Date: 2006-09-16
From: 1/2 mile S of Governor Clement Shelter, VT

To: Mrs Gorp's Home -- Rt 140, Vt
Miles today: 12.6

When I finally went to bed last night, I could hear some coyotes across the way on Bear Mountain. I woke up at 6am and went downstairs at 6:30 when I smelled the coffee. :-))) Mrs Gorp had made breakfast sandwiches for the three of us. I got packed up and got dropped off just south of Governor Clement Shelter and started walking at 8:30am. Today happened to be the day some local volunteers were replacing the roof on Minerva Hinchey Shelter and Mrs Gorp was helping them. I would be walking by there later in the day, then decide how much farther I'd walk. It was a mild morning and the sun was supposed to come out, but it ended up being overcast most of the day. It seems like the leaves are starting to change colors a little faster. There seems to be more color today than yesterday. I ran into a Long Trail thru hiker...Hydro '89 and talked for a while. A guy by the name of Sponge caught up to me. We ended up walking together for about 5 or 6 miles. He and his son were out here earlier this year hiking the Long Trail and Sponge had missed this short section, so he was filling in the gap. He also told me about some of his long distance bicycle rides he's done.....one of these days I'll get to a long bike ride.... :-))) We were walking along and ran into a guy by the name of Barkeater who was doing a section of the AT. We talked about 5 minutes. He said he had read some of my journal before...thanks!! :-))) Sponge and I stopped at Clarendon Shelter and I signed the register and ate lunch. Mrs Gorp had made me a sandwich this morning. When I opened it up for lunch, I saw it was another roast beef sandwich, just like yesterday's and it was delicious!! She also gave me an apple, some corn chips and grapes....oh yeah, a Coke too. :-))) I sure am going to miss her when she kicks me out of her house....I wonder how long that will be. Ha!! I think I would like for her and Larry to adopt me. :-))) Sponge and I walked out to Rt 103 and his wife was there waiting to pick him up. I said goodbye and walked on. I walked across the suspension bridge that goes across Clarendon Gorge, then climbed up to an overlook and took another short break. It was a nice day and I was really getting into walking slowly. I drank the Coke Mrs Gorp had packed me while I enjoyed the views. I walked on and could hear the sawing and pounding of the hammers well before I got to Minerva Hinchey Shelter. It sounded like they were going to town on that project. When I got to the shelter, I saw Mrs Gorp. She was handling most things on the ground while a bunch of people were working on the roof. They were just about ready to put the new metal roof on. I asked Mrs Gorp if she needed any help. She said that they had enough people on the roof and that I should keep on walking to Rt 140 and she would pick me up in a couple hours.Guess she didn't want me screwing up the roof. :-))) I walked on. I was enjoying seeing the red, orange and yellow leaves that were both in the trees and laying in the Trail along the way. I was also enjoying the slow walking pace today. I climbed Bear Mountain, then started heading down. I met Garcia who was out doing Mass, Vt and NH this year. He had been working hard to get up Bear Mountain and he was out of breath, so we didn't talk long. He still wanted to make it to the shelter fairly early. I got to Rt 140 and stretched for about 10 minutes before Mrs Gorp showed up. I was surprised that we were only about a mile from her house. She wanted first shower, so I didn't object since this is her house. :-))) I got my shower next, then checked my email and was doing a few things on the computer when the dinner bell rang. We had the pasta dish that was left over from last night and it was even better tonight. We also had a salad and bread, then another large desert of brownies, ice cream, chocolate syrup and whipped cream. :-))) We watched a DVD, then I went to bed early. I'm up to 6 leaves now. I'm too tired to talk about any special rules to the game tonight, so just go ahead and catch all the leaves you want and I'll decide later if they'll be allowed. :-)))