Down The Trail

Day 1___________________The Long Trail___________________Day 3

The Long Trail End-to-End Journal (Southbound)
September 27, 2007
Journey’s End Camp to Laura Woodward Shelter
LT Miles – 8.7
Total LT Miles – 8.7
Extra Miles – 0.6

I wake in the dim light before dawn. I don’t know what time it is – I’m not carrying a wristwatch on this trip. From my sleeping bag, the interior of Journey’s End Camp carries the scent of fresh-cut lumber with its musty, familiar shelter smell. Every AT hiker knows shelter smell. I pack up fairly quickly, in anticipation of my first full day on the Long Trail.

The sky is a dull grey, but appears somewhat clear in patches – it’s difficult to gauge before sunrise. I walk a half mile uphill to the Canadian border – the LT’s northern terminus – which appears as a sudden clearing around a bend. The above photo looks north from here to Quebec’s Sutton Mountains.

When I turn south, the paint blazes on the trees change from blue to white. I’ll be following these white blazes through the backcountry for the next 26 days.
It’s quite simple, really.

The above sign welcomes me to the official Long Trail – the GMC’s “new” address reveals this sign’s age.

Morning sun shines above the treetops.

I will observe these leaves in various shades of color all the way to Massachusetts.

I meet two middle aged women going north on a day hike. One of them will complete the entire LT today, having patched together numerous day and section hikes. Congratulations are exchanged. These flowers bloom near my first road crossing.

There’s already rough, steeply undulating terrain, and the path is riddled with roots.

The descent to Shooting Star Shelter affords a handsome view of Jay Peak. At 3,858 feet, it’s the northernmost mountain of significance on the LT. I hope to make it to a ski shelter on the summit by nightfall, provided that the weather holds out.

This is Shooting Star Shelter, where I stop for a lunch break and browse the register.

Most every shelter contains a spiral notebook filled with entries from passing hikers. They’re often lending to humor, sometimes accompanied by rough drawings, and just about anything on one’s mind.

The book here is characterized by northbounders’ thoughts on the end of their journey.

This is in a low lying area before a steep, nasty climb that requires quite a bit of effort, and slows me down considerably. When I think of the difficulty of the LT in years to come, the hour or so I spend going up this unnamed peak will be in the forefront of my experience. It’s here that I meet a northbound backpacker who appears to be in his thirties. We exchange a brief hello and continue on our solitary ways.

A view to the west at the top of the aforementioned climb.

Here the wind picks up considerably, swiftly carrying with it a moist, foggy cloud. The weather dramatically changes as watch it approach from this height. It’s invigorating to feel.

On the way down I meet a young backpacker with an eyebrow piercing, laboring uphill.

“How far to the shelter?” I ask.
“About a mile, mile and a half,” he says. “The top?”
“Huh?”
“The top?”
“Oh, about a half mile, maybe less” I reply, “But then it’s a long way down, then back up if
you’re going all the way to…”
I pause, trying to recall the name of the most recent shelter.

“Canada?” he interrupts, simultaneously grasping for a tree limb and vaulting himself up the mountain, with the bravado of a thru-hiker who can taste the end in sight.

This narrow gap in the ridge is at the bottom of the descent. A wet cloud blows westward through it, like a breach in a dam. Particles of moisture float horizontally before my eyes.
Light is growing dim.

Jay Peak is shrouded in mist.

As conditions rapidly deteriorate, Laura Woodward Shelter is a welcome site.

I quickly gather water and prepare a dinner of beef-flavored rice in the fading light. I’m alone for the evening, but snug against the moist chill that envelopes the area. I wake several times during the night to the sound of a hard rain rattling against the metal roof.

Day 1___________________The Long Trail___________________Day 3