Day 9 - Tuesday, June 21

Linda

We arrived in Monson just before noon this morning, but had to walk in the pouring down rain through 8 miles of the worst muddy bogs yet to get there. The last two miles were on a paved road, so that just added insult to injury. Everything got soaked very quickly when the rain started at 5:00 this morning, we were truly ready for civilization when we got to into town. We stopped at the hardware store to ask about somewhere to stay, and were informed that the only hostel in town, Ken's Place, had closed down two days ago. We thought it was ironic, since we had just seen a notice to hikers in the Old Stage Road Shelter warning us not to stay there, because Ken was jerk and a rip-off artist. Now it seems Ken's Place had been closed down due to a dispute over a boarding house license.

Humorous irony or not, we still had no place to stay, and were standing on the sidewalk trying to decide what to do next, when another man came by and invited us to stay at his place. What luck! His name was Bob Finlay, and he's a Lieutenant in the Boston Fire Department. He was up here studying for a test at his son's hunting lodge. We were elated! We followed him around to a neat old white house that his son and some friends fixed up to use during hunting season. He showed us around the place and made us feel right at home. The first order of business for me was a long hot shower. It was great to feel human again. I know I've never gone this long between showers, and would like to think I never will again, but that's highly unlikely. I'll just grow to appreciate hot running water all the more.

I think I drained the hot water tank, because Ronald had to wait a while before he could take his shower, but when we were both clean, we ventured out to do the laundry. We ran into Steve, John and Ray before making it to the laundromat, so we took a detour and all went for pizza together. After pizza we took them back to Bob's house. We had already asked Bob if he could extend his hospitality to a few more hikers and he said sure, the more, the merrier. They cleaned up, and we all did laundry, then poked around town the rest of the afternoon.

Bob had been so super to us, we decided to treat him to dinner, and bought all the fixings for a great steak feast. It was like a big family, sitting around the table. Bob had found another hiker late this afternoon, a teenager named Mike Cahill, and brought him home just in time for dinner. Had a great time in the evening sitting around Bob's cozy house, swapping stories from the previous week and trying to get organized to go on the next day. Bob was a great host, and I think he enjoyed having us around, too. He'd been studying for days, and was probably grateful for reason to take a break on his last night there.

We wrote some cards and both called home to give the first progress report. They were glad to hear from us. Went back to the house to top off the evening with banana splits. Bob had to leave by 7:00 in the morning to get a ride to his plane, so he could get home - so we all needed to be out by then. Got to bed around midnight after much socializing.

Ron

This morning we hiked from Moose Pond into Monson. We were awakened this morning at 5:00 to the sound of rain. We quickly packed and were headed into Monson by 7:00. The nine miles into town were some of the worst miles we've hiked so far. The bogs along the trail were both extensive and numerous. At one point I sank into the mud up to mid calf. I was about to give up from the sheer frustration. I cussed every one in the state of Maine from the governor on down. It didn't do any good, but I did relieve some frustration.

Once in town we found the only rooming house in town closed and there were no motels. By luck, we ran into Bob Finlay who was staying at his son's hunting lodge in town. He had flown in a couple of days before to study for a test The bad weather had grounded him and he invited us to stay with him. It was really nice of Bob to let us stay. When Steve, John, Ray and a new guy Mike arrived, we all chipped in and bought Bob a fantastic steak dinner. We all had a great evening.

It's great to be clean. I got a chance to call home and complain, Mom and Dad weren't too receptive to my complaints. I resolved to go on, after all now I had clean clothes. We went out and bought some flip flops to wear around camp. This would give us something light to wear after a long day hiking. Hopefully this will help our feet. Today really ended up beautiful. After a good meal and company we're feeling better now.

(9.5 Miles - 114.3 Total)