Day 151, miles today - 15.1, total - 2,086.5, miles to go - 99.4

August 16, 2013

Monson, ME. to Long Pond Stream Lean-to.

I got up this morning at 6:30. A section hiker named Mr. Burns, who we had first met at one of the Huts in the White's, told B-Rocket and me that he would drive us back to the trail after eating breakfast at Shaw's. He was going over to Shaw's at 7:15.


After putting everything in my backpack I walked over to Shaw's. B-Rocket didn't want to eat at Shaw's so she was going to walk over closer to 8:00. The breakfast was great. I was the only thru-hiker there at first. Fatty and ET came in to eat. Fatty gave me a hug and I shook ET's hand. It was great seeing them both again. I hadn't seen Fatty since somewhere in New York. The last time I saw ET was in Massachusetts. They are both very nice. I don't think they are getting on trail today, but hopefully I'll see them again.

                                                                          ET and Fatty


At about 8:15 Mr. Burns drove us to the trail. He's leaving his car there while he hikes the 100 Mile Wilderness. His wife is meeting him at the end of his hike.

We were on trail at 8:25. The forecast called for sunny skies today. It was probably 60 degrees when we started hiking. The trail today overall was very good. There were a lot of roots and rocks, but that's to be expected.

                                                                             Bell Pond

                                                                             Mud Pond

We stopped next to the Little Wilson Stream to eat lunch. I had two Nutella and Fluff sandwiches, pretzels with Fluff, animal crackers with Fluff, and some Goldfish crackers. B-Rocket is a fan of Fluff too. Roadrunner, who stayed at the hostel last night, sat down to eat with us just as we were wrapping up.

We resumed hiking. Soon after lunch it started to rain. Light at first, then a steady rain for about 45 ,minutes. I wore my garbage bag rain skirt. It was the first time I had used it, it worked great.

Little Wilson Falls was just off the trail. I walked over to take a picture. B-Rocket stayed close to the trail.  The Falls was very pretty. The water dropped into a deep gorge. There was a family sitting near the falls. They asked if I was a thru hiker. We talked briefly about my hike. The father asked me if B-Rocket was my daughter. B-Rocket and I have each been asked the father/daughter question several times.

We had to ford Big Wilson Stream. It was fairly wide and a little below the knee in depth. The rocks under the water were very slippery, so we took our time going across. We both took our hiking shoes off and put on our camp/water shoes.

A very light rain continued for most of the afternoon. We stopped at the Wilson Valley Lean-to, which was  4.7 miles from the end of our day. We laid down in the shelter for about thirty minutes, hoping the rain would stop. It didn't stop, so we continued on. We had one more stream to cross. It was Wilber Brook. It was difficult, but we were able to get across it by stepping on the rocks. It was a strong stream, and the rocks were further apart than we would have liked.

Next to the trail we saw a piece of fungus with a drawing on it. It was a happy anniversary wish to Glover and Atlas. It had a picture of them on it. It was made by Wise Owl. He did a great job.

We reached the shelter at 6:00. Roadrunner was already here along with a guy and girl doing the 100 Mile Wilderness. They moved their belongings over making room for B-Rocket and me.

We now have less than 100 miles to complete our thru-hike. Amazing!