Monson, ME

We are in Monson, ME to do our usual "chores"-resupply, EAT, shower, and do laundry and get a warm dry bed for a night! The hostel we're staying in is very busy once again it's raining. Does that seem like a broken record? We did have a couple nice days and two nights of no rain but guess we're in for another round of rain. ME has been getting an unusual amount of rain this summer! We're definitely seeing it on the trail! There is no end to the mud, puddles and water on the trail. One SoBo forewarned us of an upcoming mud pit to be careful. He slipped off the plank and was covered with mud to his knees! Yikes! Some hikers will just walk through the mud and puddles but we try to avoid them as much as we can although sometimes there's just no way to do that! One time I sunk down to my ankles in the mud and it almost pulled off my shoes! One hiker told us about meeting someone who said they sunk up to their hips in the mud and almost could not get out. It's like quicksand!

We are heading into the 100 mile wilderness. Supposedly they say there's no roads, no towns, no city noise! But there are lots of bogs and swamps! SoBos have said the mud and puddles were nothing compared to what we're about to come upon in the 100 mile wilderness! So we were hoping for no rain during this 10 days that we will be hiking through it but guess we'll have to get through it sun or rain, mud, puddles and bogs...and it sounds like rain unfortunately! Then we'll hit the northern terminus-Katahdin! That's suppose to be a difficult mountain to climb. We've had a lot of difficult climbs already so I think we're ready. Dan's says he wants to be sure we have lots of food during that climb for energy!

We've had to ford a lot more rivers than the guide book had listed because of all the rains. Most have been no more than thigh deep and most have been strong currents. Only one has been easy-ankle deep and no current! But we're getting used to them. I just hike through with my shoes on-they wash off all the mud from my shoes. Dan usually changes into his Keen sandals, otherwise his feet get sores on them from the wet socks!

There have been lots of blueberries! As we hike we stop at times to eat a couple handfuls! They've been very tasty and I wish there was a way to load up on them and somehow send some home to freeze for later enjoyment!

Does anyway know the difference between a pond and a lake? We've passed many ponds that seem like lakes, they're so big and pretty!

Supposedly ME has lots of moose. We've seen lots of droppings and prints but no moose. Only have heard from 3 hikers that they've seen one on their hike. Guess these moose are shy since we haven't seen any. When we were in the Grand Tetons National Park last fall we saw them all the time!

This computer will not allow pictures so I'll have to upload them some other time! We've hiked over 1500 miles now and have about 112 miles to Katahdin. Then we'll rent a car and head south to VA. We'll have some 500 miles to finish the southern part of the trail! Hope to be done by the end of September. We're still feeling the wear and tear on our feet and legs but we'll get through it!

Thank you all for your support and for your generous donations to Children's Hunger Fund for our cause for hunger relief! Our small part is worth more to the children that we are helping! God Bless!

Andover, ME

We're in a hostel which is really busy! It's been storming for last few days-lots of hikers trying to dry off and get warm from the pouring rains. We're working out a slack packing day for tomorrow to get through some more ME mountains, fording 2 rivers (one hiker said 1 of the rivers was us to his waist when he forded today! Yikes!) and getting through it all in the rains that are predicted for the next week! Ho-hum, gotta take the good with the not so good!
ME has rendered me slow and weary! Thought the whites, NH would do that. There are 20 (over 3000-4000 foot) mountains to climb in the first 115 miles of ME. The pouring rains haven't made it any better but on we go! With all the rains, it's looking a lot like the Vermud of VT! Guess we'll be fording several rivers in ME. We did ford our first river within our first couple weeks when we were in VA. Dan said that's been his favorite thing!

This is "Allgood". He packed his mandolin; told me that if he had to get rid of things for weight he'd get rid of his food before his mandolin! Other picture is of us "work-for-stay" hikers finishing our breakfast before our jobs at a hut.

Some scenes from the NH mountains! More to come in later entries-I took a lot!

We really enjoyed the White Mountains in NH! Lots of climbing mountains and we made use of the hut system throughout. The huts in the "whites" have a work-for-stay for thru-hikers which is pretty good deal for us thru-hikers. Advantages: we had a warm place to sleep inside and we got to eat all we wanted for dinner and breakfast! I was getting a little concerned as I was feeling worn down and tired. I called Jason, our son-in-law who is also a trainer to get some advice from him. He basically said that we've lost all our fat and now we're probably using muscle for energy instead of fat. (Dan has lost about 40 lbs and I have lost 18 lbs.) So he said that we need to gorge ourselves as often as we can. The huts helped us do that! The huts also have an AYCE to get rid of their leftovers that thru-hikers can also make use of (otherwise they have to pack it out-so works well both ways). We did that a couple times for breakfast and lunch. The best work-for-stay we did was giving a "talk" to the guests about being a thru-hiker. We did it with a section hiker and then talked Allgood into playing his mandolin. He's a NoBo thru-hiker (GA to ME). The guests and "croo" said that was the best "talk" from hikers they've heard. We sure enjoyed it and Allgood put on the magic touch by playing his mandolin! One guest said to me that she wouldn't have believed I was a thru-hiker; I looked too good for a thru-hiker! Guess I didn't look too grubby then! That was a wonderful compliment! And then 2 guests after hearing about our need for lots of calories that we can't carry, gave us food! We had a great lunch that day! The hardest we worked for a hut was cleaning the oven/stove!
Disadvantages: we eat after the paying guests (~$90/person), we sleep in the common area which can get noisy, we're awakened about 5-5:30 am when the "croo" starts breakfast, no privacy, and have to do our job in morning and so get a late start hiking. The first 2 huts we stayed we ate after the "croo" and the other 2 "croo" we ate before them. The 2nd "croo" said that we thru-hikers need the calories more than they do. It worked out great! But now we're back to cooking for ourselves again and being hungry after we eat since we really can't carry enough food to gorge ourselves!

More scenes from the White Mountains, NH.

(NY, I think)

In our full mosquito battle gear. Usually put it on as soon as we'd get to camp or a shelter! Worked pretty good! Just can't hike with it on because it was like a sauna-got too hot hiking with it on!

Evening sunlight through the trees as seen from a shelter where we stayed.

Our next stops:
Dan & Debbie McMonigle
c/o General Delivery
Monson, ME 04464
Please hold for AT thru-hiker.
Est. date of arrival: August 5

Please continue to keep us in your prayers! We appreciate all your support and donations for our cause for Children's Hunger Fund! God Bless each of you!