Date: 2008-07-10
From: Stony Brook Shelter VT

To: Campsite near Woodstock Stage Road VT
Miles today: 15.7

Day 144 Thursday July 10 ¢ Campsite near Woodstock Stage Road VT - Miles Today: 15.7 Total Miles: 1713.9Had a beautiful day today. It was about 60 degrees this morning and in the low 70s this afternoon, so the showers yesterday apparently brought in a cool front for us.   Had some cloud cover today, but no rain.First thing this morning we had a new experience - a 24' aluminum ladder we got to climb down as it rested up against a rock ledge. Very interesting. We've not had an aluminum ladder in the backcountry before. At 10:00 after nearly 8 miles of hiking, we arrived to the side trail to a ¢secret shelter cabin¢. I believe this is the one mentioned in the book "A Walk to Vermont", but I¢m not positive. We decided to go check it out ¢ a rarity for us to check something out that is not on the direct path to Katahdin (if you can call the AT a direct path?).   At the cabin is a sign that asks you to respect their property, keep it clean and haul out any trash left behind by others. There was an observation deck on the roof that we climbed and checked out. One of the hikers had slept there last night enjoying the views of many ridges and stars. On the way to the secret cabin, we ran into Crumbs and Pounder coming down the side trail. They were just starting their day, after staying at the cabin last night! Crumbs hung her head and mumbled, ¢I guess this is the walk of shame.¢   They were doing 19 miles today starting at 10:00, which to us is just unbelievable.   Three miles down the trail, we ran into them again, as we all stopped for water and lunch break at the junction to the Wintturi Shelter. Crumbs is 27 years old and from Tega Cay South Carolina, just down the road from Charlotte. Pounder is a 24 year old from Britain. We spent some time chatting with them as we all sat on the ground eating our lunch. They attempted a northbound thru-hike last year but had to abort the trip when Pounder seriously twisted his ankle. After his ankle healed, they did a month's hike southbound from Katahdin through part of the Whites in New Hampshire. They also hiked for another couple weeks somewhere in the middle of the trail. They said that they decided in December to give a thru-hike another attempt this year. Crumbs mentioned that the PCT may be in her game plan for 2010, but she is concerned over her abilities to do it without Pounder, who hikes ahead each day, sets up camp and filters water for her. We found it odd that they don¢t hike together. As they set off in the morning, they have an agreed upon meeting place for lunch and camp and hike their own hikes throughout the remainder of each day. Actually that plan probably works great for folks that hike at different speeds.Crumbs, who also has contracted Lyme Disease, mentioned two of her hiking buddies are off the trail seeking treatment for Lyme and associated complications ¢ one has meningitis and the other has Bell's Palsy. Crumbs also unfortunately confirmed our suspicions that the antibiotic may make Grasshopper sensitive to sunlight. Not good, as we are getting ready to hit the Whites, where there will be miles upon miles of trail above tree line. When we hit Hanover, we¢re going to have to buy a long-sleeve shirt for Grasshopper. Crumbs said that she got a horrible sunburn while on the antibiotic and had to take some time off the trail for not only that, but also because the meds made her nauseous. Just as our minds were telling us that Grasshopper was out of the woods on the potential nauseous side effect, as she has already taken the meds for a few days, Crumbs explained that it does not necessarily occur on Day 1. Dang, this Lyme Disease is really becoming a pain. The trail is hard enough without these additional complications.Crumbs' knees are hurting her but her feet are doing fine. Pounder has restless leg syndrome at night that prevents a good nights rest and his feet are hurting. They said the hikes are hard for them. It's good to hear that these young kids in their 20s, who seem to hike until 8:00 at night, are at least not doing it pain-free. At times, it seems like just us old folks are hurting. During our lunch break when Brakeman headed down to the shelter to filter, he took time to read the register. There was a note from Chris on June 24th saying, ¢He hopes to catch up with some old friends.¢ That brought a frown to our faces because we are perhaps those old friends he was referring to. We'd like to clarify that by ¢old¢ friends he was NOT referring to our age, but old as in the length of our relationship. When we get into Hanover, we'll have to shoot him an email and let him know we are still alive but that we are behind him again despite his 10-day detour from the trail. We ran into Crumbs and Pounder again about 3 more miles down the trail at Vermont Rte 12, as they took a detour to a farm that sells fresh pies and ice cream. It was a couple tenths of a mile off the trail, so we opted out, as our food supply was plentiful enough. Pounder said that the only thing that keeps him going mentally is to look forward to all the detours for food along the way! We said our official goodbyes to them, as they rush to Katahdin before Pounder's visa expires. We wish them good luck!At the junction of Vermont Rte 12 was Trail Magic! We've had Trail Magic every single day since we've come back on the trail. Today¢s magic was an ice chest with an apple, some grapes and water. We took the apple but left the grapes as we figured they had been handled by a lot of hiker hands. We also stocked up on enough water to last us to the next water source tomorrow, since we were not overly confident in this evening¢s water source. We immediately ate the apple - a nice little treat.   Thanks Trail Angel!Tonight¢s camp is just a half-mile past Woodstock Stage Road by a small creek. We had read in 2006 thru-hikers Upload and Stitches journal about this site. It¢s not in either of our guidebooks. The shelters were either 11.6 miles or 21.5 miles, so we liked this unofficial campsite better.We were hoping that we could find it. About 1.5 miles from camp, we were able to get a positive confirmation on it from Joker whom we passed going southbound. He said he saw the campsite with a fire ring by a creek. It was good to know we weren't going to have to hike 4 miles more to an official site. Joker is getting ready to flip flop north to Hanover. He has a pickup truck and a motorcycle that he can put in the back of the truck which enables him to do unassisted solo sections ¢ he drives the truck to one section, drops off his motorcycle, and then drives to the trailhead with his truck and walks towards his motorcycle. But more importantly he mentioned that he's going to buy a styrofoam ice chest, fill it with coke and put it at the trailhead at Hanover! We said, "Cool, we'll be there Saturday morning." So hopefully, we'll have more Trail Magic in two days. Life has really been good this week. This is the second night since we¢ve rejoined the trail that we've had the campsite to ourselves. It¢s also just our second night at a non-shelter spot. All the shelters are quite busy. The traffic of section-hikers has really picked up. Not so much on the thru-hiker traffic. I think we've seen maybe 2 thru-hikers a day, possibly 3. We met an 18-year-old thru-hiker today called Meltdown who started in early March. He's not one of the terribly fast hikers, but we may not see him again.At 6:00, the Mom and her 2 sons, who have camped beside us the last couple nights, passed through our little campsite area. This is the first time we¢ve got to talk to them, as they typically pull into camp at 8:00 when we are already in the tent with the rain fly battened down and the ear plugs in ready to snooze. The 20-year-old son, B-rad, thru-hiked in 2006 along with his father, Old School. The mom, whose trail name is New Day, hiked with them in 2006 from Springer until Daleville Virginia, where she had to leave the trail for family reasons. So this year she is attempting to finish her hike all the way to Katahdin. The 17-year-old son, Youngblood, hiked from Harpers Ferry to Connecticut in 2006 and started this year where he left off.   The father, Old School, will join them in Hanover and hike to Katahdin with them. Due to their need to push onto Hanover by a certain date, they're hiking past us today by about 4 miles, which means another 8:00 arrival to camp. Very long hard days for them. I can't imagine hiking until 8:00 each night. They're hoping to summit on August 15 but they're not sure if Old School is going to be able to keep up with them, which would be our concern too. Our cold dinners are working out great. The stuffing or the mashed potatoes in a baggie is a lot less hassle than carrying a stove and fuel and having to clean the pot after each meal. We're real pleased with the cookless game plan.   The aches and pains that we've had since we got back on the trail have pretty much disappeared. Grasshopper¢s tight IT bands and quads and sore right wrist are all better. Not so much for the feet though - they're always going to notify us that they're around. When Grasshopper got to camp and removed her socks, her 10 little toes were beet red. That¢s the first time we¢ve seen them like that. Not quite sure what that¢s all about but the toes are where she gets her shooting nerve pains, so perhaps it¢s all related. Or perhaps it is somehow related to Lyme Disease. We'll just have to keep an eye on them. Brakeman is reporting that his hiker hunger is setting in already. We're on day 5 and we still have our ¢fat¢ bellies that we acquired on our 3-week medical leave. But at least Brakeman¢s belly is bigger than Grasshopper¢s!Unfortunately we have no cell phone reception tonight so we are not able to check our voice mail. There should be a message from Grasshopper¢s doctor about all of our Lyme Disease questions ¢ are the 9-month old meds that we carried from Georgia to Vermont still good; what are the side effects of the antibiotic; what are the short-term and long-term ramifications of Lyme Disease; did we catch the disease in time to avoid serious long-term effects? We'll just have to try to get a cell phone reception as soon as possible tomorrow as I think the doctor¢s office closes at lunchtime on Fridays. It's 6:30 and a beautiful cool 70 degrees in the tent. We're enjoying it immensely. The terrain wasn't quite as hard today and with no challenging rain to hike in, the nearly 16 miles that we did today was a bit easier than yesterday. Believe it or not, I've gotten through this journal entry with no yawns as compared with last night's journal, which was full of yawns. But then, on the other hand, it is only 6:30. Day 5 and Grasshopper is feeling stronger, but Brakeman says he is feeling more tired each day. Drats, sure hope he does not have Lyme Disease as well! With two neros in Hanover coming up, hopefully Brakeman will regain his stamina. Goodnight from just a day and a couple hours short of Hanover New Hampshire!