Date: 2004-08-22
From: Stealth Camp near Griffith Lake, VT

To: Long Trail Reveals its Charms
Miles today: 14.0

It was cold last night and I had trouble staying warm in my summer sleeping bag. The chill lingered in the morning, and I began hiking while wearing a fleece pullover and hat.At the start, I walked about fifty yards and stopped. The trail was completely flooded by a wide outflow of water from Griffith Lake. Wearing my sandals and blue socks (the socks I wear only with sandals), I sloshed through the water.Today was a great day on the Appalachian Trail. The sky was cloudless. The temperatures were warm and the humidity was dry.I ascended Baker Mountain and was rewarded with a scenic viewpoint of mountains, farms, and a town. Much of the area within the view was covered by woods, revealing how Mother Nature is reclaiming the countryside after decades of dairy farming.I stopped and ate lunch at a shelter. Another hiker joined me. He was a man in his twenties originally from Nova Scotia and now residing in Quebec. He is thru hiking the Long Trail in Vermont. He shared with me his insights about the cultural differences between the people of Quebec and the residents of the Maritime Provinces.There is an especially friendly atmosphere along this part of The Appalachian Trail. I chatted with several other hikers. Most of them were walking on The Long Trail which combines with the Appalachian Trail for much of its length. These Long Trail hikers do not seem to emphasize long mileage days as much as A.T hikers do. All of these Long Trail hikers have been friendly and sociable.I met an A.T. thru hiker in his thirties named Regular Brian. He told me that we had met once down in North Carolina. When he described the circumstances of our initial meeting, it all came back to me.I rested at Little Rock Pond, a scenic body of water. There was a loop trail around the pond and people were hiking on it after parking their cars two miles away. I wanted to take a swim in the pond without any clothes on to avoid the hassle of dealing with wet attire later on. I did not have anyone on the loop trail stumble upon me during my swim.I hiked to a spot on the loop trail that was far away from the part of the shore where most of the people seemed to congregate. At the place I chose to swim, there was an outflow of water via a stream. Logs were floating about. On the bottom of the pond was sediment from wood and leaves. I took off my clothes and waded into the pond. Sandals protected my feet. The water was not that cold. I waded to a depth of about two feet, submerged myself, and vigorously rubbed my hands through my hair and along my body, removing accumulations of grime and sweat. Then I waded toward the shore, anxious to put my clothes back on before other people showed up. I had not reached the shore when I noticed that my body was covered with bits and pieces of wood and decayed leaves. I realized that I had submerged in water that was too shallow, and I had churned up the sediment on the bottom. As a consequence, some of this underwater debris was covering my body.I turned around and waded into deeper water, submerged again, and rinsed the sediment from my body. After that, I sloshed back to shore, dried off, and put my clothes back on.For a while longer, I sat by the shore and relaxed, enchanted by the beauty and quietude of the pond. Dragonflies patrolled the air, keeping the mosquitoes at bay. In the clear water, a school of minnows darted about. A tadpole with arms and legs, soon to be a frog, moved slowly through the water. After relaxing at this pond, I shouldered my backpack and resumed hiking.Late in the afternoon, I was hiking along the trail on White Rocks Mountain. I stopped dead in my tracks after coming upon an odd and intriguing site. On either side of the trail were dozens of piles of white rocks and cairns arranged in creative ways by, I presume, hikers. It was like walking through a display in a museum.I hiked to the Greenwall Shelter early in the evening, where I shall spend the night. It was occupied by a young couple who were hiking on The Long Trail. I dragged in some firewood and the young man named Mousetrap started a campfire.As the evening progressed, some northbound Appalachian Trail hikers arrived including Regular Brian. He introduced me to these hikers I had not previously met. They seem like nice people and I hope to become friendly with them.I am composing this journal entry in a back corner of the near darkened shelter. Most of the five other occupants have gone to sleep. I would normally be sleeping in the hammock, but have opted for the shelter in order to stay warm during the night. My plan is to use the tarp from my hammock as a blanket, in addition to my summer sleeping bag and the child's fleece blanket.The mosquitoes are starting to harass me, attracted by the light from my headlamp. The time has come to shut off the headlamp and go to sleep.