Day 15 – from Route 9 in Vermont to Kid Gore Shelter tent area. 14.4 miles.
Really enjoyed my stay at the Catamount in Bennington. Nice owner, hiker-friendly. Left this morning still feeling tired even though I slept well both nights. I think the heat/humidity gets to me.
Though the official heat wave for this area is now over, the temps still reached the low 80s today, and the humidity was high. I had a long, 8.6-mile, 2900-ish feet of elevation gain climb up Glastenbury Mountain – the peak is in the woods with no view, boo, all that effort for no visual reward – and after that a mostly-down-with-some-ups 6-ish mile hike to Kid Gore Shelter. The humidity was not fun, and neither were the bugs. This was the second-buggiest day I have had on trail. Deer flies and black flies and mosquitoes, oh my! Plus, I felt dehydrated all day, even though I thought I had replenished myself on my rest day. I look forward to cooler/less humid weather. Also, I carried four days of food, more than I have before on this hike. So my pack felt heavy. All of that combined put me in the grumps today.
Saw Scar again. She was heading to the same shelter/campground, but she said she is having some trouble with the weight of her pack and has to move slowly right now. This was a long, hard, humid climb today, so I hope she was okay. The tenting area is down the trail from the shelter, so I may not see her again until tomorrow.
I am at the tenting area now with a local fellow who is out for a week’s hike. Seems like a nice guy.
I don’t like to do shelters, btw. At least, not now. When I flip and am headed SOBO, perhaps. I like my space in the evenings, and I don’t want to worry about waking up people with my tossing and turning, and I don’t want to hear snoring. Also, I hear horror stories about mice and spiders and snakes. My tent feels like my little home now, it is roomy enough for me and all my gear, and I like relaxing in it every night. The shelters seem to be getting more and more crowded now that I’m in Vermont, so that’s another reason to keep using my tent.
Day 16: Kid Gore Shelter camping area to Stratton Pond Shelter. 15 miles
Tossed and turned a bit last night, though I think I got 8 hours sleep in there somewhere. Hope the sound of my air mattress squeaking every time I adjusted my sleep position didn’t wake up the guy in the neighboring tent.
The air was cool today, and there was a breeze, which was fabulous. The first part of the day felt mild, and I even saw Onesimus again at the road crossing just before starting the climb up Stratton Mtn. Got a Klondike Bar from him this time. The ascent up Stratton felt mild for the most part, and I climbed the fire tower just enough to see some views. Arrived at Stratton Pond Shelter before 3.
AND YET. My mood and energy level is down. I still feel dehydrated. I am not in the mood to talk to anyone. When I arrived at the shelter this afternoon and saw a bunch of people already there talking loudly and laughing, I smiled and nodded at them and then went straight past and found a place to tent far, far away. I can hear them anyway across the forest. It is nowhere near time for bed, and they have a right to be laughing and talking loudly and enjoying themselves, and good for them. What I want right now though is quiet and space, so here I type in a hidden away far corner of the area from the comfort of my tent.
There is close to an inch and a half of rain expected tomorrow night through the next morning along the area I would be hiking, so I booked another zero. So soon after my last one!! There’s a lodge half a mile from trail east of Manchester. Pricey. I first tried a hostel, but they didn’t get back to me in less than 45 minutes, and I was worried other hikers were going to take all the local places, and cell service is come and go as I hike, so I went ahead with the lodge. I am already spending more than I had anticipated, but I should make up for it with less spending after I flip and head south.
Will be an easy ten miles tomorrow mostly downhill to VT Route 11/30.
I saw a mooseprint twice today.
I really don’t feel like myself. Grumpy. Dehydrated. I don’t want to talk to anyone. Am running on autopilot. Blah.
Day 17. Stratton Pond Shelter to VT Route 11/30 (and Pinnacle Lodge) 10 miles (10.5 with the lodge detour).
Some critter, probably a hare, bounced all around my tent last night creating a cacophony between midnight and 3am. Not conducive to sleep. I remember at some point telling it to F off, but alas, it ignored my complaint.
Forecast this morning called for heavy rain with flash flood watches for this evening into tomorrow evening. Glad I decided to get off trail tonight, even if I did just take a zero in Bennington. I can hike in the rain of course, but once the forecasted amount goes above one inch in one day, I want to get off trail. Two years ago, a thruhiker died in Vermont after being swept away at a creek crossing during heavy rains.
It was a beautiful day today with cool temps, few bugs, little humidity, and moderate terrain. Still, I struggled. I feel very, very tired, and very dehydrated. I have increased my liquid intake, but it still isn’t enough. Or maybe I am not getting enough micronutrients..?
Though my pace was fairly slow, the many hikers at the shelter never caught up with me (except one NOBO named Close Enough). So maybe I wasn’t going as slowly as I thought? The whole day felt hazy, like I was watching someone else hike.
Got to my room at Pinnacle Lodge, chugged the provided two bottles of water, took a shower, and did laundry. While waiting for my clothes to dry, I met another hiker named Ice Man. He is doing the East Coast Trail and has been hiking since early January. He started in the Florida Keys, hiked up through the Florida Trail and Pinhoti, then joined the AT. He will continue past Katahdin into Canada on the International Appalachian Trail. He had some great stories to tell about his adventures, and I enjoyed speaking with him. He also told me that he thought the AT was much more difficult than the CDT or the PCT in terms of daily terrain, elevation gain, and heat/humidity. That made me feel a bit better.
John and Nancy, the owners of Pinnacle Lodge, are hiker-friendly and super kind. Nancy drove me into town so I could resupply. Swapped out my tattered Darn Toughs for a fresh pair at The Mountain Goat, then went to a Shaw’s grocery store. I now have plenty to eat today and tomorrow, plus i bought some different food items for the trail. Bread, peanut butter, cheese, fruit snacks, turkey pepperoni, breakfast bars with calcium and Vit C, and some other things. I am sick of energy bars, so no more of those for a while.
Now I am laying in a comfy bed eating the biggest turkey-and-swiss sub sandwich I have ever seen. Am going to follow that up with an entire bag of red grapes and three glasses of milk.
Just checked the forecast again and now the chance of heavy rain has almost completely diminished. This zero may be for nothing. Or maybe my body needed it anyway. Had originally planned to zero in Rutland in a few days, but now I’ll push farther along instead. Would like to finish this thruhike before the end of December at the latest, and at this rate I’ll never get out of Vermont.
Day 18, rest day near Manchester. Ate a ton of fruit.
Day 19, VT Route 11/30 to Little Rock Pond Shelter. 19.8 miles.
Beautiful day today! my body felt revitalized. Cool temperatures, nice breeze. Fun climbs, including Bromley Mountain, which was socked in, and other steep and ledgy climbs with views. Did ten miles without feeling it. Played leapfrog a bit with a section hiker named Honey Badger and met a mom-son duo (Chef and Noon) hiking the Long Trail. There were beautiful streams with tons of bridges. Started feeling the miles and slowing down after 16, but I made it to almost 20!
Entered White Rocks National Recreation Area and realized I have been here before. A couple of years ago, I hiked all the trails here. It’s a beautiful spot at Little Rock Pond. I remember thinking I would be coming through on the AT one day, and now here I am.
In the parking area preceding the pond, someone left a fruit cake in a tin as trail magic to “through hikers.” Fruitcake as trail magic! That was a first.
I actually felt social when I showed up at the Little Rock Pond shelter, and I had a good time talking with Honey Badger, Chef, Noon, a section hiker named Sir Snail, and a thruhiker from last year who had to miss 150 miles, so now she is back to do those 150.
Got my tent up on a wooden platform with the help of some rocks. It’s a great evening, and I feel wonderful.
Day 20
Little Rock Pond to Governor Clement Shelter. 20.8 miles. 21.5 miles if you include the farm stand detour
Got an early start and was the first out of the shelter. Had breakfast by the beautiful pond. Started hiking at 5:30. Wanted to get as many miles in as I could before the heat arrived. My legs are starting to go uphill by themselves (when it is not hot), so I think I’m getting my trail legs. Tackled the first five miles without thinking about it, then got to ten miles…and the heat and humidity arrived. I believe there was a heat advisory for today in Vermont. Had a difficult time, sweat dripped off me continuously, had to make sure I stayed hydrated. Had to stop hiking at one point and take a long break in the shade. Felt better after I drank a ton of water and electrolytes and ate a decent amount of food.
Today’s highlights. Trail magic by Spineless Cougar. Blueberry pancakes with butter and syrup, bananas, Gatorade/sodas, cookies, potato chips. This was much appreciated.
Other highlights: White Rocks (pile of white rocks), the bouldery climb up to Clarendon Lookout (brutal in the heat and humidity), Stone’s Throw Farmstead (lots of goodies a few tenths of a mile off trail), seeing Martian again! Hoped I would see him at the shelter later, but I think he went ahead for a few more miles. We sat and at lunch together. Hadn’t seen him in a week. Finn got injured and is temporarily off trail. Martian and I leapfrogged for a while, then he went ahead while I took a long break by a stream. Hope to see him again.
I ate a lot today – my usual food plus the extras with the trail magic and the farm stand. I don’t think I have hiker hunger just yet, but that is probably just a week or so away.
The mother-son LT hikers are here at this shelter, they hiked all this way too today. They were supposed to stop at a place seven miles back, but the mom thought that shelter looked sketchy so they continued on. That’s an impressive amount of miles in a lot of heat and humidity. The LT and AT split at a junction I will reach tomorrow, so I will not see them again after tonight.
Honey Badger is here. He is taking a zero after tomorrow, but I am sure we will run into each other again.
Day 21. Governor Clement shelter to the Greenbriar Inn. 13.5 miles
Did not sleep well. Took only 5mg of CBD instead of my usual 10 thinking that would be enough, but it wasn’t. All my muscles in my left leg kept me up all night letting me know they were not amused. Finally got up for good at 3:30, laid there for an hour watching the light start to come into the sky, then started packing up at 4:30. Most everyone at the shelter areas are up by 5 and on the move by 6 at the latest. Some are up and out earlier; I was not the first one out today.
On my way back from the water source before I left, I heard a rustling sound, and there was a bear not fifteen feet away from a hiker’s hammock. The bear was quietly sniffing around, and the hiker in the hammock had no idea it was there. When I walked by, the bear took off running.
I am getting a fine collection of slugs on my bear canister every morning, by the way. Have to spend time carefully removing each one before putting the canister in my pack.
I was third out the door, so to speak, and began the long climb up Killington. The air was humid, and I longed for that forecasted rain…and then it came! I could not get many photos today, because the rain was hard and cold. Yesterday I was soaked in sweat and today I was drenched with rain. No thunderstorms, though.
Skipped the blue blaze to the summit (been there/done that, and nothing but Cloud today anyway), poked my head in Cooper Lodge, then made my way down.
I did Killington as a day hike two years ago, and I guess I have hiker amnesia because I did not remember what a PITA the descent from Killington is (toward Route 4). I did not remember all those PUDs. Took forever. I was soaking wet and feeling slimy, so that probably affected my outlook.
Finally got down after a million years, crossed the busy road, and climbed toward Maine Junction. Won’t be seeing any more Long Trail folks, they continue north at this intersection while the AT turns and head east toward Hanover.
Finally stopped raining long enough for me to sit down and eat something for second breakfast.
The heat, humidity, and bugs returned. Ugh. Now that I am on the eastern branch of VT’s AT, I can’t just camp anywhere. Have to use designated sites. There was a campground 2 miles ahead of me and a shelter 9 miles ahead. I had already done around 11.5 miles, and I knew I did not have the additional nine miles in me today. I felt too depleted from yesterday, and the top part of my left foot was starting to hurt. I saw there was a motel not far from the campsite…and yes, there goes some more of my money. This is not a zero, it is just an overnight, but I can shower, do sink-laundry, and use the internet.
Greenbrier Inn is lovely, and it comes across as much more upscale than the price would lead you to believe. It’s a good deal. Obviously the campground would have been more budget-friendly, but hey, I am 54 years old and have earned the right to wash off the trail slime whenever I want. 🙂
Did sink-laundry and marveled at how brown the rinse water was…my dress had gotten quite nasty.
I am now walking through many areas/roads i have visited before – this area is close to a NNL that I saw a couple years ago. I have been to the deli across the street from the Inn at least once on day trips from NH. It is odd and great seeing it all now as an AT thruhiker. I remember noticing the AT and thinking that I would be coming through this area on the trail at some point. And now here I am.
Two more days and I will be in Norwich, right outside Hanover. Looking forward to seeing my old friends The White Mountains again. They granted my children and me safe passage for over 13 years. Hoping they’ll continue to grant me safe passage over the next couple of weeks. I love those mountains, they feel like family to me.
