Down The Trail

Hike North______________The Long Trail______________Hike South

The Long Trail End-to-End Journal (Southbound)
October 1, 2007
Roundtop Shelter to Bear Hollow Shelter
LT Miles – 7.2
Total LT Miles – 54.6
Extra Miles – 3

morning view behind Roundtop Shelter

I slowly drift awake, and lazily linger in my sleeping bag. I feel especially relaxed and content this morning – content to simply lie and watch the leaves rustle in the breeze. Maybe it’s because I’m going into town to resupply today – simple awareness of present anticipation.

I note a dragonfly precariously dangling from a spider web on the shelter’s rafters – directly above the place where I rested my head all night long. This motivates me to pack up and begin the day.

Roundtop Shelter

After just 1.5 miles I come to Prospect Rock, which looks south over the Lamoille River Valley.

I descend to the Lamoille River, where the GMC recently built a suspension bridge spanning its width.

Here a ladder has been placed at section of the river that seems to have a tendencey to flood. Note the white blaze on the lower right!

I come out of the woods into a field along VT route 15, and prepare to hitchhike into Johnson, Vermont.

It’s only two miles into town, so I begin walking with my thumb out. A kind lady picks me up after I’ve walked a mile. It’s a short lift the rest of the way, and she drops me off at their local “supermarket.” Inside I drop my pack, and purchase about 3-4 days worth of food to get me to the next town – bagels, peanut butter, honey, snickers bars, mac & cheese, pouches of tuna, pop-tarts, and so on. In front of the store I sit on a bench, dump my purchases on the sidewalk, and proceed to repackage everything into ziploc bags. It’s great fun – I’ve missed the life of a backpacker. From a nearby payphone, I call my mother to let her know I’m alive and well. She is the only person I intend to communicate with on this trip that is not face-to-face – no text messages, no internet access, nothing.

Next I go about looking for a place to get a good meal. I have my heart set on eggs, sausage, and pancakes – or pizza, but there’s absolutely nothing open in Johnson on a Monday. Even the famed Long Trail Tavern isn’t open until 3pm, so I don’t wait around, and skip it.

Instead, I gorge on gas station fast food. You know the cheeseburgers that come wrapped in foil and sit under a heat lamp for hours? Yeah. I sit on the curb outside and consume the goods. A young customer stopping at the gas station asks if I’m doing The Long Trail – he hiked the Appalachian Trail some years back, and went on to do the Pacific Crest Trail. Small world. He sort of lingers, as if to absorb as full a dose of “the hiker world” from me as possible, like most former long-distance hikers do when they meet a present hiker. I know this because I’ve done the same.

The way south leads up some logging roads before fading into trail. My stomach is so full from the salty gas station food. Add this to the weight on my back from a fresh resupply, and hiking becomes especially slow and difficult. It’s the way it goes – light pack down into town, heavy pack up out of town.

Daylight is already fading when I reach Bear Hollow Shelter, where I meet an older gentleman who identifies himself as Papa Rose. With a Boston accent, he tells me he’s from Connecticut, and originally from Rhode Island. His first child was born in ‘68, and he has plenty of grandchildren. He retired this past June, and since then has been hiking the Long Trail in bits and pieces – only a couple days at a time – and loves to tell of his experiences thus far.

I’m still so grotesquely full that I don’t cook dinner. We fall asleep shortly after dark.

Hike North______________The Long Trail______________Hike South