Date: 2014-07-12
From: Little Rock Pond Shelter

To: Governor Clement Shelter
Miles today: 19.4
Weather: scattered clouds

Another longer day but aiming to get into Rutland early in case the rain comes in. But met some new hikers and didn't walk the whole day alone today!An early morning to the day and decided to try something new: a no stove breakfast. I added extra Poptarts to the meal and drank the Carnation Instant Breakfast with cold water - it was delicious and worked out well! I talked with Thunder this morning about good places to see on the trail ahead and I wished him luck recovering from his injury.Before leaving I dropped my trash bag off with the caretaker - he offered to carry it out for me which is awesome! The pack is that much lighter now!After starting today's hike I was glad I did not push to next shelter last night - it was all just mostly up and it would have taken me another two hours to get to camp and set up. Plus the caretaker and the mood at Little Rock Pond were super great so it was well worth the stay!The first part of the day was all climbing until the down walking that passed White Rock Cliffs. There was a nice view at the cliffs but it was a rough odd path to follow to reach the cliffs and you had to descend a decent amount to get there. A good resting place before moving on.Passed by Greenwall Shelter and the nice waterfalls along the trail after it - if it was hot early in the morning I would have totally went in for a dip! Nice little swimming spots and a shower spot. At the road I ran into a father with his son and daughter out hiking for the weekend - supposedly they were heading to the same place so maybe I will see them later. Bear Mountain was a fairly nice hike - it was switchbacked for the most part but near the top it had small steep sections that were a little tough to hike up. But the trail after the summit was real nice and I made great time walking down towards VT 103 and past the Minerva Shelter. So far today I have mostly seen people heading south on the AT and LT - where are the northbounders?!I found them a little bit later at the viewpoint overlooking the Rutland Airport. I met Ramen Shaman and Cheez-It and their dog Shelia before Clarendon Gorge. They were a fairly young couple who were out hiking the AT before Cheez-It (female) started graduate school in Marine Sciences in Virginia. The dog Shelia had hiked the entire trail with them without any major problems - very impressive! Unfortunately they were not going to be able to finish the trail since they had to look for a house before school starts. Ramen Shaman is apparently a good cook and looking for employment in Virginia while Cheez-It is at school - they seem to be working it out well!Stopped by Clarendon Gorge and took in the bridge and the gorge - it would be a nice place to spend time and get in the water as long as you find a safe spot! The bridge swayed a little bit as we walked across - another Indiana Jones moment!Decided to eat at the Whistle Stop Restaurant for lunch with the Ramen Shaman and Cheez-It and it was definitely worth the walk! A great place to eat lunch and relax - the staff is very friendly and accommodating to hikers and the food was excellent! We all had a big meal and had a small food coma after lunch - spent about two hours at the place and had a great time!But the day was not over yet and I moved on while the Ramen Shaman talked with his parents - should be easy to knock out the last miles to the shelter! Somehow I misread the profile for the section though - I completely missed the stair step up right after the road and I thought the peaks were a little smaller. Boy was I wrong! From the road to the first shelter there was a tough rocky climb up to the first step (made tougher by the heat) and then there was a steep climb from shelter to the summit of Beacon Hill. It whipped my butt after the big lunch and I was moving pretty slowly because of the heat as well!The rest of the trail was pretty uneventful until I got to the point where I had to follow the closed section of the AT or take the detour. It was getting later in the day at that point and I did not have the heart or or a good excuse for follow the closed section of the AT so I took the detour. Just walked along gravel roads instead of messing with where the bridge was out.Upon arriving at camp I met a nice older couple hiking the LT and that was about it - not many people at the shelter tonight. I also did not make a fire tonight - it was a very long day and the site was picked clean of the easy pieces so I would have had to work more to get it done. A night to relax in the hammock reading - off to town tomorrow!