Day 28 - 7/6 - Unplanned Nero

ME 15 (114.7) to Shirley-Blanchard Road (121.0)

So the plan for today was a 14-mile slack pack, but that turned into a 6-mile slack pack. My dad and I had breakfast again at Shaw’s, and we stopped by the Monson general store, where I picked up some food for the day. Then he dropped me off at the trailhead with a plan to pick me up down the trail in the afternoon. I had a nice foggy morning hike, but I was surprised to see my dad at a road crossing just 6 miles into the day.

He explained that he returned to the hostel and asked for directions to the spot we agreed to meet in the afternoon. However, Poet, the owner of the hostel, explained that the road we picked was actually gated and impassable. Luckily my dad was able to find an earlier pickup and avoid a very long thirty-mile day for me to the next road crossing. So today turned into an unplanned nero (near-zero) day, in trail jargon.