Date: 2012-07-15
From: The Inn at Long Trail 1697.8

To: Wintturi Shelter 1715.8
Miles today: 18.0

We were up early in order to get breakfast when it opened at 7:30, since we have a fairly long day for us, and since breakfast was included with the room. We went down a little early and started chatting with Nitrous Oxide, then sat with him at breakfast. Breakfast was delicious and plentiful. We thanked the Inn people for their kindness to the hikers, and they said that having hikers at this time of year enables them to stay open, whereas many places in the area close in the summer. Nitrous also confirmed the sad rumor that a thru hiker had drowned in a lake in Maine. We didn't know him, but feel bad not only for him but for his family and his trail family. We started ascending the blue blazed trail back to the AT at about 8:40, with I Heart. I heart is thru hiking the AT a couple of weeks at a time, going home to North Caroline to take care of things there in between her hikes. She then comes back to hike for another few weeks. We admire her persistence. Once we were back on the AT, we hiked through a state park, then on a short bypass on the road, then started up a hill. (Random note: Vermont sustained a huge amount of damage from Hurricane Irene. They are repairing the trail, but the damage was huge, and it takes time to repair the damage. The Green Mountain Club is doing a great job, but in the meantime, there are numerous trail bypasses and temporary changes to the trail.) Bobcat caught up with us, and explained that he was trying to catch up with a hiker he thought had taken his iphone the previous night as he was charging it in a restroom in the state park campground. (Random note: Bobcat is doing his thru hike as a flipflop. He started in Harpers Ferry, headed to Maine. Then he will get back to Harpers Ferry and hike to Georgia. He is an outdoor education teacher in the Bay Area of California.) When we got to the shelter turnoff, Bobcat was coming back out, and had gotten his phone back. We went in and got water, ate lunch, then continued. The trail descended, then climbed another 800 feet, but not steeply. We made five miles in two hours. I Heart stopped to get water, since she was camping where there was no water, and I hurried to catch up with Gary. He was waiting up ahead...thanks! We hiked another hour to the lookout, where I Heart was planning to camp, before the rain started. We hiked the last hour to the shelter in light rain. Once we arrived, the rain came down more seriously...a good excuse to relax awhile before getting water. Once it stopped raining, I could put off water detail no longer. Once we got water, we cooked dinner while Bobcat played his ukulele, which was tuned like a cello, his primary instrument, really well. Others already at the shelter were Bruiser, a section hiker, Nitrous Oxide, Dickle, and Daddy Longlegs. Dickle and Nitrous set up their tents, and the others made room for us in the shelter. Then Banjo came in. Banjo was a young man who was flipflopping. He started in Delaware Water Gap, was hiking to Maine, before returning to Delaware Water Gap to hike to Georgia. Daddy Longlegs was doing his second section hike, this time southbound. His first section hike of the AT was northbound, from the years 2000 to 2010. Now that's persistence. So...today we saw our 4th southbound thru hiker, and one eft. Life is great on the AT when you arrive at the shelter just before the rain starts in earnest, and there are congenial people there.