Date: 2008-07-16
From: Chateauguay Rd., VT

To: Cloudland Rd., VT
Miles today: 14.5

Hey hey..guess what..another day of slackpacking! Man am I getting spoiled byB.I. I told him he was hired to get me to Katahdin! I got up and drank somecoffee and ate some cheerios. I was up a little early, so I was able to sendan email out to Auntie Mame, who had emailed me her suggestion. Looks like I'mgoing to have company for almost ALL of the Whites!! YIPPY!!!!!! Man, thatrocks. And even better, Karen may be arriving while we're in the middle, sothat means we'll have a vehicle for getting into town if we need to.Seriously, it's the best case scenario. On top of that, a woman who lives nearthe Whites emailed me and has offered to help, put us up, take us to resupply,etc., from like 3 or 4 different locations within the Whites if we need. Shegave me her cell #...THANKS TOVA!!!B.I. and I hopped in the car and took off around 7:30 a.m. We got to the placewhere you can see Killington, like yesterday, and oh my gosh. The valleys wereblanketed with white fog, but the sun was out and the mountains were crystalclear. Holy crap was it beautiful, so we both got out and took pics.We got back to the road around 8:45 a.m. to find a hiker named Black Beard (SC)there, and he'd camped by the trail magic (smart man!). We talked for a bitand B.I. cut open the watermelon and we all enjoyed some. Black Beard is goingto school when he finishes (he started a thru last year but got Giardia, so he'sback finishing was he missed), to become a blacksmith that works with specificmetals. It's a brand new school and they're trying to bring back an artformthat has died here in the U.S. Cool huh?I headed off around 9:00 a.m. and was looking forward to a view, but had a climbfirst. I got into a groove, and actually thought I'd passed the place, butfinally, I saw a sign for the .1 blue blaze to The Lookout. There's actually arustic cabin with a fireplace there, owned by private owners who allow hikers tostay there. There's a ladder and a platform on the top of the cabin. I climbedup and wow, what a view. See as far as the eye could see, sunny, a river waydown below, and layers and layers of mountains all around. I've missed goodviews, and Vermont has finally brought them back to me. I stood there andreally tried to take this all in. Yes, I'm realizing these moments of beautyare numbered now, so I'm trying to really be in each moment. I actuallythought for a moment of what it is going to be like to touch the sign onKatahdin and it made me teary...so I suppose this means I'll be crying like ababy the day it happens...and I can't wait to tell you the truth.So I headed on, and now was going downhill. I met another SOBO, named Turtle(GA). Very nice guy with a presence about him. He's aware of the importanceof not racing down the trail, but did admit he's having a hard time mentallyright now. I tried to encourage him, but feel he's got the tools to deal withit. He did say positive things about the Whites and staying at the Huts (whichyou usually hear negative things about), so that was good. We talked forprobably 15 minutes and we both headed on.I did make a decision today to forgo starting school in the fall and start inspring. I know I'm just not going to be finished by the end of August and Irefuse to rush the end. It's not the end of the world. Besides, I wasn't evengoing to go back and decided to during my first 2 week this year, so I'm takingthe pressure of myself so I can finish when I finish and not feel a deadlinehovering over me. This will also allow Karen and I to make some side trips onthe way home and visit a few people, so I already feel better about it. This,by the way, is an example of making the hike a priority. Crap will always beknocking at the door to get in the way, and I'm not opening any of those doorsuntil I'm finished.There were several little forest roads and dirt roads not listed, so I wasn't100% for sure where I was sometimes. I did start the long and knee-pounding 4mile descent down to VT 12. On the way down, I ran into another SOBO namedCubby (OH). Get this..he's 18 yrs old, left for Katahdin the week after hegraduated from high school, and has never been out of OH before, and barely outof his hometown. He too admitted he's really struggling emotionally and he'svery homesick. I also wanted to take the time to encourage this young guy. Imean, this is his first "real" life adventure and he's going to grow so much onit. I want to see him make it, but also know he may go home and realize hishometown is a lot smaller than he remembered it before the hike. Wow, to dothis at 18 like that...amazing. He too had good things to say about the Hutsand the Whites and I'm getting more accurate info now on the cost of stayingthere just to camp if you want $8.00 apparently. We talked for 30 minutes andparted ways. I told him to stay the course...he's got a fantastic journeyahead and if he needed to go home for a week that there was no reason hecouldn't.So next it was VT 12 where I knew was a place with ice cream .2 west. It wasnow 2:30, and even though I had a bit ahead of me, I decided I needed icecream, so I walked down to VT (past some cows and a cooler of trailmagic byRanger Rick, but the cooler was empty now). I walked down VT 12 to a placecalled On the Edge Farm. It's a neat little store with all kinds of things,but the ice cream was my purpose. I walked in and Dana scooped me up someMoose Tracks and Mint Chocolate Chip..mmmmm. I went outside and relaxed inthis comfy chair, took off my shoes and kicked back for a nice break indeed. Ieven allowed my miniature pet Moose that Persistent gave me (Howie as in Howiethe Amazing Hammock Hanging Moose is what I named him) to have a moment with myMoose Tracks ice cream The pics is a good one.I went inside to throw out my trash and talked to Dana and a local gentleman fora bit. I told them how much I love VT, and I signed her register. It was a bitafter 3 p.m. now, so I needed to move on. I still had 5.5 tough miles ahead andI told B.I. I'd be there between 5-6.I headed back and across VT 12 and immediately started climbing Dana Hill. Itstarted with a beautiful naked pine forest (no branches or needles downlow...so it was really pretty), and then it was down, then back up, and down,and back up again, then down for a flatter 1 mile to Pomfret Road where I gotsome water in a stream. Now it's already 5:20 p.m. and I have the final andtoughest climb of the day..I hate it when it's at the end of the day like this. It was a 3 hump 1.3 mile climb and it seemed much longer. It was also quitesteep in places. At the top of the first hump was a great view though, so Isnapped a pic. I've noticed a bit of sensitivity to the sun being on the Doxy,but nothing too bad. I was so hot and tired though at the top of the last hump,but I knew it was close to the end for me.I descended for about .5 miles to Cloudland Rd. where I saw B.I. and guesswho..Black Beard again. There had been a handful of hikers go through, andthey signed the guestbook. 3 of them were Jukebox, The General, and ForrestGimp.I got there around 6:20 p.m. so we hopped in the car and drove the 30 min. home. A very nice drive and we even passed the house that the lead guitarist ofAerosmith has out here. Joe Perry?So we got back, I took a shower, and B.I. grilled some chicken and made somepotatoes and green beans and broccoli. My gosh I'm so freakin spoiled. I wasstarving, so I had 2 plates and a glass of Pinot Grigio. It feels so good toget real food after a day of hiking.We ate and watched The Rock. I'm using their computer to journal, because it'sso much freakin faster to type these things. So guess what, tomorrow I hikeinto Hanover, NH! I can't believe it...finally NH will be here.I'm going to eat some Zebra Cakes now and try to see if Karen had made it homeyet. Pretty pooped. Even with slackpacking, my pace doesn't change all thatmuch, it just hurts less. It's nice to give my body a quasi-break and yetstill knock out miles.~Certain