Everything you can imagine happening on the AT happened to me yesterday. It's what I imagined to be a normal day on the trail but the truth is that most days on the trail are grueling monotony.
Anyway, yesterday we started at Kid Gore shelter with a few other hikers and enjoyed the sunrise over the tall Green Mountains of Vermont. The morning hike was the usual affair of intense sweat, mosquitoes and mud. After about 6 miles we did hit trail magic as a fellow thru hiker Sandman is slack packing while he is close to home (more on this in a minute).
Slack packing is when you hike with only a small day pack and get picked up and dropped on the trail daily. It makes hiking much easier with only a few pounds instead of the usual 30-35. Sandman's mom who is shuttling between locations to slack is also leaving cooler full of goodies like fruit, cupcakes, and cold coke. We've recently come to the consensus that there is no trail magic better than an ice cold coke.
Back to yesterday though. I grabbed a coke and headed up Stratton mountain, the tallest mountain the AT traverses in Vermont and at the top Garfunkel and I saw a young (yet huge) moose relaxing in the shade. We also went up the lookout tower on top and viewed the hazy green mountains all around us.
We then headed down Stratton and had lunch with Ned (from Wales), Logan, and Big Daddy. Shortly after we went swimming at Stratton pond. Most ponds around here have been the color of iced tea but Stratton was a rare exception.
We then headed to the shelter past as the usual 4 o'clock thunder began rumbling. I saw a bear taking off down the mountain (still no picture, they move quick!) and about 10 seconds after the rain began falling in sheets we ran into Spruce Mountain shelter. Spruce is one of the nicer shelters we've stayed at with windows, a door, a wood stove, and porch.
All considered it was perhaps one of the best days of my life. I swam in a mountain lake, climbed a few mountains, appreciated the joy of an ice cold coke, saw a moose and bear, got caught in a thunderstorm moments before enjoying a hot cup of tea on the porch, and went up a lookout tower. The trail has its drudgery but the good times are unimaginably good.
We also got the privilege to stay with Sandman at his house in Massachusetts a few nights before. His mom met us at the trailhead with a cold coke and a big smile. We drove for about an hour as Wingmom, her chosen trail angel name, treated us to more cold drinks and snacks. The house itself is situated on a gorgeous campus where D.L. Moody is buried but the real treat was the constant stream of generosity to which we were subjected. There was tea, pulled pork, AC, thick blankets, and lots of love. We left the next morning considerably cleaner, fuller, and with BLTs in our packs for lunch. If you're reading this Wingmom, thanks again for everything.
Since our last update we've also gone over Greylock Mountain, and had a run in with a very angry overnight camper. Long story short, some fool set up a 2 person tent in a 8 person shelter and abandoned it for at least 11.5 hours. Eventually a full group of thru hikers arrived and moved the tent to a flat spot. It's bad etiquette to set up a tent in a shelter, let alone hogging the whole shelter and leaving for hours. At 2am the owner returned very upset and yelled at us until Logan, a tall muscular guy covered in tattoos decided to spearhead our cause and told the guy off.
Not much else has happened. We entered Vermont and started the portion of the trail that overlaps with the Long Trail and Garfunkel broke his trekking pole. It's rained every afternoon here, and the next week is supposed to be even wetter. Next stop Hanover New Hampshire.
Oh, we also met Matt, a hiker trying to break the unsupported speed record for the AT: about 60 days. We just crossed 75% yesterday and he's on track to do it, which means he was at Katahdin 15 days ago. We still have a little more than a month.
No comments:
Post a Comment