 2 hiker birthdays yesterday: Lifesaver and MarkIrish and I are the only ones left in Monson. Everybody else - the 3 Jersey boys: Radley, Rich, Mark; Jellybean, Lifesaver, Wild Bill, and Cash is ¢into the Wilderness¢ - on a mission; eyes on the prize. I¢m still thinking about it! Maybe one more day. I haven¢t made up my mind. I¢ll know when I know. It¢s hard to keep the body still when the mind is racing full speed¢¦Once I set out it will be about 5 days (66.8 miles) to White House Landing on Pemadumcook Lake where I will resupply before heading the FINAL 47.7 miles to the summit. I envision emotion, beauty and solitude. It¢s hard to describe and impossible to share.*****************************************************Monson ¢Then¢:An important part of Monson history is a related Scandinavian immigration to Monson in the late 1800s. Monson, for many years a slate mining town, was incorporated as a town February 8, 1822. The land was a grant from the Legislature of Massachusetts to Hebron and Monson Academy, with a provision that a certain number of settlers should become residents of the township within a specified time. Monson Academy offered a grant of 100 acres to actual settlers.A moose horn, attached to a post by one of the earliest settlers, guided newcomers over the spotted trail to Monson. This site, located a few miles south of town on Route 15, was later named "The Moosehorns", and remains today as a local landmark.The first church building between Bangor and the Canadian border was erected in Monson in 1831, and was dedicated as a Congregational Church. The original building burned. The Monson Community Church on Main Street (comprising the old Congregational and Baptist buildings) today stands on the same location.Monson Academy opened its doors in the fall of 1847 with 106 pupils in attendance.Slate was discovered in 1870. The Monson Maine Slate Company was the first quarry to open, and continued to operate until 1943. The Portland-Monson Slate Company was organized later and today, under the name Sheldon Slate Company, continues to produce some of the finest black slate in the world. The grave markers of both John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis in Arlington Cemetery are made of black slate from Monson, Maine, and were also engraved here.A narrow gauge railroad was once owned by the Monson Maine Slate Company in this community, its primary purpose being to transport slate to Monson Junction. The train carried passengers, mail and freight for many years.The kicksled was introduced to Monson by Mr. Gust Johnson, a Swedish blacksmith. His product was an immediate success. This became a unique and extremely popular sport in town as it was a great thrill to fly downhill and over icy lakes on a kicksled. Unfortunately, plowed and sanded roads retired this delightful pastime.CREDIT CARDS WERE NOT AN ACCEPTABLE FORM OF PAYMENT THEN EITHER!Irish will be meeting some friends and has invited me to join them, but I have opted to go on at my own pace. I¢m thinking 10, 11, 12 days ¢til I summit¢¦I spent an hour at the library on the computer. Thank you ALL for your guest book entries - keep them coming! Now, I'm off to get a 'Moxie' and take a rest. Thinking is hard work!¢Katahdin Countdown¢¢¦stuck on 10!In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole¢¦ nor yet a dry, bare sandy hole with nothing in it¢¦   it was a hobbithole,   and that means comfort.        - J.R.R. Tolkien ¢