Date: 2013-06-13
From: VT 103, outside Rutland, VT

To: U.S. 4, Inn at Long Trail
Miles today: 17.4

It has been 579 days since I completed my thru hike and I returned to Vermont to hike the 17.4 miles of the trail that had been officially closed when I was there due to tropical storm Irene. The remnants of hurricane Irene dumped between 10-14 inches of rain on this area on August 27-28, 2011,resulting in homes, bridges, roads and a section of the AT being washed away. When I arrived at this section of the trail on September 25, 2011 the trail was officially closed. While the ATC considered my 2011 hike as complete, I still had this urge to see and hike the entire trail. So with my wife, Megan and our 11 month old chocolate lab, Merlot, we headed to Vermont. It was a 861 mile drive from our house to the Inn at Long Trail, the same place that I had stayed on the 25th of September.Our initial plans were to hike about 11 miles and stay at the Cooper Lodge shelter and then finish up the hike on Friday morning. Earlier during the week, the rain possibilities were 30%, which is about as low as one can expect this time of year. However, on our way up to Vermont the possibility increased to 80%, ensuring that we would definitely get wet. Not knowing what this shelter looked like and not knowing our tenting options, we decided on Wednesday just to do the entire hike all in one day. After a good night¢s rest and consolidating our pack with just food, water and rain gear we set out. We arranged for a shuttle to take us from the Inn located on US 4 to VT 103 (882¢ elevation) where I had put back in on my southbound journey in 2011. This was a 15 mile trip from the Inn to the trailhead. We resumed our journey starting at 8:45am, headed north back to the Inn. It was overcast, a little humid but a good day to be hiking. Merlot was in paradise, running up the trail, back to us and exploring Vermont¢s woods to the right and left of us. He lost his owners about 30 minutes into the hike and was completely on his own for 7 minutes. Not a long time to be unseen but long enough to make sure it did not happen again. He was on sensory overload and enjoyed the many streams. After 5.9 miles we came to Cold River road and were rerouted onto a couple of side roads and a newly established trail. This is the portion of the trail that was washed out and remains so today. The Green Mountain Club relocated the trail so it is once again a continuous path. The relocation trail was 2.9 miles in length, reducing the actual trail by 0.5 miles. We rejoined the actual trail at Gov. Clement shelter, after fording Cold River. The river at this location was easily managed in both width and depth. Around 2:00pm it began to rain, not a hard rain but a steady drizzle, enough where we were soaked. During my journey in 2011, it rained 63 days out of the 177 days I was on the trail, so it was only fitting that we got wet today. We arrived at Cooper Lodge shelter at 3:15pm and got out of the rain and had a bite to eat. We met Mountain Goat who was thru hiking, having left Springer Mt in mid-February. We proceeded to put on every article of clothing we had as we both were getting cold from being wet. Fortunately, the air temperature was in thelow-60s but there was still a chill in the air. At 3:45pm we set out to tackle the remaining 8.6 miles to VT 4 and the Inn. We moved at a good pace, descending the nearly 3,000 feet we had climbed getting to Cooper Lodge shelter (3,928¢ elevation). We did not have a lot of landmarks so we did not know how much further we had. Around 7:00pm we started to hear road traffic, so we were relieved knowing that we did not have much further to go. At 7:15pm, we walked off the trail and onto U.S. 4. We did have a short walk along the road, 0.9 miles uphill to the Inn before hitting the shower, putting on warm clothes and getting out of the rain for the night.It was a neat experience to be blessed with the opportunity to once again be immersed into God¢s creation. This section of the trail was very similar to what I remember of Vermont, up some steady inclines than back into the bogs and standing water on the trail. Obtaining drinking water was not an issue, we found 2 very suitable springs. I have been asked several times if I would do it again. My answer vacillates from ¢maybe¢ to ¢heck no¢. I do miss it and continue to read the journals of those hiking this year so that will do for now. God has blessed me so richly since I completed my hike in 2011 and for that I am extremely grateful.