Long Trail Journal

[Transcriber's comments: The UPS man brought me a box containing a fresh batch of Connie's hike notes yesterday afternoon, so here begins another attempt to faithfully put down in this blog the thoughts she dashed off whilst trudging north thru Vermont. Oh, the UPS box also held a lot of trail food she'd jettisoned, a new shirt, a pair of pants, a fuel canister, dead batteries, a drinking tube, receipts for gear/meals/lodging, and other assorted doo-dads.]


8/15/07

Got up at 0630; it was nice to sleep in, especially on a nice clean bed. Sorted my gear, bagged up the stuff to be shipped home & packed up my pack. I left the door to my room open & Frank called up Good Morning. I told him I was leaving & he got my receipt for the room. I mentioned I still needed a ride from breakfast/shipping to the trailhead & he said he wouldn't be able to do that. So much for calling ahead & checking if a ride would be available. So I paid up & went a block & a half to across the street from my supper spot, an upstairs restaurant called Up For Breakfast. Small but very friendly & a surprisingly diverse menu. I had a turkey omlette called Wild Thing 'cause it is supposed to be wild turkey. I don't know if it was, but it was tasty. By 0830 I was around the corner at the UPS office. The nice lady there got my stuff boxed and posted, then let me use the phone to call a cab. I had to go thru 3 cab companies but eventually I got Joe. He showed up a few minutes later in what appeared to be his own Cadillac "De Ville" I think. Probably in his 70's but I appreciated saving 2 hrs & 5 miles of walking before even getting to the trailhead. He left me at the packing area on Rootville Rd. Now, it was bad enough yesteday, downhill with a light pack. Steep & rocky uphill with 12LBS of food's no joke but I took my time. I stopped at Prospect Rock, opposite the trail entrance & took pics of Manchester Center from high up the mountain. Too bad it was hazy. So I trudged up the trail at 1000, pretty good time up that road. The way was OK going - uphill but not horrible. Just a little rocky. I stopped for lunch at Spruce Lean-to where four guys had already sat down. One young guy SOBO on the AT, one guy NOBO on the AT, and 2 older guys SOBO on the Long Trail (LT). One of the older guys said it was his 9th time. Both the older guys were smoking! I don't know how they do it. Anyway, I took off about noon. Stopped when I saw a big marble boulder & tried to take a picture but it was overcast so I'm not sure how it will come out. Turns out I was making pretty good time 'cause I'm nearly all the way up Bromley Mt at the Bromley Shelter by 1515. If the next shelter were closer I'd have walked on. But the rest of Bromley still needs to be hiked up & then another mountain before reaching Peru Shelter 8+ miles north. Too far for 4 hours. So I'm staying here as planned. My feet are doing well. The sports tape is doing its job. My new technique of avoiding walking on rocks & roots may also be helping 'cause my feet were hardly tired after 12 miles of hiking. Of course, I may also be getting used to the hiking but it seems too soon for that. I'm glad I decided to keep backpacking. I wavered the whole 1st 5 days till yesterday morning. I would have felt so much a weak loser if I had just quit. This way I get a true taste of a long distance hike. And, WOW, there are so many long distance hikers! Right now all the talk is about Long Trail Days Aug 17 - 19. I saw a notice on a hiker board that there will be shuttles from trailheads to bring hikers to the festivities.

8/16/07

Four mountains in 12 miles! Bromley, Styles, Peru, & Baker. I couldn't take pictures at Bromley 'cause the camera was too cold. Styles & Peru had no view, but Baker! Great views but hazy. The pics may be worthless. Baker the most interesting climb. Up great slabs of marble to the top. Then down to my planned stop at Lost Pond. However - that is a tent site and at 1740 it was thundering. Turns out the Big Branch shelter was only 2 more miles so I picked up the pace & got here about 1840. The river runs right in front of the lean-to. I got water for supper and took a bath & soaked my feet. I changed the band aids over my rubbed spots & dinner is soaking. It's almost too dark to write. I had my Backpacker Scalloped Potatoes for the 2nd time. A disappointment. Not saucy enough. Tonight is Southwest Chili. I'll crumble a few crackers into it. Gotta sign off. Too dark to write.

8/17/07

The family tenting at this site (dad, mom, son, & 2 dobermans named Madison & Abigail) have given themselves trail names. The boy is Tree Frog - very appropriate for the 9-year-old. Mom is Momma Bear & dad is Oak. They plan to hike to their home in Burlington, doing 10 miles a day. I wish them luck. I'm going to try for the Minerva Hinchey Shelter today. My extra 2 miles puts me in a position to push farther today. Also, per the guidebook, the terrain looks to be fairly easy. If it isn't, I'll just stop at Greenwall as planned.

I didn't stop at Greenwall, pushed up Bear Mtn & got to the Minerva Hinchey Shelter at 1700. I see from the shelter log that Unicycle Pirate came thru earlier so he's now way ahead. I saw only a few people on the trail today. A couple guys passed me going north. A couple more going south. I saw Torpedo just as I was starting up Bear Mtn, coming down. She got a ride to Rutland & is slack packing south for 20 miles. Everyone seems to be going to the Long Trail Festival. I took a pic or 2 of the shelter and tried to take a pic of the spring - tonight's water source. Batteries were dead so I swapped them out. They worked OK. I guess I'll buy more at the next stop & send the old ones back to Randy. So now it's after 6PM & no one here but me Looks like I have the shelter to myself.

8/18/07

Five guys arrived last night. Two about 8PM & three more about 10PM. So I didn't have the shelter to myself after all. This morning is cold & windy. Overcast, too. It rained a little last night. Think I'll put my pant legs on today.

A "bad" day. My bladder tube lost its "O" rings & when I snapped it into the bottle it leaked. I spent 45 minutes trying to get duct tape to work but no luck. I put the bladder in its sleeve & packed up. I finally got on the trail at 0830. There was an immediate ridge to climb & my calves are cramping. I go down the other side toward Clarendon Gorge & the trail is a big smooth set of rocks. Of course I slip & fall on my butt & pack with my right foot twisted under me. I yelled in pain & said bad words. I rested a few minutes & let the throbbing stop. I stood up & no pain so I lucked out. I was sure it was twisted. So now I go even more carefully till I get down the gorge. Very similar to Auger Falls. Then I cross a road and slant up what the guidebook so charmingly calls "...a rock-filled ravine." That 1/2 mile took me an hour of hard climbing. It was 1130 before I got to the Clarendon Shelter where I had lunch. It was obvious I was not going to get to Cooper Lodge today. So I plodded on - took a break at 1400. Got to the Gov. Clement Shelter about 1700. A guy (Ted) and his stepson Richard are already here. This is obviously a party spot. Shelter in bad shape - no table of any sort, part of the sleeping platform is gone. It does have a nice water source.

8/19/07

3 yokels dropped by at 0020 last night in a big pickup. Dropped a lot of trash in the fire ring, set it on fire and whooped it up for an hour. Raked the copper wire out of the fire - to recover for $ I guess. Peed all around the site and drank beer. They knew we were here, they just went about their business without a care. Left about 0130 with the fire still blazing. It's still burning this morning. Primarily an old rug. So much for me not burning plastic or junk. Looks like a fair day. I'm going for Churchill Scott Shelter about 9 miles north. My right leg seems to have a permanent cramp behind the knee & today is mostly uphill. Oh, well.

Sure enough - all uphill till noon when I got to near the top of Killington & had lunch at the Cooper Lodge Shelter. I tried to take a pic but the camera & batteries were too cold. I put the batteries in my pocket for 20 minutes - still nada. Oh, well. After Cooper it's all downhill & I reached the Chruchhill Shelter at 3PM. I decided to press on since it was only 2 miles to Rt 4 & The Inn at the Long Trail. I met a nice lady and her German Sheppard. They walked down with me & gave me a ride 1 mile uphill to the Inn. I was inside getting a room & as I came out she was coming in. If I wasn't able to get a room she was going to offer to have me stay at her place. How nice! Anyway - I have a room for 2 days. Tomorrow will be a zero day. I need to give my blisters & raw spots time to heal. I can bus into Rutland and UPS a box home, stop at Wal-Mart & the gear store. I've lost enough weight that my pants are drooping & causing some serious chafing. Owww!

8/20/07

I'm taking a zero day. It's totally unplanned but 3 good hiking days put me ahead of schedule. My left foot has a huge blister at the end of the baby toe. Blister on outside of heel & "boot rub" on the rest of the heel. A day out of boots should help nicely. I woke up at 0600 as usual. Got up & 'cause breakfast isn't till 0730, spent the time sorting my food. Had way too much last section. Also did a good hot water & soap wash of pot, cup & spoon. After breakfast I'll see about the bus schedule into town, not sure what town it is. I'll go to gear store 1st, then shipping. I had put asprin in my box. So I think only gauze pads are needed. A drug store or a Wal-Mart will do if they're available. I've also checked my map & contour lines against my hiking plan. It all still looks do-able. I have a 14-mile day in there, the day before I come out for resupply at Appalachian Gap. Hope it's not a lot of "...rock-filled ravine" -type climbing. I leave the AT behind at this point. There'll be a lot fewer hikers on the trail after this.

Lessons Learned this section:

1. Take care of your feet! Say it 3 times. My most emotionally down days were the days my feet hurt the most. Say it again 3 times!

2. Lighten the load. I was carrying too much. In a mountainous environment, it's a big energy drain.

3. Carry some repair materials. If I had some very lightweight spare parts for my water bottle I wouldn't have been so inconvenienced.