#32 Stratton to Monson

9/22: It was not a very eventful day today. I had bought a 6 pack of beer at the convenience store 2 days ago for all of us to split between the two nights we were in town, but we were so tired that we didn’t even touch it. So Otter and I, out of obligation, each had a breakfast beer. Don’t do this. Anyway, after also eating other things for breakfast, my group got a shuttle back to the trail where we left off yesterday from our slack pack. We all stopped about .6 in to admire a lake. Otter took a nap on a rock and I have not seen him since. There were not many hills today, and I would even call the trail easy. I ran into Champ, who I met early in my hike around NC and he is now hiking SOBO doing a flip flop. That means that he skipped ahead from Massachusetts to Katahdin and is now hiking south back to MA. It was awesome seeing him again and it made me happy that he was still on trail and probably going to finish. Sunshine and I did 16.5 miles today! But it didn’t feel that bad because we were mostly hiking by lakes and not going over mountains. I got to the shelter around 6:45 and Sunshine was there already and feeling a lot better. I set up my tent right by the lake, but unfortunately there was a lot of cloud cover over the sunset as well as any stargazing.

I ate a Knorr Rice Side with tuna and a lot of Nutter Butters dinner and I listened to the loons as I lay in my tent.

9/23: Throughout the night, whenever I woke up, I was able to see patches of stars between the clouds. It was so cool sleeping next to the lake and being able to look out over the water. Sunshine and I got a late start in the morning. We were close the Kennebec River, which is dangerous to ford because of the undercurrent, so there is a ferry that takes hikers back and forth between 9am-2pm. The terrain was nice as we mosied down the trail while we chatted. We made it to the river at about 10 and a guy in a canoe came over. He was super friendly and we signed waivers, and then I paddled the .2 over to the other side. Even though the water looked calm, the ferryman told us that where we were crossing was in the middle of where the river meets a lake, so the river was surging underneath the surface water, which was partly why it’s so dangerous.

We got to the other side and headed to a small B&B close to trail that had milkshakes. After drinking milkshakes and lounging on the porch while our electronics charged, we decided to stay overnight and slackpack another 5 miles that was offered for free. Because of the way the mountains and streams were located in the next section of the trail, we either had to do an 18 mile day, or just a 10, and since we needed to charge our stuff anyway, we were still only going to do 10 miles. We walked the 5 miles pretty easily and came back to the B&B around 5. I ate 2 frozen pizzas and a half of a pint of Ben and Jerry’s for dinner before heading off to bed where Sunshine and I split a room (I was in the floor) and we chatted a little bit before going to sleep.

9/24: Every hiker who stayed at the B&B was treated to an incredible breakfast of eggs, bacon, fruit, home fries, and thick French toast. We were so full by the time we got back on the trail! It was also drizzling. We had a climb over Pleasant Pond Mountain to start the morning and didn’t get many views because of the clouds, but they did part for a little snippet of hills covered in red and orange trees.

I was slowed down at the start because the rocks were still wet from last night, and there were a lot of rocks. Especially going downhill, I was moving like a snail. As the day went by, it got sunny and the trail dried up, which was very nice. I was able to get a pretty good hiking flow in between the two mountains today. As I was about to climb Moxie Bald Mountain, it started drizzling again. I passed through a neat cave and was 4/10ths of a mile from the top, when I heard some distant thunder. I figured I’d have enough time to get up and over before a storm hit, so I hiked as fast as I could over the bald part and back under the trees. My adrenaline was pumping and I got no pictures at the top. It did start raining harder as I descended the mountain, but it wasn’t very steep or rocky so I was able to do it quickly. The worst of the storm missed me anyway, and I only heard 1 medium clap of thunder. I made it to the shelter and saw Sunshine already inside. Even though we meant to do more miles, and there was still daylight left, we decided to stay so we wouldn’t have to hike in the rain. It was still a solid 14 mile day. I made a ramen bomb for dinner and was happy to be dry again inside of the shelter while I cooked and then went to lay down.

9/25: We had 3 other people in the shelter with us last night and we all woke up at around 6. Sunshine and I got moving at around 8 because we’re just slow like that. The terrain was so flat today that it was like walking in Michigan. A few miles in we had our first river crossing that we couldn’t hop over rocks to get across so we got our feet soaked in the river. The trail was beautiful though, and not because of all of the grand views- it was just fall time in Maine and we were surrounded by lakes and rivers.

We hiked about halfway before taking a lunch break. Both of us were motivated to do an 18 mile day to get into town, so we weren’t taking many breaks. With 9 miles down, we stopped for lunch, and I ate a half block of cheese, cookies, and other snacks. Then it got cold so we kept moving. I was happy that it wasn’t raining though. We had a hill to climb before we got to the road, and just as my shoes were maybe starting to dry, I had to walk through another river. Besides that, it was an easy 9 miles after lunch. We made it to the road at about 5:15 and got a shuttle from Shaw’s Hostel at about 5:30.

Up next is the 100 mile wilderness, and then Katahdin! It’s so surreal that the trail is almost over. We have 6 days to finish the 100 miles, which is a lot of food to pack out, but on the upside, it will get lighter as I eat more.

Happy trails! :)