The Last Section: Part 5

This is part 5 of a 188-mile northbound section hike of the Appalachian Trail in Maine in September 2023. I started hiking at the road crossing near the town of Stratton, ME and finished at Mt. Katahdin in Baxter State Park, the northern terminus of the trail!

Need to catch up? Read: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4

Day 8: Horseshoe Canyon Lean-To to Captain Bill’s Hikers Hostel near Monson, ME

Waking up to an alarm in the woods isn’t exactly my favorite thing, but sometimes it’s necessary. When it went off, I gathered my things in a messy pile in my arms and made a couple trips to an open tent spot to spread out and pack up in the light of my headlamp. This was in an attempt to not wake up the other hiker still asleep in the shelter. It’s almost always easier to just sleep in my tent, but none of the tent spots had seemed very flat or desirable the night before. 

I was on a mission that morning, yet as predicted, it wasn’t long after I started hiking before the other three hikers who had been at the shelter area with me passed me by. Three miles in, I arrived at the East Branch of the Piscataquis River, and to my delight, it was nothing like the West branch the day prior. It was much shallower, and I got across without much thought. I was still thankful that I was doing the crossing before the impending rain, though. Who knows what that would have done to the water level. 

About a mile or two from reaching the road crossing at ME Route 15 that would take me into Monson, the trees above started swaying with more ferocity and the air had that feeling that something was approaching. Windy woods are never the place to be, and I just kept putting one foot in front of the other with purpose, which is again apparent by the fact that I only took one single picture that day.

I had to take one little break though. Once I found some cell service being closer to town, I called the famous Shaws hiker hostel and confirmed what I already knew. They were completely booked. There was one other option in town, but it was unclear if they were still taking hikers or not, and they didn’t answer the phone anyways. 

I was mentally preparing to pitch my tent in a crowded yard at Shaws and dreading it when one last dot in the Farout guide caught my eye. I was browsing the map and there, off of a big lake north of Monson, was a marker labeled “Captain Bill’s Hikers Hostel.” I had never heard of this place before, which was odd because there are so few lodging options in Monson that the one or two that do exist are pretty known. There were no comments on this place from other hikers, another strange feature. 

Well, what the heck. I called the number. The man who I assumed was Captain Bill answered the phone, said he had space, and that two other hikers had called him and were going to arrive later that afternoon. I couldn’t believe it. I didn’t really know where I was going or what I was getting into, but all I knew is that once I arrived at the road, someone would be picking me up and I would have a roof over my head for the rest of the day. 

I felt a huge weight off my shoulders and breezed through the remaining hike of the morning, while the literal breeze named hurricane Ian was a constant motivational reminder as to why I shouldn’t stop. When I emerged at the road, a few other hikers were lounging there waiting for the shuttle from Shaws to pick them up, when almost right away, a truck pulled up. This moment of getting picked up by a shuttle to a hostel is always kind of like getting into an uber, when you’re pretty sure that the car is for you and the driver is pretty sure it’s you too, but there’s a moment of hesitation. He rolled down the window, asked if I was Little Bear, and we were off!

Captain Bill’s Hostel

After about a 25 minute ride, a stop at the grocery store, and some small talk, we arrived at his place just outside the town of Greenville, and everything made sense. He had all the characteristics of a retired man still living a full life, his face woven with experience and his spirit youthful. He was new to his property in the last few years, but not at all new to the state of Maine. For a long time he had owned a guide and rental business right on the ocean. He was still an avid hiker and was involved in ski patrol in the winter. It turns out I was only the 2nd hiker he had ever hosted! He was just getting started in the world of running a hostel. 

As he showed me my accommodations, I stood there with my jaw nearly hanging open, in a hungry daze but also just trying to comprehend how I had won the hiker lottery. He had built two cabin-like apartments above his two garages across from his house, with a bathroom and kitchen below one of them. And I had the place to myself until the two other hikers would be joining me later. 

“Am I dreaming?” I thought, as he showed me the way upstairs and opened the door to a cozy space with couches, twin beds with quilts on them, and a full dining room table, backed by wood-paneled walls and a view out the window of his home and garden overlooking Moosehead Lake. 

The chilly rain started to come down, but I countered it by munching on a bag of potato chips while I sat right next to the heater, followed by a hot shower in one of the cleanest bathrooms I had ever seen at a hiker hostel. 

I was all settled in by the time the two hikers, Moosejaw and Chili Pepper, arrived. They were a married couple about to finish their thru-hike, and had that warm friendliness that made me feel welcome in their presence before any words were even spoken. I think they felt the same as I did about this pretty place, wondering how it happened that we all would have been in a tent in a yard while being pelted with rain and wind, but were somehow dry and warm at Captain Bill’s. 

Well, the power went out that evening, probably as a result of the wind and rain. I felt sleepy and still had to finish charging my devices, and Chili Pepper and Moosejaw decided that they were going to take a zero day (day off from hiking) the next day. This easily swayed my decision to do the same after some nice conversation in the darkness of the kitchen while we awaited the return of electricity. 

My original plan at Captain Bill’s had been to get dropped off in Monson the next day so that I could get my resupply package I had sent to Shaw’s, and then pack up and hike out. But the next day, I’d be thankful that one night indoors seamlessly turned to two. There was a lot of prep to do to make sure I was ready for the next week of hiking, which would be the 100 mile wilderness and the longest distance I had ever gone without a town stop on the AT. 

 

Read Part 6 Here!