Date: 2008-07-15
From: Strafford, VT

To: Chateauguay Rd., VT
Miles today: 11.5

Ok ok...so I have to award B.I. with THE COOLEST SLACKPACK AWARD! Get this..hetook me about 1 hr back down to Gifford State Park ON HIS HARLEY!!So folks, you have NO idea what this was like for me. Yes, we all know I willown a Harley someday, but I haven't ridden on one in probably 20 yrs or more.So you all are going to be forced to read about this, and then I'll get to thehiking. I just have to describe it.So, it's about 7:30 a.m., the sun is out, the sky is blue and it's a PERFECT VTday. I put several layers of clothes on for warmth..it was in the high 50'sthis morning. I put the helmet on, the sunglasses and crawl on the back. Hestarted the bike and wow, what a sound.We took off and here is what it's like. After you relax and sink into the seat,you feel the sense of freedom that only a motorcycle can offer. No frame, noseatbelt, no metal anywhere but under you with the road zooming by @ 60 mph.The wind isn't constant, it's like there's a hand with an invisible paintbrushthat swipes at your face in different places with little gusts beyond theconstant pressure. After awhile, your face becomes almost numb from the coolair, and yet, you feel the wind more intensely than any other time. It's atotal sensory experience where each time you ride past an aromatic area full ofhoneysuckle, you smell it...and yes, this also includes the roadkill skunk.Then there is the engine's purr, that ONLY a Harley produces (others try toimitate). Any part of your body contacting the bike melds with the rythym ofthe engine, and when you accelerate, you feel the thrust and power of thismachine as it pushes you back against the seat and the timbre of the roarchanges to a brighter pitch.To see the VT mountains, green green pasteurs, creeks, farm houses, and to seeKillington Mtn. in the distance and to know it's 1 hr away. The way the humanbody naturally moves and sways and hugs the bike as the bike follows the curvesand hills and slices thru the valleys. Man, I didn't want to go hiking, I justwanted to keep riding thru the picteresque VT countryside.We stopped @ Eaton's Sugarhouse for breakfast where I got ahold of some bad halfand half and it soured my coffee. No biggie, just glad I didn't drink it alland then end up sick. Breakfast was awesome though, and a sign of our economywas obvious even in this little place. There was a sticker in the menus thatstated due to rising costs, if you wanted Grade A VT Maple Syrup, you could pay.75 for a serving, or you could use the darker maple syrup for free. Crazy.We arrived at the road @ 10:00 a.m., and it was an absolutely perfect day,eventually in the 70's. First thing up was the incredible Kent Pond which isfed by a huge stream with a waterfall. Man, was it gorgeous. The greenmountains are all around and this pond was lit up brightly by the sun and theblue blue sky above. What a site.I saw 5 women ahead of me and I started talking/hiking in their group. They areall school teachers in a school district near Fahrnstock, NY and they all gettogether and do these outings like this. How cool is that? They were all outfor a very short hike. They asked me lots of questions and I took their pic.Cool group of women for sure.I moved on and there was this gigantic waterfall on a blue blaze, you could seeit from the trail, so I had to go enjoy it. It fed a stream to a tiny littlehydroelectric building. Northern Vermont has been incredibly beautiful.Then you go onto this awesome boardwalk. I've noticed a few of the boardwalkshave used the synthetic boards. I saw a group of young men ahead working onthe boardwalk and I stopped to ask them what they were doing. They are allvolunteers w/the AMC, all probably younger than me (first time I've seen agroup of young volunteers like this) and they were putting in a reinforcementof some sort to stablize the boardwalk in one area. One guy, Matt, is thebrainchild behind this huge undertaking,and it has been 2 yrs in the making sofar and will probably be complete in 1 more year.   I asked Matt about thesynthetic boards and he said they're made from recycled plastic.So here's the deal. VT is the only state I've seen such a young group of peopleworking like this and go figure, they are making environmentally-based decisionswith their materials. I only bring this up because it seems Vermont is FULL ofsuch progressive older AND younger people, which blows me away. I freakin LOVELOVE LOVE this state. This observation is not shared to say anything negativeabout any other state or crew...I was just surprised to see this cool group ofyoung men out here. Unfortunately, many young people in our country don't seethe need or importance for volunteering, and I wanted to give some praise tothese guys.So next was across the road and up freakin butt-kicking Quimby Mtn., probablythe last toughish climb in Vermont (yes..this means I'm actually getting closeto NH folks!). In just slightly over 1/2 mile you climb from 1200 feet to justunder 2500 ft, which is very steep. I was sweating like crazy and then realizedI didn't read my guidebook correctly and I had about 1/2 liter of water and thenext source was in about 5 miles with more climbs. Ugh...hate it when thathappens, but I knew I could make it if I took breaks and allowed my body tocool off. I am also breaking in my (FINAL) pair of Keens, so the first fewdays hiking in them suck because the shoes don't give very well, and I have newsuperfeet too. Glad I'm breaking them in on slackpacking.I saw lots of moose scat again, no freakin moose though! Boo hoo!!! I knew Ihad 2 miles on top of Quimby Mtn. and then 1.5 down to the Stony Brook Shelterwhere there was water. I got to the shelter and met a section hiker namedAnimal (VA), who decided for a short day to dry his stuff out and enjoy theplace. He spoke about how nice it is to not rush as a section hiker, and I soget that. Even though I'm technically a section hiker, there's still a bit ofpressure, but I'm fighting against it. He told me the water source is a greatstream down the trail, so I headed there for lunch.Oh man...beautiful, clear, ice cold water with a waterfall that emptied into av-shaped (shaped by the rocks) pool that if you wanted you could soak in. Ididn't, because it's right where people get water, but I know people do, so Iwalked up above the rocks and got water higher up. I drank 1 full literimmediately...ahhhhhh.Alright, so I've been craving hot dogs for weeks, and I bought some, preparedthem and have 2 for each day that I slackpack (with ketchup and all). I satdown, soaked my feet in the ice cold water, scarfed down one dog and thensuddenly became totally grossed out and no longer wanted them. Weird huh? Iate my Little Debbie Zebra Cakes (I love these things), and just sat thereenjoying the beauty and perfection of the day.It was now about 3 p.m., and I had about 5 miles left. I walked away from thestream and was about to water the leaves when I hear, "Hey..Certain! Boy isthe guy behind me going to be excited to see you, he's been wanting to catch upto you." It was The General (UK) and his friends were Jukebox (GA) and ForrestGimp (PA). I stood there for like 45 min. and we all talked and laughed andexchanged stories, took pics, etc. Jukebox just got married in Oct. and hasthis great energy. The General thru-hiked in 2003 and is back again, but forthe people. He said it's actually harder for him this time. Forrest Gimp (awoman who was really glad to meet another woman) was hilarious man. She's gotLyme, but caught it in time and is on the Doxy, but get this...her secondarytrailname is Fluids, because she's always spilling her water and stuff all over(like an entire bag of it in the bottom of her tent!). She TOO had a skullbandana, so we got this awesome picture of us looking mean.They still had 8 miles, so we all headed our own way. The next 4 miles had verylittle to see, but there were more climbs. I finally made my way to the road by5:40 p.m. and there was B.I. sitting with all this trail magic and would youbelieve it...not ONE hiker showed up!!! He decided to leave the coolers thereif anyone came through later and he'd get them in the morning when he droppedme off.We drove back to Strafford and had a great conversation about how hard it can beto stay connected in a relationship when jobs/life/interests keep you separatedfor extended periods of time...but both of us agreed that we were fortunatebecause we've managed to stay connected to our respective partners despite someseparation.We got home and B.I. (who is quite the cook) made an incredible Tuna casserole.I downed 3 plates of it. We watched the news and Katie and I talked about thepresidential race and different issues. It was a cool conversation.I decided the hotdogs were going to THE dogs (Sadie and B2) who are now myBFF's. They wouldn't stop "hovering" after I fed each of them a hot dog. Itwas hilarious. The phone rang and it was Karen, so I excused myself so Iwouldn't be annoying while B.I. and Katie watched television. We had a greatconversation and are both finally feeling like we'll be reunited again soon.She's flying home tomorrow, and our boys Hank and Henry will not know what todo when they see her (much less me in time).So a great day of hiking, an incredible ride to the trail, and that much closerto NH! It's 10:45 p.m. and I've gotta get some sleep. Back to hikingtomorrow.~Certain