Date: 2007-09-18
From: Monson Blue Blaze

To: Monson, ME
Miles today: 3.3
Weather: few clouds

Today was a 'Nero', near zero AT miles. I woke up a little after 6.00 AM, ate breakfast in my sleeping bag to stay warm and packed my pack in the tent. It was cold this AM, 36, though not quite as cold as yesterday, and a heavy layer of dew hung on the tent. After packing my wet tent I headed up the trail toward town. It was rocky and rooty for most of the first mile so I was glad I had not tried to keep walking last night after dark by headlamp to get to Shaws.There was a gradual and relatively short climb over Buck Hill before dropping slightly to Hwy 15. Just short of the highway the tip of my right hiking pole broke off and the foot flew into the bushes and over a cliff. I'll have to try to get to an outfitter to replace the tip before leaving town. I arrived at the highway by 9.30. For the first time in ages I was able to hitch a ride fairly easily. A nice couple who lived in Monson gave me a ride to the center of town and dropped me within 100 yards of Shaws. I signed in at Shaws and was given a semi-private room with 2 double beds but was told to expect to have the room to myself. What a Deal!The rest of the morning and mid afternoon was spent doing laundry, standing in the shower, hanging much of my gear outside to air dry, going to the post office to pick up my bounce box, and checking out the resupply options at the general store. My second maildrop box that never made it to Gorham, then didn't make it to Andover, didn't make it to Monson either. Strike 3 for USPS priority mail service. I have one more chance to get it tomorrow before I leave town. It it doesn't arrive I'll just have it forwarded home to CO, but I had hoped to get the freeze dried food in it for this section of trail. I received 2 nice care packages from friends. One from Mr Foodies who thru-hiked in'88 and another from Tim who section-hiked about half the AT a few years ago. What great and welcome surprises - THANKS!About 3.00 PM I borrowed a car from the hostel owners and drove to Greenville where there was a large supermarket and an outfitter. The outfitter had spare Leki pole tips but they only came in packages of 2, of course I only needed one and didn't want to carry the spare. So they sold me the one tip I needed at half price and replaced it with no charge for the labor. Great Place! I was also able to get cell phone coverage there so I called Brenda, and Mom and Dad before hading back to Monson where cell service is sketchy at best. After resupplying at the suppermarket I drove back to Monson.The owners, Dawn and Sue, made a wonderful dinner for us. There were 9 hikers there, 8 NOBOs and 1 SOBO. Tony Tiger was there recovering from having an abcessed tooth pulled this AM. I hiked with Tony for more than a week in northern VA but hadn't seen him since the Shenandoahs. I had gotten ahead of him when he slowed down to wait for Kokopelli who had to take 3 weeks off the trail to deal with stollen identify problems. I really enjoyed hiking with Tony and it was great to see he was still on the trail. Tony is now SOBO, having flipped up to Katahdin from CT. Unfortunately I missed seeing Kokopelli by only a day. She had gotten off the trail to go back to work and had left Shaws yesterday.I also saw JB, Popeye and Lightweight, Iceman, Shadow and Numbtoes and R.I. Red. They had all planned to leave Monson today which would put me 2 days behind them and unlikely to see them again. But JB, Popeye and Lightweight decided to stay another night at Shaws so I may still catch them if they slow down to wait out weather along the way. Otherwise I may be on my own for the last 120 miles of the trip.It is hard to believe it has been nearly 6 months of walking almost every day. Hard to believe this trip is only about another week long. In some ways I'm ready to go home and in other ways I hate to see it end. But in about 2 days I should be able to get a good look at Mt Katahdin for the first time and the end of this trip will literally be in sight. What an adventure it has been! Truly the Trip of a Lifetime!