Info, questions, experiences (good or bad) regarding - Monson, ME

Past hikers - what can future hikers expect here?

Future hikers - any questions?

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Everyone goes to Shaw's and that's not a bad thing. The food and the hiker box every year is the best on the trial in my humble experience. However Mr. Shaw's hatred of the Pie Lady leaves a bad taste in my mouth (sorry, I usualy hate puns). The Great (I added that, not them) Wisconsin Boys spent a great deal of time and money there because of a health issue. They also had the audasity to buy a Pie from the Pie Lady. Mr. Shaw had a fit. Last year when she was in the Hospital he told people she was dead. It reminds me of the Uncle Johnny vs. Miss Janet soap opera in Irwin. When you go through both of these great trail towns talk to these people, this BS needs to end.

Stayed with the Pie Lady in 2000. The only bad experience was the neighbors dog lifting a leg on my pack while we waited for Sidney to come home. Sidney told us Shaw would stop in front of her house from time to time and try & persuade hikers to come to his place. Apparently he'd also flip her the bird while driving by her place comin' back from the trailhead. She didn't really understand why he acted that way. Mr. Shaw might be a great guy, but after hearing those stories, I wouldn't stay there under any circumstances. That's just me.

We picked several quarts of blueberries atop Moxie Bald and the Pie Lady was true to her name and baked up a pie for us. Went great with a half gallon of vanilla ice cream. Took a zero day there before hitting the 100 mile wilderness. The BBQ joint in town had some good eats. Good tunes on the stereo too. Grateful Dead Europe '72.

You had to mention the BBQ place. That place was soooo good. It's a good thing I don't think they are open now or I'd have to drive three states to get there.

In my two backpacking trips through Monson... The hitching is great... very easy in daylight hours. The Pie lady is a character - she can be generous or greedy, helpful or mean spirited, kind or manipulative depending on... her mood? Shaws are great - except (as TNJED notes) they are a bit intense about the Pie Lady. There is a great little restaurant a few houses down from the Pie Lady's.

There are a few other useful shops right around Monson - I had no trouble getting food and a few repair supplies. the locals were very friendly.

The local covienence store / grocery store was great. I forget the name of it but it is right on the main drag. It was under new ownership last year if I remember right and the guy running the place was very happy to have hikers there (what grocery store owner wouldn't be?). They had individual servings of oatmeal, etc. so you didn't have to buy a whole box. He even gave us a ride to the local beach which was a couple miles out of town.

About Shaws: imagine you are the only place that all hikers stop at when going through your small town and you rely on it for your income. Then someone else comes along and trys to compete with you. It cuts your business by 1/3. I guess what I'm saying is I understand why Shaws act like they do. I don't agree its appropriate, but I understand his motivation. We stayed at Shaws and I would again. Pie Lady has internet access (costs money) though, so we visited her too. They were all great people.

As the AT turns, sos.

Great trail town!! Shaws has good AYCE

Just to provide some perspective: Last year, I called the Pie Lady's from Shaw's to check to see if a friend of mine had arrived in town and by any chance was staying at her place. She told me "I don't know who's here!!!" and was not particularly warm on the phone.

She then asked me if I was calling from Shaw's, which was of course none of her business. I told her I was, and she immediately snarled "If you're wondering if your friend is here, you can stop off and see for yourself!!!" and then hung up, without askingi f I wanted to leave a message, etc.

I thought this incredibly rude, and pretty stupid, too. For all she knew, I might've simply stopped by Shaw's and was using the phone BEFORE deciding where I wanted to stay. Maybe I was curious about staying at her place, and was basing my decision on where my friends were lodged. Or maybe I was a friend or family member trying to track down a hiker. Or maybe there was some sort of emergency and I needed to find someone right away. In any case, she didn'tgive me much chance to say anything as she was too eager to hang up on me. All I know is that this was my ONE contact with the Pie Lady in all my time on the Trail and it did NOT leave a good taste in my mouth.

Moral of story: Everyone has a bad day; some people seem to have them more often. And yeah, it's true that Keith bitches about the Pie Lady and it turns some people off, but he's a lot better about this than he used to be. All I know is this: Shaw's is a great place, Keith, Pat, and Keith Jr. are WONDERFUL folks, and I'm very happy I chose to stay at his place over the years.

This is not to contradict the folks who had a fine time at the Pie Lady's. I'm sure they did. All I know is that my one and only contact with her confirmed in my mind that I did well to stay elsewhere.....if there's bad blood between her and Keith, that's too bad, but being rude to folks you don't know merely because they have the effrontery to telephone you from another business....well, there's no excuse for this, ever.

Come early September, I'll be back in Shaw's....


P.S. Am writing this from Hiawassee, Georgia, after getting positively soaked to the skin on Blue Mountain last night. Best wishes to all my friends on Whiteblaze, see some of you before long.....

Has anyone ever stayed at the place above the laundrymat? I looked around when I was doing my laundry and it looked like a pretty nice place, very clean.

The BBQ place in Monson may have been the most enjoyable meal that I had on the trail. And that is saying a lot.

Not that it does much good for those of you in the South,but the BBQ place stays open much of the year, catering to snowmobilers. I maintain the Leeman Brook LT and on my work trips in to the shelter I plan for a stop in for BBQ and to bring a huge take-out order home to my wife. I agree that the food is great and even compares favorably to some of the great places in the South. I used to tell my wife that we had to travel through the southern parts of the AT to get real BBQ, when the real reason was so that I could hike sections that had not been completed. She now knows that all she has to do is suggest that the leanto at Leeman Brook probably needs attention and wait patiently for the food delivery at the end of the day.

Doc