The Last Section Part 6: Zero Day in Monson, Maine

This is part 6 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 5 here!

Day 9: Zero Day at Captain Bill’s Hikers Hostel near Monson, ME

I was so thankful I made the decision to take the day off from hiking, even though I hadn’t thought I’d need any zero days on this section hike. Chili Pepper, Moosejaw and I took advantage of a patch of sunlight next to the garden to set our shoes out to dry that morning, before Captain Bill drove us to Monson in the afternoon so that we could all go to Shaw’s hostel and prepare our food drop resupply. 

This food drop is a service run by Shaw’s that a large number of hikers use. For a fee, hikers get a bucket and can fill it with their resupply, which an employee of Shaw’s will then drop off about 60 miles into the 100 mile wilderness. This is the nickname for the section of the trail hikers enter when they leave the town of Monson. 

To use or not to use a Food Drop: That is the Question

On my mind since well before I began the hike was whether or not I’d need to use this service. I really didn’t want to, but by the time I was in Monson and had a good gauge of what the terrain was like plus the mileage I was able to average per day, I reluctantly settled on the fact that it would be the smart thing for me to do. 

Before I was hiking this portion of the trail, I had a very different idea of what this food drop meant, vs. what it actually was. I thought it might be considered somewhat “cheating” or taking the easy way out (cue “back in my day” stories!) I also thought it might put me in a stressful time crunch to make sure I was where I needed to be on food-drop day. 

Once I did it, I can say that it was not like any of the above. It really seemed like the majority of the hikers were using the food drop. The first 60 miles of the 100 mile wilderness made up some tough hiking. Using the food drop didn’t lighten my pack one bit compared to a usual resupply. In fact, at the section hiker rate that I was able to move over those climbs and terrain, my pack when I set out from Monson was far heavier and fuller than it normally was with the amount of food I was carrying, just to make it to the day of my food drop with a little extra so that I hopefully wouldn’t have to feel stressed or rushed.

For the thru-hikers, it seemed like there were two camps of thought. They can eat a lot more and have big appetites by that point. Much like me, those that used the food drop service seemed to be carrying their normal amount of food, if not more, but were able to eat adequately or take some more time to enjoy their last section of the trail.

The majority of the thru-hikers I spoke to who didn’t use the food drop mentioned that they were either somewhat rationing their food despite wanting to eat more, or were having to stick to a mileage schedule of 20+ each day no matter what to make sure they had enough food to make it to the end, depending on how much food they were able to fit in their pack. 

The major takeaway is that this final section of trail of over 100 miles from the town of Monson to Baxter State Park is a tough one to carry enough food all the way through without stopping, especially when you factor in weather and river fords. That said, I’d love to hike this section again and carry my food all the way through now that I’ve done it once and have a better idea of what I’d be getting into.

Captain Bill was able to confirm the challenge of getting through the 100 mile wilderness when we discussed it on the car ride to Monson, talking about his own experience hiking or being around this section of trail. When we pulled into Shaw’s, we all said we’d try our best not to keep him waiting too long while we took care of our tasks, though he told us numerous times not to rush. 

Town Chores at Shaw’s

Although I was glad not to stay at Shaw’s while it was crowded during the previous day’s weather, it was such a valuable resource. The people running the outfitter store at the hostel were extremely knowledgeable and made preparing for my food drop easy. One of them took the time to look at my dysfunctional hiking stove and helped me determine I’d just have to buy a new one. More details on that later. 

While we were there, I saw some familiar faces of thru hikers from the previous week who I didn’t think I’d see again. Because they had all ridden out the weather in Monson, plus it was their last hoorah of a town stop, some of them took multiple zero days which in turn meant I caught up.

I stood at a picnic table in the yard and sorted the contents of the resupply box I had sent myself while Chili Pepper packed up the bear cannister that she and her husband were sharing. Meanwhile, Moosejaw grabbed us some sandwiches at the deli down the block, and then we all reconvened before our way out of town to stop at the Appalachian Trail Conservancy’s visitor’s center on the suggestion of Captain Bill. 

A woman named Wendy in a green ATC t-shirt over long sleeves greeted us behind a counter in the little building and launched into her informational spiel about the upcoming hiking section. Later, it turned out that I truly didn’t know what I would have done at certain points on the trail without her explanation. She pulled out maps and talked us through all of the upcoming river fords, including recent water-level measurements, as well as how to get around them if the rivers proved to be too dangerous to cross. She had personally tested and mapped out these walk-around routes herself. She answered so many questions about the logistics of getting into Baxter State Park at the other end of the 100 mile wilderness and was able to differentiate fact vs. rumors that we’d heard. 

Bill told us a little about Wendy’s background once we were on the ride back to his hostel. It was only recently that I was browsing for something online and came across an article that featured her! I decided to link it here if you’re interested in reading a little about Wendy’s life living in a cabin in Maine. It’s now my opinion that stopping into the ATC office in Monson to learn some valuable information from Wendy should be a requirement for any hiker about to hike the 100 mile wilderness!

Back at Captain Bill’s

That evening, Chili Pepper and Moosejaw went for a sunset kayak on Moosehead Lake with Captain Bill, and while this sounded like an amazing experience, I opted to stay behind. If anything is to convey how much I just needed some rest, it’s that decision. I took advantage of the full-sized tv with multiple streaming options, something I don’t have in my own apartment back home and did some much-needed stretching to the tune of judges critiquing outfits on Project Runway in the background. Seriously, this was the winning hiker lottery ticket of a place to stay to zone out for an hour or two and feel refreshed before my final push of the hike.

Read part 7 here!