Date: 2005-07-11
From: Wintturi Shelter

To: Thistle Hill Shelter
Miles today: 12.1
Weather: scattered clouds

Miles hiked today : 12.111.6 AT miles + 0.3 mile of side trail + 0.2 wrong way mileI woke up this morning at 6:50 a.m. after sleeping in to wait for Turtle to arrive. I packed and ate breakfast, though when she hadn't arrived by 7:50 a.m., Opa and I hiked on without her. Both Michael and Bones were not feeling well this morning and Opa voiced his suspicion that there may be a virus going around.The temperature was already in the low 70s when I began hiking and my pack was causing me pain again, despite the adjustments I'd made to it yesterday. I figured out how to aleviate the pain by periodically loosening and tightening the suspension, though this is not an ideal solution. At 8:55 a.m., I stopped for a 10 minute water break at the top of Ascutney Mountain and then continued toward VT12. At 9:25 a.m., I met a local day hiker named Tailwind, who kindly gave Opa and I each a banana, which was very tasty. I continued down the trail, which had merged into a 6 foot wide mown corridor through a field. After a bit, I began to wonder whether I was still on the AT, as I hadn't seen any white blazes in awhile. I crossed a bridge across a creek to VT12 and was greeted by a local telling me where water was available and where the AT continued. After drinking as much as I could, I filled my water bottles and walked down the road. I began followng the white blazes, but couldn't help but wonder why I was climbing the same hill I'd just come down. I quickly figured that I'd mistakenly followed the mown corridor too far and had missed where the AT turned off. I followed the AT south to find where I'd gone wrong, then placed fallen branches across the mown corridor to alert later hikers to the porly marked turn-off.Back on the correct path, I hiked on and scaled a hill that had some very steep switchbacks. The temperature had risen to the low 80s and made the going difficult. I reached Woodstock Stage Road at 10:50 a.m. and 5 minutes later, I stopped for a 15 minute water and rest break. I continued on to Pomfret-South Pomfret Road and stopped for lunch at 12:05 p.m.Just south of Pomfret-South Pomfret Roaf was a rushing stream, which made for a nice spot to eat lunch. After eating, I laid back against my pack and took a bit of a nap, though this was difficult as flies kept landing on my legs. They'd come in shifts, i.e. no flies for a few minutes, then a bunch of flies all at once. Just as I was considering moving on, Michael showed up. He still wasn't feeling well, though had pushed on past VT12 because he hadn't felt ill at that point. By now, he was doing poorly but wanted to push on to the shelter. He, Opa, and I headed up the trail at 1:25 p.m. and, as soon as I had service, I let Michael use my cell phone to call his brother. He left a message saying that he didn't think he'd be able to make it to West Hartford tonight and that maybe they should meet in Hanover tomorrow.At 2:15 p.m., we stopped for a 10 minute rest break, then continued on. Michael told us to take the lead, as he was moving slowly. He was still with us when we reached Cloudland Road, though fell behind over the next 2.4 miles to Thistle Hill Shelter.I arrived at the shelter at 3:40 p.m. and the temperature was 85 degrees. I immediately went to get water and found that the water source was a high volume stream with a 3 foot drop-off, like a miniature waterfall. As I was treating my water, Michael showed up at 4:00 p.m. and let us know that he'd thrown up shortly before reaching the shelter. We gave him water and he ate a little bit, though ended up throwing up twice more before going to rest in his tent. After dinner, I set up my tent to escape the mosquitos and let Michael use my cell phone to call his brother again. He'll be picking Michael up in the morning at a road 1.5 miles north of the shelter.Turtle didn't show up today, which leaves Opa and I to hike 14.7 miles to Hanover, NH tomorrow. There is an Indian restaurant in town, which sounds incredibly good and closeby is a hot tub place and an ice cream shop. With only one big climb tomorrow, it sounds like a good day awaits me. Hopefully the temperature will be a little cooler tomorrow.Bedtime at 9:10 p.m.