Day 19 – Clarendon Gorge
I descend from Clarendon Lookout through a rocky, narrow ravine.
Vermont Route 103
I walk a half mile on the road to The Whistle Stop Cafe, a popular restaurant among hikers for a convenient meal. Here’s Frog with a full stomach on the return.
I’m the only patron on this gloomy Sunday afternoon, quickly wolfing down a hot open-face roast beef sandwich. I get the feeling I’ll be hiking in the dark this evening.
Clarendon Gorge lies just south of the road, spanned by a rickety suspension bridge that’s over thirty years old. This is a popular swimming hole in the summer, but it’s vacant today.
Darkness finds me still on the move. Underneath the clouded sky, I surprise myself with how long I can go without turning on my headlamp. A deer snorts, and rushes off into the brush. I see very little, but sense logs and rocks strewn across the path.
Finally I must use my headlamp in the total darkness.
It’s almost an hour by the time I make it to Minerva Hinchey Shelter, glad to see a glowing campfire through the trees. Frog is there as well as another hiker, a young man who goes by the name Ronin. The majority of his gear smacks of the military, including camouflage clothing, a canteen, heavy unnecessary items, etc. He’s friendly but terse – probably disappointed that Frog and I arrived, after he thought he had the shelter all to himself.
The others go sleep as I cook my dinner, and silently stare into the campfire.
Hike North______________The Long Trail______________Hike South
