Date: 2003-10-15
From: monson, me

To: guilford, me
Miles today: 3.4

they weren't kidding when they said it was going to rain today. i woke up to a torrential downpour. i also woke up to the smell of eggs and bacon being cooked up in the kitchen. and, if it tasted anything like it smelled, then i was in for treat.i went into the kitchen and the pie lady had prepared quite a feast for me. eggs, bacon, french toast, pastries, and hash browns. she must have figured that i was one of those northbounders that has walked over 2100 miles and has worked up quite and appetite. i don't have the hiker appetite yet, but i was able to hold my own. i thought i was going to be sick afterwards, but i cleared my plate. the pie lady makes a pretty mean breakfast. i'm guessing that maybe she makes a pretty mean pie as well, but i don't know. i didn't see any pie.after breakfast i was able to use the internet for a while to get caught up on the email and all that fun stuff. then, i braved the rains and the winds (gusts up to 50 mph) and walked down to the general store. i was soaking wet by the time i got there. if only tim was running one of those old-time general stores that has a woodstove in it. it is an old-time general store, just lacking the woodstove. woodstoves are key in an old-time general store. woodstoves and a checkers board.i sat and talked with tim and kelly (the girl that runs the new lunch counter at the monson general), wondering if this storm was ever going to pass. from the looks of things, i would say that the answer is no. when there finally was a break in the storm i made a mad dash down to the laundry mat, which, of course, was closed today so that they could do some sort of repairs. wouldn't you know that the one day i am in monson and looking to do some laundry, they are closed. what is another couple of days in these clothes anyway? i've only been hiking in them for a week. not that i was wearing my hiking clothes in town, though. what's the point of taking a shower and getting clean if you are just going to put the same dirty clothes back on? no sir. i was wearing my scrubs. my o.r. scrubs. it's not a nurse's uniform, they're o.r. scrubs (oh, are they?). they're great. they're comfortable, they pack down to nothing, and they're a great topic of conversation. are you a doctor? maybe. do you need me to operate on you, tim? go ahead and lay down on that counter and i'll see what i can do.so, since the laundry mat was closed i went back down to the general store and ate some lunch at the new lunch counter. it was quite good.the rain finally stopped and the sun came out and i decided that it was time to get out of monson. i went back to the hostel, put my dirty hiking clothes back on, and settled up with the pie lady. she was nice enough to give me a lift to the trailhead.now, if hiking in autumn is one thing and hiking in autumn after it has just rained is another thing, then what is hiking in autumn after it has just stormed all morning. well, that is something else entirely. that is when the trail is no longer a trail. the trail is more like a creek. it isn't long before your boots and your socks and you feet are completely soaked through. and, of course, it isn't long before it starts raining again. yeah, hiking in the rain pretty much sucks. it was a light rain, though, so that is a good thing.i came out of the woods to a road and there was a hearse parked there. a what? that's right, i said a hearse. it was parked right there on the side of the road where the trail comes out of the woods. now, that's interesting. yes it is. i was kind of nervous walking by the hearse. i thought that maybe my time had come and death was there waiting for me. when i walked by i looked in the back window to see if there was a casket. there wasn't a casket back there. but, there was a bunch of backpacking gear in the back of the hearse. yep. this hearse is definitely here for me. what if i'm not ready for death yet? i know my ankle is a little screwed up right now, but i didn't think it was life threatening. forget that. i'm going to keep hiking. i crept by the hearse and noticed that the woman sitting in the driver's seat had her eyes closed. that's good. maybe i can get across the road and into the woods before she sees me.i made a break for the woods and was down the trail before she knew what was happening. a half mile from the road crossing the trail came to a river. the east branch of the piscataquis river. a river that i was going to have to ford. according to my book this river is usually no more than knee deep. an easy enough ford.since my boots and my socks and my feet were already soaking wet i didn't bother with my sandals before stepping out into the river. before cautiously stepping out into the river. normally i is only knee deep but because of all the rain this morning i would guess that it was running a little high. and, i was right. it was running high and it was running fast. i wasn't even halfway across before the water was up to my waste and trying to knock me off my feet. man, forget this. i'm not trying to drown today. i returned to the safety of dry land. i sat and looked at this raging river for a couple of minutes before deciding to turn around and head back the way i'd come.i walked back up to the road, to the hearse, and walked up to the door. i decided that it was time to look death right in the eye and see what she wanted. (actually, i was just going to ask her if she was from around these parts and if she might know of a way around the river). the woman inside rolled down the window and asked me if i'd seen two other hikers down that way. i told her that i hadn't. she invited me to sit inside out of the rain. isn't that just like death- buttering you up, asking you in out of the rain, pretending to be nice so that you'll let down your guard, so that she can make her move?so, it really wasn't like that at all. this woman that i thought had come for me really turned out to be named kim. her husband and daughter were northbound thru-hikers, true north and little red raven shorts, and kim had been slackpacking them the past couple of days. they'd bought the hearse from a friend for dirt cheap. about 400 canadian dollars (they're from new brunswick), which is about 250 american dollars. in the morning kim would drop her husband and daughter off at one end of a section and then drive around to pick them up that evening at the other end of the section. they would all sleep in the hearse because it was plenty big. this way, true north and little red raven shorts could cover the miles but do so without having to carry their heavy packs. i thought it sounded like a great idea.kim said that she was supposed to meet them at this road crossing at four o'clock. i looked at my watch and it read 5:45. i would say that they were running a little late. i checked my map and noticed that the two hikers were going to have to deal with three river fords today. i told kim of my recent experience down by the river and we both hoped that they were doing all right. every so often kim would try to call her husband on the two-way radio that she had.it was almost seven o'clock before she was finally able to get an answer from him. true north said that they were a little over a mile away. we warned them of the upcoming river crossing and he told us that they'd already both been swept off their feet by one river and had to swim across. now i'm definitely glad that i didn't cross that river. i would hate to have gotten to the next one and been swept away- wearing a full pack. no thank you.true north and little red raven shorts came staggering out of the woods at 7:30. they both looked wet, miserable, and exhausted. kim said that she'd been able to find a fairly inexpensive room at a bed and breakfast in the nearby town of guilford.they asked if i wanted a ride somewhere and i said that i may as well head to guilford also. i figured that from there i could come up with a new plan of attack- maybe figure out a way to deal with this whole river situation. we all piled into the hearse and hit the road.it wasn't long before we pulled up to a huge, fancy, 1830s mansion- the trebor mansion inn. this place was immaculate. absolutely incredible. i would hate to know what the going rate for a room is here. robert, the owner and operator, came out to greet us and welcome us. kim mentioned to him that i might be looking for a room for the night. he said that we might be able to work something out. we all filed inside and robert showed us where we could put our boots next to a roaring woodstove so that they could dry out.robert showed my new canadian friends to their room and then pulled me aside to talk with me. he said that since i am a hiker we would assume that i am dirt poor (i told him that was a fairly accurate assumption) and, therefore, he could put me up for, say, (pull a random number out of the hat) thirty dollars. i asked him if he was sure and he said yes. i told him that he didn't need to go through all that trouble and that i could sleep out in the barn or something, but he wouldn't hear of it. although it really cut into my meager budget, i accepted robert's offer and he showed me to my room.robert called the local pizza place and talked them into staying open an extra fifteen minutes so that we could get some dinner. kim and i went and picked up the pizza (cruising around in this hearse is a lot of fun) while true north and raven shorts got cleaned up from their long day of hiking. when we got back, robert showed us to the dining room where we could eat our pizza, help ourselves to fresh fruit, make some coffee or hot chocolate if we so desired, and have cake for desert (which robert produced from somewhere).so, here i am staying in a plush bed & breakfast for next to nothing with my three new canadian friends, full from pizza and cake, seriously thinking about saying forget these rivers altogether. and, so the adventure continues.oh, and did i mention that i saw a moose yesterday? it was a huge bull moose. yeah, it was strapped to a trailer, being pulled behind a truck full of blaze orange clad hunters- with a bullet through its head.