MONSON, Maine — A North Carolina man hiking the Appalachian Trail was charged with trespassing after allegedly getting drunk and walking into the wrong residence to sleep early Saturday morning.

Benjamin Cook, 26, of Charlotte, N.C., had been drinking at a local bar after hiking the AT on Friday, Piscataquis County Sheriff’s Department Deputy Kyle Wilson said on Tuesday. He allegedly walked into a Pleasant Street home to go to sleep. Wilson said there is a hostel next door that accommodates hikers with a place to sleep and a warm shower.





“He got done hiking and enjoyed himself at a local bar and walked back,” Wilson said. “He walked in where a young girl was babysitting a little kid. She woke up to a man standing over the little kid. He was going to lay down on the couch.”

The girl left with the child and went to the residence of family members across the street, who called police at 2:01 a.m., said Wilson.

When deputies arrived, Cook was asleep on the couch. Cook was noticeably intoxicated, he said.

Cook was arrested and charged with criminal trespass, a Class D charge that carries a maximum term of up to a year in jail and a top fine of $2,000. He was transferred to Piscataquis County Jail in Dover-Foxcroft, where he has since been released on $100 bail. He is scheduled to appear in Dover-Foxcroft District Court in October.