Date: 2017-07-23
From: Killington

To: Clarendon lean to
Miles today: 18.6

Getting back on the trail after a couple of days off and having done just 70-odd miles in the last nine days, I expected all the people I knew to be way ahead.This expectation was reinforced while reprovisioning at the Killington Deli, where I saw some fit and clearly seasoned hikers and asked if they were nobos."No, we're sobos," they said, explaining that they'd summited Katahdin on June 20 -- more than two weeks after me.But then after a couple of hours of hiking up towards Killington Peak, just as I was expecting to have to get to know this new band of sobos, I ran into the familiar faces of Rare, Mary Poppins and Pouffey. They were being slackpacked around by Squeaky, whose hip ailment was still keeping him off the trail.He expected to be back on trail soon but in the meantime, he'd flown to Kentucky, got in his truck with his 15 year old daughter Mamie and dog Percy then driven back up to help his tramily -- a portmanteau of "trail family" -- and any other hiker who happened to be around.The trail didn't go over the peak of Killington, which was just as well since it had a gondola station and an expensive restaurant rather than a wilderness experience. I opted not to go for the side trail and continued onwards.The biggest change was the nobos I was meeting, nearly all of whom were among the happiest I'd seen yet and a stark contrast from the dead-eyed speedsters we'd met in Maine. This might have reflected the easy trail, considering there was a climb of more than 2,000ft, but also the fact that nearly everyone I met was slackpacking.With one short exception where the trail did a descending traverse across a steepish slope, the trend of fast progress increased as we got lower on the mountain and then into rolling hills where the trail had been repositioned after the damage caused by Hurrican Irene a few years earlier. Just before we hit Upper Cold River Road, there was a post on a tree positioned for nobos, saying: "Katahdin 500 miles". It was nice to have recognition that we were actually making progress, even if the last few days had been particularly leisurely. I considered that time to be recovery from the privations of Maine and New Hampshire, with a view to increasing my mileage.After I'd farewelled my companion of the last couple of days as she headed off on travels from New York to Cuba and then on to Sweden to start her new job, I headed off at 10.30am and didn't think I'd manage any more than 15 miles. But that recovery time must have been doing me good because I felt energised by the time off and the easy trail, so I opted to aim for Clarendon Shelter. In truth, I could have pushed on to Route 103 at Clarendon Gorge, making 20.2 miles for the day, but the appeal of camping with Poppins, Squeaky and co prompted me to stop early.Shortly after the 500 mile marker, we crossed Upper Cold River Road, where Squeaky was waiting with cold sodas and beer. As everyone arrived, we checked the maps and worked out that Squeaky and Mamie could walk back in the 1.1 miles to Clarendon lean to and join us for the night.The others repacked their packs with the stuff they'd left with Squeaky then we hiked on the five easy miles to the lean to. Barely a mile into this I saw a familiar face hiking towards me."Are you... Voyageur?"He was. He'd hiked the PCT in 2007, when I resupplied Scout and Frodo, and then the CDT in 2010, when I'd hiked it. Now he was on the AT, where he was just over 500 miles away from completing his double triple-crown: having hiked the three main trails twice. I know of only one triple triple-crowner -- Lint -- but knew a few other double triple-crowners.Particularly after the last few days, it was good to be around people I knew. Life is good. Particularly since I packed in a cold beer from Squeaky's stash for the five miles to camp.AT fact of the day: Mamie's enthusiasm for hiking has been somewhat coloured by her first day ascent of Moosilauke. But I heard today that she'd been talked into slackpacking Killington Peak by telling her it was eight miles to Upper Cold River Road, when the reality was it was 12 miles. The look on her face when they announced the truth at camp was truly priceless.