Wilderness Planning

When I woke up at the Horseshoe Canyon campsite this morning (September 11), the air felt a little chilly. I didn't know whether that was just me being unconditioned to the oncoming fall weather or what, but I knew there was a thermometer on the privy, so I went over to check the temperature. It was 32 degrees. So it’s definitely cooling down here in Maine, and I expect it will keep getting cooler.

But 32 degrees was good incentive for me to get moving. I’d woken up very early, and it was still dark out, but I wanted to get into Monson as early as possible so I’d have some extra time to relax ahead of starting the 100 Mile Wilderness on the 13th. I mean, a nero followed by a zero is just a great combination of days, and I was excited to get to Shaw’s.

By about 6:30, I was on trail. I had one more river ford I needed to do, and I wanted to give myself plenty time for that. After falling in the river yesterday, I decided that I needed to actually stop, take my hiking shoes and socks off, and put my sandals on before crossing the river. And of course, all that would add time, and I didn’t want to have to rush.

So I reached the river ford after about 2.5 miles, put my sandals on, and walked across safely, without incident. Not nearly as funny as me attempting to rock hop and falling  into the water, but I prefer it this way.

Eventually, I made it the 9 miles to a junction in the trail. At this point, I had a decision to make. I could take the old Appalachian Trail, which was a 2-mile road walk that would take me directly into Monson and to the hostel, or I could take the new leg, which would take me about 3 miles further north to a highway, where I’d have to then find and pay for a shuttle to drive me back to Monson. This wasn’t a particularly difficult decision. I was reading on Far Out that the 3-mile stretch between that junction and the highway is the most skipped portion of the AT. Only purists seem to bother taking it.

From there, it was just a pretty easy, pleasant road walk. I don't think the new trail is anything too challenging, so it's not like hikers are missing anything cool or noteworthy. I got to Shaw's Hiker Hostel by about 10:30 in the morning, which was fantastic. I checked in, got a complimentary PBR, picked up the resupply box S. had sent me, and then had the rest of the day to settle in.

And Shaw's Hiker Hostel is an absolutely legendary spot for AT hikers. It’s one of the older hostels on the Appalachian Trail, and I would argue that it’s also one of the most important hostels, because it’s literally the final stop before you enter the 100 Mile Wilderness. And I’ll comment more on that in a little bit.

It's just a hive of activity at all times. People hiking south, north, sectioning, whatever. Everyone comes to Shaw's. The hostel is a collection of three buildings — two main houses and a bunk house with laundry and such. They also have a full gear shop and a full resupply shop, and most people ship packages here. I don't even know what the capacity is, but it seems pretty substantial.

When I first walked in, I saw Shenanigans. I hadn't been expecting to see him again, so that was a nice surprise. I also bumped into Boots with the Fur, and the last time I saw him was back in New York. So it was cool to run into him again. Donkey Kong and Double Stuff are here. Salamander is here. Lost and Found and Mouse are here.

There are plenty of familiar faces. Detour is here. I met Detour back in New York. And I finally met a guy I’d heard about, named F-bomb. He's from Maine, and he knows Other Rob/Rabbit. So we were talking about that, and he and I composed a text to Other Rob/Rabbit, but we haven't heard back from him yet.

Unfortunately, I missed Astronaut by about two hours. He stayed here last night and headed out not long before I arrived. He texted me this morning, saying that he’d left me something in the fridge, which turned out to be a Baxter IPA. So thank you, Astronaut. That was awfully nice of you!

Later in the afternoon, Not Yet turned up, and so did Half Boot, Groovy, and Munich Mule. It was great to see them and be able to hang out for a while. The main topic of conversation seemed be how we're going to navigate the 100 Mile Wilderness. So I guess this is a good time to explain that a little more.  

So, in the 100 Mile Wilderness — which is, as it sounds, a 100-mile stretch of the trail — there are no hostels. There are no resupply options. There’s almost no cell service. There are a couple of logging roads that can get people in and out if there’s an emergency or something, but generally speaking, it's just this vast area where there's basically no infrastructure. It takes hikers anywhere from six to eight days to get through it, though I have heard of some super hikers doing it in just four or five. And the issue is that you can’t really carry all the food you need to get from one end to the other. Your pack would just be too heavy.

So Shaw's will do a food drop for you at roughly the halfway mark. They give you a five-gallon bucket, and you fill it with food and anything else you think you’ll need, and they put your name on it. And then, at about the midpoint, they’ll use one of the fire roads to drive up and bring your bucket to you. They used to just leave the food for hikers to find whenever they got to the arranged spot, but apparently, the bears caught on to that, so now you've got to coordinate a specific pickup day and time with them.

And they're only at the pickup location for a certain chunk of time every day, so you have to make sure that you’re there on the day you say you’ll be, and within the few hours that they're there. So it takes a bit of planning to figure out exactly when you're going to arrive at that mile marker. And as I said, a good portion of the hiker discussions at Shaw's are about the best way to allocate your time and miles. Some people like to front-load their miles, and some people like to back-load the miles, and everyone has different theories.

I'm planning on getting through the 100 Mile Wilderness in six days, and I think I’ve worked out a very good agenda. I basically focused on getting all that figured out and set up this afternoon so that during my zero tomorrow, I can use my time to organize my gear and pack and all that fun stuff. I spent the rest of the day socializing and enjoying people's company. It was a beautiful day, and I got myself a sandwich and a beer from the general store and just relaxed for a while.

One thing that’s both great and challenging about Shaw's is that it's such a social hostel. During the day, that’s all well and good, but hiker midnight is around 9 o’clock, and most hikers on the trail are asleep by 8. But now it’s past 10 o’clock, and some people in the common area — which is right below where my bunk is — are still yukking it up. So I’m pretty thankful I have a zero tomorrow, rather than planning to head back out onto the trail.