Long Trail Brandon Gap to Appalachian Gap Vt Day One

On 6/18/08 Randy and I left the house at 0700 and got to the Brandon Gap trailhead at 1010. I've been wanting to get back to the Long Trail for some time and this month seemed to be a good time. As we pulled into the trailhead parking lot I realized I had forgotten my hiking poles. While I was getting my pack and stuff out of the car, Randy went into the woods and found me a stick and trimmed it up for me. (Let me tell you now, this made all the difference over the next 6 days!)

So we had a kiss goodby and and at 1010 off I went up Mt. Horrid. It took me over an hour to get to the summit. I rewarded myself with a lunch, sitting on a convenient boulder. After lunch, there was a short descent and then a long climb up Cape Look Off Mt. After coming down that, the next mountain was Gillesipie Peak, the highest climb (3366') of the day. The last 2 miles to Sucker Brook shelter was pretty much downhill. At the lower elevations mixed hardwood took over from the predominately spruce forest earlier. It was growing over the trail, making footing a little tricky. So far the only wildlife I've seen is a garter snake and butterflies and other assorted insects. I hadn't been bothered by mosquitoes till just about now but if I can hold off using bug repellant, I will. I saw 3 trail maintainers when going up Mt Horrid and 2 people and their dog coming down Mt. Horrid. They had pulled into the parking lot just after us and started thier climb before I did. The shelter journal at Sucker Brook notes several people thru here in the last day or two. Perhaps I'll get company later this evening. Finally - I'm experimenting with hiking in sandals. I talked to a guy at Trail Days who was hiking the AT in them. I bought a pair of Choko's for the arch support and a pair of toe socks from ininji. I also brought my boots, just in case. I hiked all day today in the sandals. I like them. It's the 1st time I've gotten to the shelter at the end of the day and my toes and feet not hurt. We'll see how they do tomorrow on a 10 mile day. Total mileage end of day: 5.5 miles