Lost Pond Shelter to Back Home Again Hostel in Rutland VT

Saturday, 8/1

AT Miles = 17.6 / 1673.0
Other Miles = 0 / 54.1
Total Miles = 17.6 / 1716.2

Miles to Katahdin = 505.3

So far, the month of August has a perfect record for sunny skies! Wonder how long that will last.

Today was a beautiful day. My boots were absolutely saturated from yesterday, and for some stupid reason I did not put yesterday's wet socks back on, but rather started the day with clean socks. Within minutes they were squelchingly wet from my boots. What a waste of clean, dry socks!

The trail was still running with water and deep in mud, so my feet never had a chance to dry out. Since I came up short in mileage yesterday, I had to make it up today. I hiked hard all day to get to the road by mid-afternoon and hitch a ride into Rutland, where I am staying at the hiker hostel run by the Twelve Tribes here. The bunk room is on the second floor above their restaurant, the Back Home Again Cafe. There is a street fair going on today, right outside the window. That's rather fun. I understand they feed us well here. I'll find out in another hour or so.

I came into town from Rt 103, rather than from Rt 4 as most hikers do. The hitch proved a bit problematic, but eventually I talked one guy that stopped into going out of his way to take me to Rutland. In the end he refused my offer of gas money, and we had a great conversation on the way here. I hope getting back to the trail in the morning doesn't prove too difficult.

The last few hiking days I have been covering ground my dad and I covered on my very first Long Trail hike, back in... '73 or '74 I guess. I have been thinking about that hike and my dad a lot while hiking. So Dad, do you remember that hike? Stratton Pond? Prospect Rock? Camping on top of Bromley Mountain? Those awful freeze dried eggs we ate at Mad Tom Notch Shelter (which no longer exists)? Little Rock Pond? I think I remember everything about that hike.

Well, rain coming again tomorrow, so I'll be back on the trail. If I get to Sherburne Pass tomorrow, I think I'll try to get a room at The Inn at Long Trail.

--
"Home is where I hang my food bag"

Monkeywrench
Allen Freeman
allen@allenf.com
www.allenf.com
allenf.blogspot.com

Green Mountain House, Manchester Center VT to Lost Pond Shelter

Friday, 7/31

AT Miles = 14.8 / 1655.4
Other Miles = 0 / 54.1
Total Miles = 14.8 / 1698.6

Miles to Katahdin = 522.9

Rain. Goodness but it rained!

It started a couple of hours before I left town, and didn't stop until after I had set up camp for the night. In between, I waded and wallowed, slogged and sloshed, squished and squelched my way up the trail.

Apparently the Green Mountain Club has initiated some experiment in multi-modal backwoods recreation, whereby certain parts of the trail are meant to be walked, and other parts are meant to be navigated via white water kayak. I guess I just never got the memo, and I spent the day hiking the GMC kayak course. I lost count of the times I stepped in mud and water deeper than my boots. It didn't matter though, as my boots had long ago reached the point of maximum saturation where any additional water just squished out the top.

My goal for the day was Little Rock Pond, but it took me 8 hours of hiking to cover the less than 15 miles to Lost Pond Shelter, and being after 5:00PM I called it quits here.

The ground here is just flowing with water everywhere. It has rained so much, so often, that there is simply no place for the water to go. The ground is completely saturated. With these conditions, I am glad I use a hammock and not a tent.

Here's hoping for drier weather tomorrow.

--
"Home is where I hang my food bag"

Monkeywrench
Allen Freeman
allen@allenf.com
www.allenf.com
allenf.blogspot.com

Zero Day in Manchester Center

Thursday, 7/30

AT Miles = 0 / 1640.6
Other Miles = 0 / 54.1
Total Miles = 0 / 1683.8

Miles to Katahdin = 537.7

A day of no forward progress, but a good day nonetheless.

The hostel here is a wonderful, comfortable place, spo last night I
decided to take a zero here. The most strenuous thing I did today was
to walk the mile and a half into town, where I went to see a movie
before walking up the street to the local steak house where I had a
big dinner and a beer.

Most of the day I hung around the hostel. I cooked up the food I
originally bought for last night's dinner as today's lunch. I ate a
huge plate of sausage and peppers and pasta, and what I couldn't eat
some of the other hikers finished. For dessert I had another pint of
Ben & Jerrys, this time Cherry Garcia.

Tomorrow I will be back on the trail; I promise. The forecast says
there is a 90% chance of rain tomorrow, but Saturday looks to be dry.
That;s something to look forward to.

I got an email today from a couple that live in New Hampshire and are
apparently reading this blog, offering me a shower and a place to
sleep when I get near their home. It is that kind of amazing
generosity that makes an AT hike such a special experience, and I am
looking forward to meeting them.

After I finished my dinner at the steak house I called Jeff, the
hostel proprietor, for a ride back to the hostel. As we were driving
back along the lovely, quintessential Vermont road to the hostel, we
passed a couple of cyclists out for their evening ride. Boy, I miss
cycling! I wish there were roads like these to cycle on back home. I
sure am looking forward to cycling somewhere with Jodi next summer.
Hey Jodi, let's spend a long weekend cycling up here in Vermont, and
we'll spend a night here at the hostel. I'm pretty sure Jeff would
welcome a couple of touring cyclists even though this is a hiker
hostel.

So now I have to spend a bit of time getting my bounce box together
for mailing tomorrow morning, and my bavkpacvk organized to head back
out to the trail.

Good night from Manchester Center, Vermont.

--
~~~~~
Allen F. Freeman
allen@allenf.com
www.allenf.com
allenf.blogspot.com

New Photos

Pictures from the section from Dalton MA to Manchester Center VT can
be found here: http://www.allenf.com/gallery2/main.php/v/AT2009/DaltonToManchesterCenter/

--
~~~~~
Allen F. Freeman
allen@allenf.com
www.allenf.com
allenf.blogspot.com

Spruce Peak Shelter to Manchester Center, VT

Wednesday, 7/29

AT Miles = 2.8 / 1640.6
Other Miles = 0 / 54.1
Total Miles = 2.8 / 1683.8

Miles to Katahdin = 537.7

Again last night, it did not rain!

I was up early this morning and on the trailby a quarter to seven. It
was less than 3 miles to Rt 11/30, and I was there a few minutes after
8:00. It took about 40 seconds to get a ride into town. I told the
woman who picked me up that I had heard Up For Breakfast was a good
breakfast place, and she agreed that it was and said she could drop me
right there. By 8:30 I was sitting down to a great breakfast, which I
stretched out for an hour or so. After that I sat outside for a while
finishing up my book and waiting for Northshire Books -- a GREAT book
store -- to open at 10:00. Once Northshire opened I spent a good hour
there browsing and bought a new book to read, then I walked down the
street towards the grocery store. I didn't quite make it to the
grocery store, stopping instead at a pizza restaurant for a pizza and
some soda. Finally, I made it to the grocery. I only needed a couple
of things for my hiking food bag, since I will be stopping in Rutland
in just two more days, but I bought I lot of food for tonight's meal.
I got a box of spaghetti, a jar of sauce, and a package of sweet
Italian sausage and some green and red peppers to saute up and add to
the sauce. I also bought some fresh fruit, and then I stopped at a
bagel / bakery and bought a sandwich for a mid-afternoon snack and
some bagels and cream cheese or tomorrow morning.

After all this shopping I lugged my backpack and my shopping bundles
down the street to the post office to pick up my bounce box, then I
called Jeff from the Green Mountain House hiker hostel and he drove
down to the post office and picked me up. This is a sweet place and I
have really been enjoying my time here.

--
~~~~~
Allen F. Freeman
allen@allenf.com
www.allenf.com
allenf.blogspot.com

Story Spring Shelter to Spruce Peak Shelter

Tuesday, 7/28

AT Miles = 18.3 / 1637.8
Other Miles = 0.1 / 54.1
Total Miles = 18.4 / 1681.0

Miles to Katahdin = 540.5

It didn't rain last night. You might think that something not happening would be a non-event, but you'd be wrong. A night without rain is definitely an event this summer; an event to be cherished and celebrated. Not only did it not rain last night, but when I got up in the middle of the night I noticed these strange bright points of light in the sky. I had almost forgotten that stars exist.

It was a glorious, sunshiney, low humidity day today. I felt so good that I just flew over the trail. I stopped for my first lunch on the shore of Stratton Pond where I ate and chatted with the site caretaker. After that I pushed on to Prospect Rock, with views overlooking Manchester Center in the valley below, where I ate some more, and sat in the sun and read my book for an hour and a half, while my boots and socks dried in the sun.

I finally left there and hiked the last two miles here to the shelter. It was still nice while I was setting up camp and washing and doing other chores. Unfortunately now the sun has disappeared behind clouds, and the insects have appeared. I guess it isn't destined to be the wonderful evening I had anticipated. Bummer!

While at Prospect Rock I called Jeff at the Green Mountain House, a hiker hostel in Manchester Center, and reserved a bed for tomorrow night. I am only three miles from the road here. so I should be in town early tomorrow, do all my town chores, go to the post office to pick up my bounce box, then I will call Jeff for a ride to the hostel.

I just spent some time figuring out the next week or so of hiking. I should be in Rutland on Friday, ay Sherburne Pass and the Inn At Long Trail on Saturday, and in Hanover, NH next Tuesday!

I hope it stays dry tonight and tomorrow morning, so I don't have to try hitching into town while looking and smelling like a half-drowned rat.
--
"Home is where I hang my food bag"

Monkeywrench
Allen Freeman
allen@allenf.com
www.allenf.com
allenf.blogspot.com

View From Prospect Rock

Unbelievably, it is NOT raining!

--
"Home is where I hang my food bag"

Monkeywrench
Allen Freeman
allen@allenf.com
www.allenf.com
allenf.blogspot.com

Bennington VT to Story Spring Shelter

Monday, 7/27

AT Miles = 19.0 / 1619.5
Other Miles = 0 / 54.0
Total Miles = 19.0 / 1662.6

Miles to Katahdin = 558.8

I got the world's easiest hitch this morning. I barely stuck my thumb out and the first car to come by stopped and gave me a ride back to the trail.

Fvor some reason I thought the climb up to Goddard Shelter was 8 1/2 miles, and I couldn't figure out why it took me so long to get there. Then I looked at my book and realized that it was really ten miles. Ten uphill miles in 4:15 isn't so bad after all.

I ate lunch there then pushed on another four miles to Kid Gore Shelter. This is the section of trail I help maintain with the CT GMC, and I usually hike up and down this hill while cutting brush and stuff, so it felt strange to just cruise down the trail at full speed.

Just as I was reaching Kid Gore a thundershower that I had been listening to for a while let loose. I sat in Kid Gore for an hour snacking and reading until two storms rolled past, then I pushed on to Story Spring, where I am now.

--
"Home is where I hang my food bag"

Monkeywrench
Allen Freeman
allen@allenf.com
www.allenf.com
allenf.blogspot.com

North Adams MA to Bennington VT

Sunday, 7/26

AT Miles = 18.4 / 1600.5
Other Miles = 0.4 / 54.0
Total Miles = 18.8 / 1643.6

Miles to Katahdin = 577.8

After two days of easy slackpacking, I was back in harness today. It rained last night -- surprise, surprise -- and it was heavily overcast this morning, with everything still wet from last night. With all this rain the trail is ridiculously muddy, and slogging and slipping through all that mud seems to make the hiking twice as hard.

My original goal when I set out this morning was Congdon Camp, 14 miles in, but I got there around 2:30 and I started thinking about the descent down to Rt 9, fouir miles further north. The trail goes down a long set of rock stairs coming steeply down., and knowing that it was almost certain to rain tonight I knew I'd be coming down some very wet rocks in the morning. Rather than do that, I decided to push on to the next shelter, a couple miles north of Rt 9. Then, while hiking, I realized that when I crossed Rt 9 I would be just a few miles from Bennington VT, and its motels, and restaurants, and stores selling ice cream. Next thing I knew I was standing on the shoulder of Rt 9 with my thumb out, and soon after I was in a nice hot shower getting ready to venture forth in search of a nice dinner. Such is the life of a thru-hiker!

Seriously, I have been feeling a lot better after four days of eating good meals, and while it will surely make this hike more expensive, I am vowing to spend more nights in town and eat as well as I can.

I've just perused the map and guidebook, and my plan is to hike the 19 miles to Story Spring Shelter tomorrow, then on Tuesday up and over Stratton Mountain, down to Stratton Pond, and on to Spruce Peak Shelter, about 18 1/2 miles. That will leave me positioned for a 3 mile nero into Manchester Center on Wednesday.

I feel like I need to make some real progress northward this week, and this will be a good start.

Did you notice I just passed 1600 miles today?

--
"Home is where I hang my food bag"

Monkeywrench
Allen Freeman
allen@allenf.com
www.allenf.com
allenf.blogspot.com