Date: 2008-07-12
From: Swansong 

To: Gifford State Park, VT
Miles today: 14.3

So I got woke up once in the evening and again this morning by some nearby neighbor (as in a house) playing the electric blues guitar. I personally could think of better things to do @ 6:30 a.m. on a Saturday morning, but hey, I was getting up anyway.About 3 more people showed up @ the shelter, so it was pretty full, but I was way behind it down a trail. It was 59 degrees when I woke.I stepped off by 7:23 a.m. and anticipated a pretty tough day of hiking, and I was right. I got to the unsafe Governor Clement Shelter and there were 3 guys there, twin brothers Two Shoes and Pseudo (TN), and another guy that I can not remember his name. They said they had no problems last nite.So then the 3 mile climb up Killington Mtn. started. Some of it was pretty gradual, but as you approach the top of a mountain there's not as much room to make the trail a gentle slope, so it got steeper. It just felt like the climb that would not end, and parts of he trail were tons of big roots, so you had to be careful of foot placement. I kept looking @ the mountain across from me and I knew I'd be close to as high as that one, so I also knew I had a ways to go.There were a few springs, but mainly just green green green and then you get to the alpiney elevation.I knew I was about .2 from the top, so I took a break and called Karen, who was going sailing today..lucky dog. She's coming home in a few days and then will be the countdown til our final reunion. Man...I can't wait.I got to the top of Killington (technically, there's a .2 steep blueblaze to the very top, but I opted out of that). You go about 1 mile and then come upon a very old and dingy stone shelter called Cooper Lodge. I was originally going to stay here last nite and camp..glad I didn't. It felt sort of eerie. The 3 guys I met earlier (who were all still in bed) had passed me and were @ the shelter ordering tickets for some 2 p.m. show in Rutland, which was 6.2 miles away. It was 11 a.m. when they left, so it must be nice to be that fast. I left behind them and man, the longest downhill I can remember was next. It was killing my knees too. It went on and on for 6.5 miles. Parts of it were gradual, others were straight down.I met some cool people though, Jessica, her 1 yr old Halle, and a man named Rudy. Jessica (who is my age) wants to do the AT but is planning on doing the Long Trail soon. Really nice people.Down and down I went..and FINALLY @ 2:30 p.m., I made it to U.S. 4 where there's a great stream. I ate a snack and got water. I knew I had 3 more miles to go, and 1 mile of that was up again.I headed across the road and back into the woods. Going up was kinda cool because as far as the eye could see, was a sea of this 1 type of green plant that stood as high as my waist. The trail was cut thru this stuff, but you almost couldn't see it. Something about these plants bothered my legs, as in it made my legs sting and itch, not like poison ivy, but very intensley and then it sopped.I reached the Maine Junctio @ Willard Gap and this is where the AT and LT finally split, after some 97 miles. I said goodbye to the LT and headed on.I saw this cute dog approaching with 2 women. I stopped and talked to them, ad they were the coolest. Carla and Karen (and 11 yr old dog Buttercup) had just moved to VT from where else, but VA. They and some biz partners are turning a B&B into a healing center for spiritual retreats, and they eventually want to include a wilderness option. They still have and run the B&B, but are in the process of renovating the inside. So, this place was called The Sweet Onion Inn, but will soon be The Gathering Inn @ Hancock.We had a wonderful conversation..and this place sounds awesome.I was at my final highest point of the day, so I decided to give Bad Influence a call and let him know I was close. No answer, so I left a message.I hiked a 1 mile descent into Gifford State Park, where you roadwalk a bit thru the park. I went to the Ranger's Office and called Bad Influence again to let him know exactly where I was. See, we didn't have exact plans, he just said to call him when I got to Killington.In the meantime, the office sells ice cream, so I got one of those giant chocolate chip cookies with vanilla ice cream in the middle. mmmmmmI downloaded my pocketnail emails, just to make sure Bad Influence hadn't emailed me. So I decided, in the event we couldn't connect, I'd just pay the $4.00 to camp here and if Bad Influence and I never connected, I'd go into Killington tomorrow, resupply and stuff.My phone rang and it was Bad Influence! He said they'd been @ a horse show all day, and then explained the options.Option 1 was for me to hike another 12 miles tomorrow and meet him @ a roadOption 2 was for me to stay put and he'd come get me hereI hated to seem like a stick in the mud, but I'd only planned enough food to get to Killington, and I'd have to go into town tomorrow just to buy food to hike on tomorrow. Also, my right knee needs to be iced down I think. I told him this, and he was cool. He said he'd come pick me up tomorrow, ad he'd call me in the a.m.Man am I glad he's flexible. So, I payed $4.00 for my hiker campsite. I picked site C for Certain..and the trees were perfect.In the meantime I'm smelling other campers' food being grilled and am starving, so I asked the woman in the office if any pizza places delivered, and as luck would have it..Dominic's Pizza does! I ordered a small pepperoni and tomato and a salad.I'd already changed into my camp clothes and set up camp, so I went to the office and sat outside on a bench and waited. In the meantime, Tupperware, Buns & Roses and Spock & Twiggy hiked up. I'm always surprised to see them behind me. They'd gone in to Rutland and packed out potatos, meat, andeverything for a feast tonight. They are @ an actual campsite, since the one I'm at is small and there's only 1 (of 4) left for the nite.Finally my food showed up, and I got an orange crush out of the machine and ate it all except for 1 piece of piza. I read a local paper called The Mountain Times, and wow, there's lots going on aroud here.I had also taken a bandana bath in the office bathroom, so I was ready for bed. There's some club across the street I think, because there's this loud-ass band playing. I fell asleep and woke again @ 10:00 p.m. to them, and couldn't go back to sleep.I'm getting nervous about the Whites. I know if I plan low mileage (as in 8-10 a day) I can do this, but part of you just wats to get through them too.Actually, truth be told, I'm really ready to be going home soon. Not in the "I might quit" sort of way...man, I'm too damn close to even think about that, but hiking day in and day out (as so many people share) is monotonous after awhile. I think my brain is actually tired of seeing the color green!I'm not taking all of this for granted, but I am ready for my life to focus on something else. Completeing this trail has been a major focus for so long, and it's sometimes exhausting.Today I envisioned what it would feel like to walk thru my front door for the first time since May. I imagined my little man Henry laying on the living room floor and "demanding" that I pet him. I imagined what it would feel like to put my pack in the room, put it on the floor, still full of stinky clothes and gear, and know that tomorrow...hiking is not my job.I think this cycle is pretty typical. I think for many of us, the fact that we have less than 500 miles to go, and it sounds ridiculously close to the end, is what drives us through the most difficult sections of this entire trail.I also think that at least for a week or two, I'll be so relieved when I get home, to be finished, and then I expect to feel pretty lost too. Granted, I'm supposed to go back to school, but am almost 100% for sure I won't make it back for the first class...oh well. I don't honestly care. Finishing is the priority right now.I got my topos out and guesstimated on when I'd be in Glencliff, NH...the last town before the big mountains. To my horror, I realized it will probably be middle of next week (as in about 9 days from now).3 ladies I talked to today said last year, it was freezing rain\ice on July 20 up in the Whites. That does not make me happy to hear. Can't say I'm at all wanting to add that aspect of "work" (as in staying warm) back into my routine.It's late...12:30 a.m. The band has finally stopped playing and I'm hearing a couple of owls, which I've not heard in awhile. I know they are telling me, "Certain, it's going to be alright." I need to believe that.~Certain