Date: 2006-07-31
From: Seth Warner Shelter

To: Melville Nauheim Shelter
Miles today: 13.1
Weather: overcast clouds

Greetings from the bogs of Vermont. Yep, you heard that right. The land of Ethan Allen and his Green Mountain Boys is very swampy in places. Even though the state has 223 mountains over 2,000 feet in elevation, there are lots of low areas ¢ as was also discovered in NJ, NY and MA. Bama said the day out of Seth Warner Shelter was gloomy and overcast. Like yesterday, there was mud and muck and mosquitoes and blood-drawing black/deer flies to deal with. Today was even nastier with wooden puncheons to cross. But unlike the dry, well-built ones in NJ and NY, these sagged and were sometimes submerged so than you were actually walking in six or more inches of water. You might as well have been hiking in a creek. Add to that the thigh high weeds, grasses and rushes literally touching you on both legs while you were negotiating the puncheons and you¢ve got the perfect prescription for snakebite, ticks and leeches. Yuck ! Ick! Bama was in an absolute funk by lunchtime.A very nice journal reader from Vermont said in Bama¢s guest log, ¢Please don't judge the entire Long Trail from the southern section alone. I have hiked it and agree with your assessment - the southern third (which is also part of the Appalachian Trail) is in deplorable shape. I wonder if it's a case of ¢us versus them¢ (i.e., the Green Mt club thinks the AMC should maintain it, and the AMC thinks the GMC should maintain it, so nobody does anything). I am a GMC member who proudly maintains parts of the Northern Long Trail, and believe me, it's in much better shape!¢ Many thanks; this explains it a little better. Bama is actually looking forward to Vermont ¢ just looking for those mountain tops.However, by mid-day the overcast had burned off and the sky cleared as Bama began hiking out of the low area and up into the mountains. She said she¢d take hot sun and knee-kissing mountain climbing over gloom and swamps any day. God heard her plea and graciously bestowed upon her some ass-kicking rocks and mountains and a near 90* searing sun. Careful what you pray for. But, yea, verily, Bama looked about her and saw that it was good.South of Bennington, VT, Bama encountered Harmon Hill - actually, a huge pile of New England granite rocks and flashbacks of climbing out of Lehigh Gap on all fours. Descending this rock heap toward VT Hwy 9 was no less challenging. At the bottom, Trail Magic! Bama met a very nice woman who was leaving jugs of delicious fresh water for the thru-hikers. If you¢ve ever had to subsist on water dredged from springs and creeks; filtered for leaves, muck, grit and critters; subjected to purification potions and then stored in plastic bladders, you can appreciate how wonderful clean fresh water is. Champagne couldn¢t have been any better. She asked everyone if they wanted a ride into Bennington, but Bama and Little Wing were staying on the trail. Thanks, Trail Angel!Finally an equally tough climb back up from the highway toward the Melville Nauheim Shelter. She and Little Wing reached it about 3:30 pm and said that was enough for today. Bama met John, a very nice school teacher who was hiking the Vermont Long Trail (LT) for the summer. About 6:30 pm two young LT section hikers came in. Everyone tented to keep out the bugs.Bill