My Trails

8/15/12 – 1700 miles
Yesterday was a slow 9 miles to the Mountain Meadows Lodge. I say slow because my ankle has been sore the last few days and I walked carefully to the place where I would take a rest day. When I arrived here nobody was in the office so I sat and waited. There was a sign saying the owner was out on the grounds and would be back soon.

I received a text from Kleenex saying that she forgot to pick up her trekking pole where she got a ride to friends earlier that day. She asked if I would pick it up when I came through. I had already passed the spot where she left it but I went back anyway. It was only about a quarter mile, easy walking without a pack, over level ground around a lake. I wanted to find it before anyone took it – I know she would do the same for me. When I texted her that I had it, I know she was relieved. I put it in a safe place where she could pick it up the next day.

This place is nice. They give hikers a special rate that includes breakfast, hot tub, kayak use, and free laundry. Last night I bought the dinner, cordon blue chicken with salad and desert, at a very reasonable price.

Today I rode the bus into Rutland to see a movie and get some supplies. The rest of the time I have been resting. Tomorrow I will walk to a shelter about 4 miles from where I will meet Daryl for the start of our hike. It will be a short couple of days into Hanover where we will pick up more food for the start of the New Hampshire mountains. Sounds neat.

8/13/12 – 1692 miles
Less than 500 miles to go. I passed the sign on a closed section of trail. Irene did a number on some of the VT sections, but they are still passable, so hikers are ignoring the detours and using the trail. Usually, only the bridges are gone and some blowdowns are across the trail.

I’m camped tonight with a nice couple called the Troverts. They have a journal on trailjournals.com if you want to look. They hiked yesterday with Kleenex and today with me.

Gondola on Killington

This shelter is very near the top of Killington Mountain, a huge ski and mountain bike complex. Hikers get to ride the gondolas for free so I hiked a short side trail to the top and rode the gondola down and back up. At the bottom I bought a sandwich and ice cream bar. The views from Killington and the gondola were awesome. Tomorrow I may stay at a Mountain Meadows Lodge near Killington VT. I need a rest and shower.

8/11/12 – 1656 miles
I’m camped tonight beside a picturesque lake called Griffith Lake. It’s near Peru Peak Shelter for those who are following me on the AT map and near Danby, VT for everyone else. It has been raining for two days. We are blaming the SOBO’S because the weather has been fine until they started showing up. We think they brought it with them.

I’m not getting good cell service here in the Green Mountains of VT, that’s why updates have been slow. It’s also getting harder to resupply up here, too. I had to hitch six miles into Manchester Center to buy food today. Some places are easier than others to get rides – it only took about 15 minutes each way – but some towns are not friendly to hikers and fly on by.

I hiked 24 miles yesterday and only about 10 today after my resupply. It rained for most of both days but at least the rain has been warm to walk in. There’s nothing you can do but get soaked. If you wear rain gear, you just get sodden on the inside from sweat.

As I walked into the wood today, wearing freshly laundered shorts and shirt, it made me disgusted that after paying $5 to clean and dry them, the rain and sweat would waste my money. So this is what I did:
I took off my shirt and put it in my pack. I took off my shorts and put them in my pack. I made a mini-skirt out of two bandanas to sort of cover my underwear and hiked that way the rest of the day.I look at it this way: there is no dress code on AT and I’m tired of wasting money at the laundry.

8/8/12 – 1601 miles
I spent yesterday morning lounging around the motel, enjoying the time off from hiking. It was a short walk across the street where I could resupply and sample a couple of restaurants. The motel offered a continental breakfast but I was more interested in bacon and eggs than cereal. To top off the morning I walked a block to a Dunkin Donuts and secured a coffee and a half-dozen glazed rings to eat out on the patio.

The night before, I received a text from Kleenex sayings she would be in town the next afternoon and asked that I reserve her a room at the motel. I checked and found out that I got the last room for two days. It seems there was a conference of some sorts going on and everything in town was booked. I only had a single room but we were able to obtain a roll-a-way bed so she would have a place to sleep.

And so the trail once again brought us back together for a couple of days. We washed clothes together, ate dinner and breakfast together, and caught up on the Olympics on TV. This morning we took the motel shuttle back to the trail and climbed four miles to the VT border, paused for a picture, and continued on to Congdon Shelter for the night.

8/6/12 – 1587 miles
It was a short hiking day into Williamstown, MA, where I will rest for today and tomorrow. I hiked all morning with a German girl named Spring. I’ve met her several times in the last few weeks as we leap-frogged each other. She hikes somewhat slower than me but she walks long days and usually takes little time off. It was fun getting to know her and learning different culture aspects of someone from another country.

Spring from Germany

We left Mount Greylock about 8:30 this morning. We were hanging around the lodge hoping for some breakfast but all they brought out for the hikers was some toast – that was their continental breakfast.

When we got to the road into town, Spring decided to hitch in with me and get pizza. It didn’t take long for us to get a ride right to the restaurant where we split a medium pizza. After we ate and said goodbye, Spring hitched back to the trail and I went to check onto a room. I will be here all day tomorrow, resting my feet and building energy. Vermont is next and then the Whites.