Date: 2005-06-28
From: Rte. 4 (Sherburne Pass, VT)

To: Hanover, NH
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

The southbound stunt is done.. Going south was great.. Apparently I got to hike a much harder hike as any SOBO will tell you.. a SOBO hike is much more difficult because "the trail is built for NOBOs"... by this SOBOs mean "the trail is blazed for NOBOS" and "the climbs are much steeper going south"... to this I have to say.. *cough* "BS!" SOBO is no more difficult than going north.. sure.. you may see less people going south than a normal NOBO would (by normal I mean those who started in April). But, you will run across way more trail magic and way more people than an early NOBO will.. so.. if I hear anymore crap about SOBOs having a harder hike I think I might vomit on your face! The hiking in Vermont was exceptional.. and by that I mean.. I ran around hootin' and hollerin' through the entire state.. woo hoo.. it was fun! However, Massachusetts sucked! Greylock was neat.. I hear some people talk about it being more developed than some southern towns.. to that.. I laugh.. and say, "liar face!" It had a tower on top.. with lots of spiral stairs and a lodge.. Bascom Lodge. Nice place.. expensive place. Drinks.. expensive drinks. Water spigot around back where lodge guests place bowls of water for their dogs.. nice.. aka thru-hiker hangout (shh.. it's a secret). Met some nice folks on top.. they had day hiked Katahdin the day before.. told 'em my story.. got some laughs.. some congrats.. and some coors.. score! Someone else asked, "hey.. did you hike up here?" I laughed.. casually.. nodded a yes and said, "from Georgia." The older fella said, "What? wait.. so, you hiked the 8 miles up here?" ME: "Yes.. "Him: "Wow! was it hard?"ME: "HA ha.. haaaa.. haha..... wait, you're serious?"Him: *puzzled look* (thinks to himself.. 8 miles is a long ways.. I can't believe he's laughing)ME: "Oh, yea.. I walked up here.. .. it was.. nice.. very nice walk."Him: "How long did it take you? Allllll day?"ME: "haha hahaha.. oh wait.. you're serious again aren't you? Ummm.. a couple of hours.. give or take.. it was nice.. a nice day to go for a walk".Him: "Wow.. that's amazing.. look son, this man walked all the way up here.. 8 miles up.. isn't that amazing?!"ME: *Laughing.. and walking away shaking my head*Now back to talking about Massachusetts.. again.. besides Mt. Greylock.. dude.. Never.. ever .. ever hike there! I pulled a 48 mile within 24 hour thingy and couldn't stop the entire way.. for one.. there was no water.. but that's not the bad part.. there are no views at all.. and wait here is the bad part.. ever heard of mosquitos? Yea well if you said yes.. trust me.. you have no idea what the word actually means until you hike the AT in MASS. For our purposes we will call them.. "F@#%ing Demons." You have to keep just over a 3.5 mile an hour pace going.. if you let up at all.. the F@#%ing Demons land and eat you.. yes.. EAT YOU! So, you're stuck doing an all out speed walk.. up, over, and down mountains.. you splash through bogs and watch the F@#%ing Demons swarm out and around you.. letting your jetstream push them back... it was nuts. absolutely nuts... I will never.. ever return to the trail in MASS... EVER! 48 miles of pure hell.. yes.. no exaggeration here.. none at all. seriously. But the good news is I learned that I can walk over 4mph for more than 10 hours at a time.. woo hoo! F@#%ing Demons!So, with a faster pace and less blood weight I go into New Hampshire.. I've got one thing on my mind.. The Whites!!!! to the white mountains I have to say one thing.. "Look out!.. I'm comin'.. oh yea, and I'm coming fast.. my feet are flyin'.. and my spirit is lifted.. like nothing you've ever seen.. I'm gonna handle you like a can of sweet sweet tuna at the end of the day.. like you were never there!.. did that make sense? Well, I mean.. I'm not scared.. I'm gonna scramble my way right across your beautiful treeless 5,000 foot crest and laugh the entire way as you try to blow me off.. yea.. hell yea.. !So.. now that I'm done picking apart SOBOs (who I actually have nothing against.. just something to write about.. yes, you can write about how terrible NOBOs are if you'd like.. it's fun) and I'm done picking apart the mosquito breeding state (which actually wasn't that bad.. it's just filled with F@#%ing Demons and it sucks.. but other than that is actually not too bad).. it's "observation time". Some observations I've made recently:Number 1: The trail should just go straight up through PA.. instead of turning east and heading for New Jersey.. it should just go straight up through western New York (real mountains) and into Vermont.. this would get rid of the following places.. New Jersey, Eastern New York, Connecticut, and Massachusetts.. I know.. a brilliant idea. But, I think western newyork must be too beautiful and the ATC can't secure any land there.. it's all private or something.. I actually don't know.. but it seems like a great little (minor) relocation project. (I actually love the trail how it is.. makes me feel like I deserve to be here in beautiful mountains since I went through that last 1000 miles of crap) I find it kind of funny that the only places worth hiking are the beginning ( well up through the shenandoahs.. after that.. don't bother.. there's nothing to see).. and the end (Vermont north to Katahdin.) But, don't get me wrong here.. through these last crappy states is where I've really understood that this trail is about the journey.. it's not about the hiking.. and I've had some of my best times on this trail in these nasty places.. But, I sure am ready for some really amazing hiking.. so like I said earlier.. BRING ON THE WHITES! Number 2: Four day section hikers almost always have the convertible pants.. and a button up shirt with vent in the back.. can I just ask why you need buttons (they're heavy!) and.. why on earth do you need a vent in your back if you have a pack there covering it up?? They also always think I'm a dayhiker (because my pack is so freakin' small).. and they feel the need to look down on me and explain to me that they're "long distance hiking" and "I wouldn't understand".. well.. up yours buddy.. I do understand.. but it's fun to pretend that.. yes, indeed I am a dayhiker.. then I get to ask, "Ohhhh.. are you thru-hiking?" To which, sometimes I will get.. "Well, uh.. yea, yes I am." Oh man.. you can imagine the fun from there.. yes, good times! Number 3: It was brought to my attention by another thru-hiker that we (thru-hikers) sort of.. live in the woods. It's what we're used to. Normal people (we'll say.. dayhikers) live in town... it's what they're used to. So, they go on dayhikes to escape what they're used to... seems pretty normal right.. well.. here's the weird part. For thru-hikers.. we take dayhikes into town.. really.. seriously.. I think that's weird.. it's true though.. neat.Okay.. well I've made enough observations for now.. I must hike.. Hanover is right up the road.. woo-hoo! Now that I had a nice day hike to town I'm going to head back to the woods.. White Mountains here I come!I hope all is well everywhere..