Date: 2008-07-09
From: Cooper Lodge Shelter VT

To: Stony Brook Shelter VT
Miles today: 16.3
Weather: scattered clouds

Day 143 Wednesday July 9 ¢ Stony Brook Shelter VT - Miles Today: 16.3 Total Miles: 1698.2We awoke to the alarm at 5:15 after another restless night. The wind was quite strong last night. The tent, pitched on a tent platform, noisily flapped through the night and the corners of the tent kept getting picked up in the wind, as they were not staked down. It was a pretty noisy and restless night. Today we got to come down Killington Peak, which is where Liquid broke his foot. We were quite cautious the whole time, as we did not want to slip on a sweating rock and break a bone as well. It weighed on our minds heavily. Whew, made it down with no problem! There weren¢t many rocks at all compared to what we are used to!   Liquid unfortunately just found that one slippery guy to take him down.We had a nice lunch spot today at Gifford Woods State Park with a picnic table and a water spigot. Although it wasn't quite lunchtime yet, we couldn't pass up a picnic table with a water fountain, as that¢s about as sweet as it gets out here! This afternoon, right past Kent Pond, the sprinkles arrived. We welcomed them to fall on us! It's been in the 80s and humid for quite a few days and walking in the sprinkles felt good. However, the sprinkles eventually turned into a couple huge downpours. The first downpour came right before a serious incline, the next one arrived once we summited that ridge. This is the first time on our thru-hike that we have hiked in the rain without rain gear. It was just too hot to wear it. We like to say we went through 2 rinse cycles, which was a good thing as now our shirts and shorts are a bit fresher. Who needs a laundromat when you have nature¢s own washing cycles? Right before camp, we stopped at a stream to rinse all the mud off our legs and socks, as the trail was a stream of mud.As a result of reading the hiker register at camp tonight, we found out that had we not had our medical detour, we would actually be ahead of Chris! His note in the journal, dated June 24th, said that he got off the trail unexpectedly for 10 days and he's now back on. It sounds like he's gotten into the ultra marathons. He also mentioned that he has a job lined up when he finishes the trail. It can¢t be the Ohio Game Warden position, as the hiring process was to take to the end of the year, so we are not sure what job he is referring to, but good news either way! We did over 16 miles today and are pretty tired. We¢re still getting back into the groove of hiking. Because of the rain all afternoon, we did not take any breaks (or pictures). The feet are definitely sore and Grasshopper is getting those shooting nerve jabbing pains in her feet again. We figured she¢d get them again, but we were hoping to hold off that pain for more than just 4 days. Tomorrow we have a 15-mile day. Soon we¢ll be taking 2 neros in Hanover, so hopefully we can hang in there until then.   The rain has cooled things down.   There is a chance of another band of showers tonight and then it's supposed to be clear after midnight. We're never quite sure how accurate these forecasts are that we get from other hikers. It's 7:30 and in the mid 70s. I think we're going to call it a night. We're hoping that after 2 restless nights in a row that tonight we're going to sleep really well. At least that's our wish. Goodnight from just shy of 1700 miles.