Date: 2013-08-13
From: On Ascutney Mtn.

To: Happy Hill shelter
Miles today: 18.3
Weather: broken clouds

I had planned to wake up early, but I hadn't set my alarm (didn't want to use up too much of my battery power); so it was good to be awakened by a passing hiker at first light. She apologized -- said she was trying to be quiet & get to Hanover by early afternoon -- but I was ready to get up then anyway. She seemed to recognize me but I'm not sure who she was, other than she was going fast. It was a good section of the Trail to go fast on, at least till the rain started, which lasted off & on most of the day. I don't mind walking in the rain except that here the mud gets slippery, & I fell a couple of times. It's amazing how quickly the mud dries out when the rain stops, then gets slippery again with the next rain. There are some slippery rocks to watch out for, but most in this area are pretty non-slip.Even with a dry tent, I got out less quickly than I'd hoped. I continue to be amazed at how few NOBOs I'm seeing on the Trail. They must be just ahead of me or behind. In fact, aside from that early-morning hiker, the only NOBOs I saw were Bison & Beer Goddess. This was quite a day for seeing new SOBOs: Pockets, Woolly, Xena, Skunk, Chulapa, SourPatch, Messer, Mdot,& several others. Also, at Happy Hill shelter were SOBOs Crunchmaster & Google. I felt slow in morning, faster in afternoon. One thing that slowed me some: lots of blackberries along the trail in practically every open spot. I've also seen some poison ivy again in the open spots, tho not nearly so much as farther South. Late in the afternoon, I saw the most amazing display of poison ivy: huge, glossy leaves, shining from the rain water, in a stunning variety of colors: green, yellow, orange, & red. I wish I had taken a picture, but it was raining, someone was coming whom I wanted to talk to, and I would have had to turn the phone on & wait till it was ready. That's one of the problems with using the phone as a camera & having it so often in a state of marginal power. I miss some good shots that way. At one point, the trail follows an old road with trees & stone walls on each side. I could picture it being quite an elegant avenue more than a century ago. There must have been some very rich farmers in the area ¢ I could picture a suitor for the farmers' daughter being very impressed a he drove up.I stopped at the deli in West Hartford, had a sandwich, & did a little re-charging. There they have a bridge over the White River with a deep swimming hole under it. Last time I came thru, I saw people jumping off the bridge & declined to do so. This time, I'd been thinking of trying it, but I'd decided that if it was cool & rainy & no one else was around, I wouldn't. All 3 of those conditions existed as I got to the town. The other place along the Trail that people do that is at the James River in Virginia. I didn't jump there, instead going into Glasgow & getting some things done on the computer, including arranging for my surprise visit home for my wife's birthday. This bridge wasn't quite as high as I remembered it -- probably no higher than the James River bridge: about 20-25 feet. Happy Hill is a nice-looking shelter, but not a very practical design. It has no good place for cooking, the entry is pretty narrow, and the ladder to the upper deck is way off to one side, meaning that people either have to jump or walk over others. It wasn't too bad with 3 of us there but would really be a madhouse if 8 hikers arrive on a rainy evening.