Date: 2018-08-01
From: Big Branch 

To: VT 103 to Rutland
Miles today: 16.0

I was trying to get moving earlier today. There is a deli just under a mile off the trail that we can reach at the end of the day if I can get there on time. We need to Resupply and I was hoping that by stopping at the deli we would be able to stretch our food until tomorrow. Cole likes hanging out with Gene and Nick and it would be nice to get one more day with them before we take a zero to rest and resupply. However when I pulled the food bags down from the tree, I saw a familiar looking hole in one of them. Sure enough, a mouse had chewed a hole in Cole¢s food bag. His odour blocking bag had not been sealed. The mouse chewed a hole in that anyway too. At first I thought it had only gotten into the garbage, but Cole got up and looked more closely and discovered his bagels had become mouse food. Shoot! I guess that we need to Resupply today. Cole and I have sometimes been heading out together, but today I left him behind to pack up. He caught up once, then stopped to filter water. The second time he caught up he went flying past me with Nick.When I caught up to him he was sitting alone, but wanted to go to the next shelter for lunch. It was off the trail and I didn¢t want to go. My foot was hurting and I wanted to get to a stream to soak it. He tried everything to get me to go...¢Wouldn¢t you rather eat sitting at a picnic table instead of on a log?¢¢Actually I am just as happy sitting on a rock.¢¢There will be water.¢¢Maybe. Is Nick going to be there?¢¢Ya.¢¢Well that is the real reason you want to go.¢¢I have to use the privy.¢That is fine, you go use the privy. I am gong to continue on.¢I made my way along the trail down into a ravine and found a nice rock in the middle of a stream to sit on and soak my feet. I pulled out the remains of our food which consisted of a rehydrated bean salad which I¢d had soaking all morning, two packages of spam, a slice of cheese and a couple of slices of bread. I ate half of everything, leaving the other half for Cole. It wasn¢t too long before he arrived and devoured his half. We were both still hungry. It began to rain not long after we started moving again.I had to keep telling myself, ¢just keep going Sheila, just keep going.¢At long last we reached the road and turned west to head for the deli. In the distance we could see two hikers headed our way on the opposite side of the road. When they caught sight of us they quickly crossed the street. It was the two Long Trail hikers, Paul and Steph.¢We bought subs for you guys!¢ Paul exclaimed. I¢m not sure if he ever said why. Perhaps he thought we wouldn¢t make it in time. What he did add was that he was so impressed with us for having made it as far as we have. I told him about our mouse problem last night and that we still needed to get somewhere to resupply.Before we had much time to talk more, a vehicle slowed down on the other side of the road and the gentleman inside hollered words of support. We do get that from time to time. People who see us and know what we are doing and where we are headed will offer words of encouragement.Paul hollered back across the road.¢Would you be able to drive these two to the deli down the road?¢¢Sure!¢ The driver called back.I hugged both of them and said a hasty goodbye before Cole and I hustled across the street to our ride.¢Actually,¢ I said, ¢Would you be able to drive us all of the way to town?¢Our impromptu trail angel agreed. He just had an errand to run on the way.It turned out that Michael, our trail angel, has a son who is a triple crowner. We talked about the trail and he showed us gorgeous pictures of the CDT. He asked about our journey and our plans for in town. Then he made an offer. He wanted to pay for us to stay in a hotel room tonight.I was floored. Michael was actually from out of town and was staying in Rutland for work. He got us a room at the same hotel he was staying at. In the span of less than an hour, I went from hobbling along in the rain on an empty stomach wondering how we would get to town, to being showered, tucked under the warm blankets of a comfy bed in a hotel room, filling my stomach with the most delicious roast beef sub I had ever eaten. Cole was tucked in to his bed too. But we needed drinks. Who was going to budge and go to the vending machine? That was our next biggest concern. Isn¢t it amazing how the kindness of a stranger can so suddenly turn your circumstances around, at least for a little while.