7/30/06 Sunday: Moxie Bald Lean-to to ME15, (Shaws Boarding House), Monson, ME (17.9mi)

PICTURES:
1. I came in after dark last night and missed this beautiful view of Bald Mtn. Pond just 100' from the Lean-to..
2. I'm 50' from the water and the shelter... A lovely site, one of the most beautiful on the entire trail...
3. Some pretty nice trail mixed in with...
4. Some pretty mucky ones... LOL You have to take the good with the bad out here...
5. The West Branch of the Piscataquis river meets the main Piscataquis river posing a challenging stream crossing with thigh deep water and a strong current...
6. Had a nice long afternoon walk along the banks of the Piscatiquis river...
7. Another view of the East Branch of the Piscataquis river was
8. Trail Majic was waiting on the other side of the East branch ford... I took a break and indulged in the soda and sweets while chatting with a couple who were out day hiking...
9. Crossing the East Branch was quite a bit easier than the West Branch. Here is a look back across the West Branch from the trail Majic...:)

It was a lovely day again with plenty of sun and mild temps... I got some pictures of the shelter area and lake before packing up and heading out around 0800. I was really looking forward to the end of this day and my stay at Shaws... I had heard so much about the place and really wanted to experience it myself... The day would prove to be longer than I had anticipated due to poor trail conditions ie. lots of rocks, roots, and water with lots of little hills thrown into the mix... They served dinner at 1800 so I had plenty of time to make the 18 mi trek... I had covered 9 miles by 1200 and arrived at the Horshoe Canyon Lean-to for lunch. It was quite a hike to get water so lunch lasted about 90 min instead of the usual 60.. I started out just after 1330 on the second half of this perfect day with temps in the 70's and lots of sun.. There were 2 river crossings today requiring the removal of boots and donning of crocks, this makes a total of 5 fords so far and by far the east branch of the Piscatiquis River was the most difficult.. The current was strong and boulders large with crevases between and getting waist deep in places... Very tricky footing always makes fording a stream quite difficult.. The trekking poles are particularly useful at helping maintain balance and searching the bottom for solid footing... The events pushed my completion time further back to the point that I was fearful of missing supper so I doubled my efforts on the last 7 miles and finished at ME15 around 1700. I stuck my thumb out for a hitch the 3.5mi back to town and was picked up by a local blueberry farmer. A nice gentleman we chatted briefly and he offered to drive me back out after dinner. I declined graciously stating I would be spending the night before heading out first thing in the morning... He detoured about .5mi from his route to drop me off at the door of Shaws where I was welcomed by the owners and staff... A number of other section and thru hikers were residing there also and I would get to chat to them all throughout the evening... No computer was available leaving me plenty of time to socialize... We all had a large roast turkey for dinner with all the trimmings, perfectly done. The tables were buzzing with chatter about experiences gained on recent and past hikes and of hikes to come... A good time was had by all... I chose to stay in the bunkroom that ended up with only one other hiker. Later that night I was able to reach Jackie for a late night chat before signing off another day...