Starting on june second, i began my journey from baxter to to monson along the 100 mile wilderness. Its been a blast, full of up and downs ( pun intended). The first 5 days I had a 14 days of food and it made my pack rather heavy. Probably closer to 60 pounds. So i was definitely geared up to handle the 100 miles.  Though the weight proved to be part of the hardships. Now the thing about baxter and northern maine is that the bugs here are horrendous.  I was completely caught off guard when people kept saying “the black flies are bad “… I assumed they were big bity flies like horse flies… they are not. They are large gnats who swarm and bite any time you slow down. I managed to break my bug repellent the first day of the trip. So it was especially brutal for me. They kept me motivated to move quickly and continuously though.  It did have the unfortunate side effect of making the first couple days a blur. The elevation changes are often steep and rocky on the 100 mile wilderness. After white cap which is mostly a gradual upward incline then decline you hit chair back. Which is very much constant up and downs with steep elevation.  There is a private campsite at the bottom of whitecap before you hit the ascent to chair back. Though there are likely some good stealth sites by the west pleasant river. I would definitely recommend either stealth camping there and doing chair back the following day or going up to chairback pond and staying the night. I pushed the 17.7 miles from the last shelter along white cap over to the shelter on the other side of chairback. It was a rough day. Along chairback there is a rock fall where you have to navigate almost vertically along the fallen rocks. Its exciting and fun but definitely not something to do when your exhausted and out of water like I was. I got to the top of chair back and just starfished for 20 minutes before continuing on. Once you get out of chair back and play see saw with the elevation changes you come out to maine 15 where you can get a shuttle to monson.  I Stayed at Shaws hostel in monson and it was my first trail town, so i didnt know what to expect exactly. It was pretty amazing. Your surrounded by other hikers and theres a whole trail vibe. Shaws itself feels more like a trailside resort for hikers. They have an amazing gear selection, they have knowledgeable people who will go through your gear and help you lose aome items to get better weight.  Obviously I didnt do that. I enjoy the weight of self reliance as I have been calling it.  They have bunk rooms and private rooms the bunk rooms are 30 and its 70 for the private rooms.  Its cost effective to stay since the shuttle ride is 10 dollars but free for staying the night. And an extra 10 for a bed for the night is worth it. They have showers with loner clothes snd sandals you can borrow when you do your laundry. Thry also have complimentary snacks and drinks for guests as well. You can go over to the lake and swim which is what I did.  Over all its been a fun experience. The next stop on my  journey for resupply will be Stratton maine! Until next time!