Date: 2005-07-28
From: Sherman Brook Campsite

To: Congdon Shelter
Miles today: 12.5
Weather: scattered clouds

Hopeful:   Today is day 121 for us on the Trail, and I woke up and read the corresponding Psalm. It begins, "I lift my eyes up to the hills, where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth". I'm going to run out of Psalms to read before we finish (there are only 150 chapters), but it has been a special way to begin each day with God's Word, and also to remember how many days we have been hiking. When I say that I woke up and read, what I didn't mention is that I didn't wake up until 7;30 AM. That's late for me since I'm often out of bed before 6. The wonderful part of this was that I was in bed for almost 12 hours straight and I realy needed the extra rest. The other wonderful part was that with our revised schedule, we had no reason to leave early-- our plans were for 12.5 miles. The day was also much cooler, the storms seemed to have brought in cooler air. So we packed up very slowly from our little tent platform area. Ten Bears had stayed nearby, but he beat us out of camp and we haven't seen him since. We hope to cross paths again further up the Trail.    The hike began SO much better than yesterday. The temps in 70's felt great. It made me feel better about my sluggishness/headache yeseterday when I heard from Thumper that it had reached 100 degrees, with high humidity. The Vermont border was in just 2.5 miles. Just before we got there, we ran into a southbound hiker named Midnight. When he heard our names he told us that there were some people just up ahead who were just talking about us. We hurried on to find Hairball, Snowbunny and Granddoo at the Long Trail sign, marking the VT/MA border. We were SO excited and dumbfounded at seeing "Team Hairbunny" again. Last we heard they had gotton off the trail at the Greymoor Friary in New York. It turns out that they had gone home to New Hampshire for 2 full weeks, and then jumped ahead to Mt. Greylock, hoping to get back in step with hiking friends like us. They plan to go back and complete the CT/MA section after they summit Mt. Katahdin. Granddoo is a section hiker, who, it turns out, has been following our trail journal for a couple of mothns. He's a grandfather (thus the trailname), as well as a pastor who's on sebbatical right now. We really enjoyed talking with him, and having him know so much about us made us feel a wee bit like celebrities.   The rest of the day was full of chatter as we got to know Granddoo and caught up on the news from Hairball and Snowbunny. Vermont, we have heard, is muddy. It lived up to its reputation, but it's not such a bad thing, just a little tricky to manuever. AT once point, a beaver had decided to incorporate the trail planks/bridge into part of his dam. We had to balance our way across on some logs. The shelters (our lunch break was at Seth Warner and we are staying at Congdon tonight), are not fancy, but this Congdon one seems like it used to be a cabin. It's alongside the Trail, as well as a stream. So, as we sit in our tent this even, we hear the rushing water. Once again, we intended to get to bed early, and Red Wing, Hairball and Snowbunny were quite successful. But, since Thumper and O'Conner arrived late, I ended up having a long talk with them as they cooked dinner. I enjoyed getting to know them better.   They surprised us when they walked in to camp, since they, like us, had originally planned to 20 miles from Mt. Greylock yesterday and be here last night. Instead, with the heat, they adjusted it all too. Tomorrow we have a short hike before we see friends from Lake Ann. Can't wait! It's chilly tonight--great for sleeping as long as we share my sleeping bag. Red Wing's fleece blanket is a little too lightweight. He'll be getting his warmer one soon, in the next mail drop.