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Vermont / Trail Days 2002____The Appalachian Trail____New Hampshire

Wednesday, August 14, 2002
Manchester Center, VT-Bromley Mountain
Today’s Miles: 2.8
Trip Miles: 2.8

I find it amazing the way trail magic strikes even before I set foot on the trail. My dad dropped me off at the bus station yesterday morning in Allentown PA and I rode all day to Rutland VT where I got a room for the night. The final leg of the ride last night was dark, quiet, and lonely with only about five or six passengers, one of whom entertained us all by engaging the driver in a deeply political conversation and laying out all his conspiracy theories about 9/11. I found it particularly fitting because I am picking up my journey from the point I left off last year in Manchester Center, where I was in a motel room glued to the television on 9/11 and a number of days thereafter. In retrospect I think I may have continued my hike had I been in the woods, rather than the way I saw everything go down live on tv.

This morning I got a late start out of my motel room and wandered downtown to the bus station, where I bumped into Easy Day! This is what I’m talking about when I mention trail magic – I hiked with him a couple days off and on last year, and now we just had this chance meeting as I get back on the trail! He was catching a bus back to his home in Florida after a two week vacation where he hiked the Long Trail here in Vermont.

It turned out that I missed the shuttle bus to Manchester Center, and had a couple hours to kill before the next bus would come so I caught the movie “Signs” at the local matinee. Maybe a bit creepy to see before heading out in the wilderness, but what the heck. The highlight of the movie was actually a preview for The Two Towers.

I finally caught the bus in the late afternoon, and it was quite crowded but turned out to be a fun ride. Sitting there with my backpacking adventure gear, walking stick given to me in Georgia, and stone in my ziploc wallet picked up Springer Mountain among all the “common people” was sweet. It feels great to be a hiker again – and it’s only going to get better.

It was fantastic to be back in Manchester Center. I picked up a long sleeve tee at EMS, grabbed a bite to eat at McDonalds, and made my way up the main road out of town toward the AT crossing with my thumb out. Nobody was picking me up as the 103 degree afternoon gradually transformed into an impending evening thunderstorm. I found shelter under an overpass bridge just in time before it hit, and let me tell you it was one wicked storm! Hail, strong wind, solid bolts and nearby strikes. I had company under the bridge with a guy driving a tiny antique convertible and another riding a motorcycle.

After the storm subdued I started thumbing for a ride again and was picked up almost immediately by a cool guy in a minivan. He had his young children in the backseat and I was surprised that he would pick up a hitchhiker, but he’s a backpacker and the locals here know a hiker when they see one I guess. He wished me well on my trip and congratulated me on returning to finish the trail.

I am so psyched to be here – now three miles up the trail on the summit of Bromley mountain, complete with an out of season gondola and ski shelter. It’s fitting that I spend my first night up here – last year this was the spot where I spent one night and a day contemplating on whether or not to turn around go home – which I went on to do. There are some friendly southbound Long Trail hikers up here, who I couldn’t help but share my enthusiasm with. I’m set up to sleep out under the stars tonight, but it’s windy so we’ll see how it goes.

Life is good!

waiting out the storm

Thursday, August 15, 2002
Bromley Mountain-Big Branch Shelter
Today’s Miles: 13.2
Trip Miles: 16

I ended up moving inside to the unlocked gondola operator’s room last night when the wind turned out to be too much. All the sobo hikers were gone by the time I woke up at 8am, but I met a northbounder named Wharfrat when I was packed up and ready to go. He’s doing the Long Trail, but did the AT in ’98. He caught up with me after the first few miles where I stopped at an old water pump to fill up, and moved on.
The climb up to Styles peak was arduous on this hot day as I realized it will take a bit of time before I get back into complete chiseled bad ass hiker condition. Wharfrat waited for me at Peru Peak Shelter where I took a long break, filled up my water, and nostalgically paged through the old register that had entries from hikers I knew last year.

I passed Griffith lake, a beautiful spot, and was hoping to stay the night up on Baker Peak, which was supposed to have a great view. The view turned out to be pretty good, but unclear on this hazy day, plus the potential spots to tent didn’t look too comfortable so I pushed on and descended here to Big Branch Shelter. There’s a georgeous stream here directly in front of the shelter with lots of rocks and big boulders with water splashing over them, and an adventurous swinging suspension bridge that spans over it.

Tonight I met Autumn Leaves, a sobo who sleeps in a bed of leaves as a mattress every night and cooks with a homemade wood burning stove, a sobo girl, a local guy Bluejay who does a lot of hiking, two sobo hikers from PA named The Hammock Brothers, and Wharfrat is here as well as the only other nobo. The mosquitoes are biting tonight. Life is good.

on Bromley

Styles Peak

Friday, August 16, 2002
Big Branch Shelter-Greenwall Shelter
Today’s Miles: 8
Trip Miles: 24

The mosquitoes settled down and I got a good night’s sleep last night. I was the last one out of the shelter, after the Hammock Brothers. I started moving at around ten o’clock and went along pretty good until I stopped for a break at the Lula Tye shelter where there was a register dated back to last year. A fellow hiker from last year, Groovy, had left a message for me that said “Hey Duct Tape, catch up!” Funny that I read the message now… I suppose that I am indeed catching up, in a way.

I descended to Little Rock Pond, which was your typical perfectly picturesque Vermont swimming hole. I took a break there and enjoyed a Snickers bar while admiring the way the waves lapped up to the shore in this peaceful setting. Eventually moving on, I kept a good solid pace for a while, finding that state of mind that all hikers are familiar with – daydreaming and getting lost in post-trail plans already and what not, until the ascent up White Rocks Mountain grabbed my immediate attention by kicking my butt on this hot day. When I reached the summit I wandered through a sweet evergreen stand just as the sky darkened and thunder rumbled in the distance.

I came upon some mysterious rock cairns piled all over the place along the trail and took a break there, checking them out. Somebody must have spent a lot of time piling up these rocks. The storm felt all but imminent so I hurried down the mountain to the Greenwall Shelter, thoroughly excited because I was going to get to do one of my favorite activities in all of life – sit dry in a shelter on the Appalachian Trail and watch a thunderstorm – but to my great disappointment the storm never hit and must have passed me by.

I chose to quit my day early and stay there for the night, so I had some extra time to gather wood and build a fire. Dusk descended and grew quite dark so I began to feel quite sure that I would be spending the night alone when three sobos rambled in – Mohican, Sidewinder, and a girl with a shaved head named Alyssa. We all hit it off and sat up into the night around the fire swapping our traveler’s stories about hiking experiences. Life is good.

Saturday, August 17, 2002
Greenwall Shelter-Clarendon Shelter
Today’s Miles: 8.8
Trip Miles: 32.8

Earlier in the summer back at home I went on one of my favorite day hikes, up to the Pulpit Rock in PA, with my friend Zach. We met two thru-hikers there named Buckeye and Rocky Top, and talked while enjoying the view. I know the local terrain well so I told them about what to expect up ahead and such. It was just a nice summer day out on the trail with Zach.

I was the last hiker out of the shelter again this morning – no need to push it during my first days out. My first climb of the day, a relocation up Bear Mountain, really kicked my butt. It was worth it though to sit at the top with that satisfactory feeling of having walked up a mountain. It’s good that I’m getting these workouts now, so I’ll be in shape by the time I reach the Whites in New Hampshire.

Today was another sweltering summer day, so I took a break after descending to the Minerva Hinchey Shelter. There was a fold out beach chair there that couldn’t be passed up – something so simple as a chair becomes a luxury on the trail! I filled up at the spring there, which was refreshingly icy cold.

I had a road crossing to look forward to, my first break into civilization of this trip, and the remaining hike to get to it was mostly downhill. I crossed an awesome suspension bridge over the relatively deep Clarendon Gorge. There was a cool looking swimming hole at the bottom, but there were lots of locals there and I was set on pushing on to this road and subsequent restaurant. It was a short walk from the trail and I was the only one there in mid afternoon. I got two full meals – an open face beef sandwich with peas and a philly style cheesesteak with lots of coke.

Back on the trail the climb north of the road absolutely killed me with way too much food in my stomach and I was most likely dehydrated too. One part involved climbing up through a rocky notch style pit with rock walls on each side, but the climb was rewarded with a nice flat rock at the top with a view.

So I’m relaxing there letting my heart rate return to normal, and who comes trudging up the trail but Buckeye, the hiker I met back at Pulpit Rock in PA! He’s the first northbound thru-hiker I’ve met on this trip – trail magic. We now have this shelter to ourselves for the night with a great bonfire going. A good natured guy who lives down the mountain apparently likes to ride up here on his ATV with a chainsaw and maintain a huge pile of scrap wood for hikers to burn. This guy was so entertaining telling us stories about various hikers he met – and the way he fired up his four wheeler after talking to us, skidding and rumbling off down the mountain into the sunset. “Burn it all!” he said. Life is good.

Greenwall Shelter

Clarendon Gorge

“Burn it all!”

Sunday, August 18, 2002
Clarendon Shelter-Cooper Lodge
Today’s Miles: 10.2
Trip Miles: 43

Last night I awoke to hear what I imagined was a porcupine gnawing on the wood of the shelter, but it was probably just mice. Today has been another fantastic day. I sat around the shelter with Buckeye until he moved on at about ten o’clock, snapping my photograph for posterity. He’s in thru-hiker shape so I may never see him again.

I moved out shortly thereafter and immediately had a rough time of it – ringing home the fact that I have some time ahead of me before I reach prime backpacking condition. Stopping for a break next to a stile and a scenic farm field, I met Flatlander and his son, Pyro, going south. He somehow had me confused with Baltimore Jack, a man who thru-hikes consecutively every year! We had a pleasant conversation and he left me with a hint about a mysterious stream of soda up ahead.

Sure enough in a little while I came upon a small stream with four cans of Dr. Thunder(Generic Dr. Pepper) sitting in it, with a register box nearby to leave a kind word to the trail angel who was responsible for it. As I was resting and enjoying the sugary goodness, a southbounder came along.

“Would you like some candy?” he asked, handing me a piece out of his pack.

“Sure, thanks, I’m Duct Tape.”

“I’m Candyman.”

We had a nice chat about good beer, diners in PA, and a hot female ridgerunner who I could look forward to meeting in a mile or so. After about ten minutes or so I continued north and he went south on his way. A little while later I came to an awesome rocky stream that I just had to stop at. There I bathed, rinsed my bandana and shirt, and just totally rejoiced in the fact that I was bathing in a Vermont mountain stream on a sunny afternoon.

After a bit of quick, sugar/caffeine fueled hiking in my refreshingly wet clothes I passed the dilapidating Governor Clement shelter, littered with empty bottles of beer, and chose to forego filling my water and go right ahead and push up to the top of Killington. That turned out to be a foolish idea – as I became extremely exhausted extremely quickly. Just as I was becoming quite dehydrated and hit a low mood, I came to a wonderfully cold little spring. I sat and chugged two liters of water right away and filled up for the rest of the night.

The remainder of the hike to the summit seemed lengthy but went along easily. I am now inside a shelter with four walls for the night with a young couple from CT hiking to Bennington, and a mother/daughter pair, up here only for the night it seems. I am the “pro” hiker among the group.

I viewed the sunset from the summit and it was fantastic! And wow, it was a steep quarter mile to get up there! If only my family and friends back at home could see me now – there is NO way to explain to “outsiders” how truly PERFECT life on the AT really is. Off to civilized satiation in the form of a shower, hot food, and Guinness tomorrow. Goodnight. Life is great.

inside Cooper Lodge

sunset on Killington
Monday, August 19, 2002
Cooper Lodge-Inn at the Long Trail
Today’s Miles: 7.3
Trip Miles: 50.3

I was the last hiker out of the shelter again this morning at around nine o’clock. The terrain today was mostly a breezy descent to US4 and the Inn at the Long Trail. I followed the official AT down to the road – there is a blue-blazed “shortcut” trail that goes directly to the inn – the official AT now comes to the road one mile away. There was a magnificent stand of white birch trees along the trail, and that’s really the only significant thing to tell about my walking today. Also I lied to a few day hikers today and told them I had come all the way from Georgia this year… sometimes it’s just a hassle to explain to folks who I’ll probably never see again about how I started last year and am finishing up this year.

Vermont has cheap public transportation called “The Bus” virtually all through the state, so I caught a ride on it to town after checking in to a room. My errands consisted of checking the outfitter(Which was closed), hitting up the soda machine, hitting up Burger King, resupply at the grocery store, then hitting a gas station for another soda, and I was good to go. I struck up a conversation with the bus driver on the way back – he moved up here after retiring from General Motors in Pittsburg. “What do YOU do?” he asked me… insinuating that I don’t do much at all… whatever.

Back at the inn I did laundry, organized groceries, took a shower, called home, sat at the bar for four hours already and here I am now. Guinness and Long Trail Ales are tasty. I had two cheeseburgers with my beer over good conversation with some new hikers I met – Skeeter(thru), Hiep(thru), Cincinatti Kid(section), Mike(finished LT today), Shutterbug(thru), and a girl from way up in northeast VT. Good people, great conversation. I have to get to sleep because breakfast is served here at 8am. Life is good.

only 469 miles!

McGrath’s Irish Pub

Tuesday, August 20, 2002
Inn at the Long Trail-Winturri Shelter
Today’s Miles: 18.5
Trip Miles: 68.8

Began the day with a wonderful breakfast of pancakes, bacon, and coffee at the inn with most of the people from the bar last night. It was great to have some company and do the “hiker breakfast” again – I’m really feeling at home with these northbounders now. There was a huge boulder serving as a piece of the wall in the dining room – the inn is built into the hillside – I thought that was really cool. At breakfast we parted ways with Hiep, at least for a little while. He is a crazy fast hiker and while he’s here he figures he ought to continue north on the Long Trail as a sort of side trip, and come back here to pick up the AT again in about a week or less.

It rained overnight and gradually dawned into a perfectly beautiful day today. The forest was still soaking wet at about 9:30 when I hiked out and the rising sun was causing steam to rise from everything. Shutterbug caught up with me long before noon and we ended up hiking together the whole day at a good, steady pace.

We went past a nice looking pond and came down to a road which we followed about a quarter mile until it went over a bridge, then from there on it was short steep rolling climbing all day long, grinding out the miles. It was great. One day hiker we met going the other direction as we made our way up the hardest climb of the day said “I never did find the top!” It felt good to simply push the body to work hard after a top notch breakfast on a nice summer day in Vermont like this. The sitting around at creeks and bridges and mountaintops after some hard hiking is one of the things I missed most, and I got plenty of that today. Just hiking with somebody step for step to Katahdin felt great to be able to do again.

Now I’m here in front of a fire at about 8:30 at the shelter with five mostly older women – two southbound thru hikers and three section hikers from Maine. As I ate my dinner the one mother/daughter pair were playing the card game “War!” It’s been ages since I played that. Shutterbug pushed on ahead to a hostel called “The Barn” for the night. Life is good.

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Wednesday, August 21, 2002
Winturri Shelter-Thistle Hill Shelter
Today’s Miles: 11.7
Trip Miles: 80.5

Got my day started kind of late, mostly because of the long miles yesterday. Had lunch inside a sweet hostel that’s really a converted barn, and descended into and back out of a handful of some of the most beautiful, picturesque valleys with fields of yellow wildflowers.

Today I mostly took it easy, taking numerous breaks in the fields and reading the book I’m carrying – Dharma Bums by Jack Kerouac. Saw a handful of southbounders today but that’s about it. I’m not quite sure why, but near the end of the day I went a half mile(one mile round trip) off trail WAY downhill on a nasty frustratingly overgrown side trail to the Cloudland shelter, located in a tiny mosquito infested valley that drove me crazy. I think I went down mostly to just check out the register, but there weren’t many entries in it because it was so far off trail, and those few people that did sign it had the same grumbling bitchy sentiments as me – “Why the hell did I come all the way down here?”

Tonight I’m at Thistle Hill Shelter with the Desert Rats, an older thru hiking couple from the southwest, and the Maine section hikers from last night. Tomorrow I’ll be in Hanover, New Hampshire! Life is good.

Thursday, August 22, 2002
Thistle Hill Shelter-Hanover, NH
Today’s Miles: 14.6
Trip Miles: 95.1

In the morning I didn’t get up and going until 10am and everybody was gone. It was an easy hike down to West Hartford, VT a very small town where the trail goes down the street for a quarter mile or so. Along the road there was a cool looking iron bridge and a general store where I helped myself to two cheeseburgers and three cans of coke for lunch out on the porch.

The sky was dark and cloudy and ominously rainy looking, so I pushed on the rest of the afternoon. The hiking was fairly easy and it didn’t start raining until later than I thought it would, and I actually enjoyed it, most likely because I knew I’d be dry and in town tonight. So I walked along having a good ol’ time singing the Springsteen song “Mary’s Place” to myself(The chorus goes “let it rain let it rain let it rain let it rain”).

After a long roadwalk I crossed a bridge over the Connecticut River and into New Hampshire. In Hanover at Dartmouth college I got directions to the Panarchy House, a fraternity that lets hikers stay overnight, described as a large white house on School St. I found a house matching the description and rang the bell. After a few minutes an attractive young girl came to the door.

“Can I help you?”

“Uh, are you guys taking in any hikers tonight?”

“No,” she laughed, “But I think the Panarchy House is,” pointing down the street.

Whoops.

The Panarchy House is actually an old mansion, formerly the Dartmouth college president’s house. Inside the basement(Where the hikers stay) I met up with Cincinatti Kid, who it turns out was about two hours ahead of me all day. I took a shower and later met some other hikers who are staying here – Hollywood, Super Dave, and Buckeye!

Tonight I went and got some food with Buckeye at a college pizza joint, spent an hour two at the library doing email, and basically went back to the house for the night. Life is good.

Panarchy House

Vermont / Trail Days 2002____The Appalachian Trail____New Hampshire