Date: 2008-06-20
To: The trials begin...
Miles today: 0.0

¢¦ Daylight arrived and neither of us budged. At 7am, we decided it was time to get up and start our morning chores. I don¢t like to rush, so we took our time. We had to collect more cooking and drinking water, purify it, start a boil for our breakfast, roll up our sleeping bags, break down our tents, and repack. We had oatmeal with dehydrated blueberries for breakfast, which was both tasty and satisfying. But it meant we had to clean sticky starch out of our pot, which was not easy. I wiped the condensation off the inside of my rainfly and broke down the tent, while Erik got more water, and we packed up, stopped at the Stratton Pond privy, and began day 2 of our hike.      Our destination for today was Story Spring Shelter- a distance of 10.5 miles. It started with a climb back up, and then down the other side of Stratton Mtn. I really began feeling the effects of having a pack with no frame that morning. I felt like I was carrying no weight on my hips- and everything on my shoulders and trapezius muscles, which is just the opposite of how it should be! The climb up this side of the mountain seemed tougher, probably because of this pain I was feeling, and I wasn¢t feeling as exuberant as I had during yesterday¢s climb. We set our packs down to rest a couple of times, and at one point, I saw an interesting tree limb that looked intriguingly like a fish swimming in the air of the forest!    I was relieved when we reached the openness of the summit. As I headed over to check the trail registry again, Jean, the caretaker on the mountain, came out of her cabin to greet us. She and her husband had had the day off yesterday. She chatted with us for a good hour, as she sipped her warm tea, and we nibbled on our tortillas and beef jerky. She informed us that not only was today the summer solstice, but it was also Hike Naked Day for the thru-hikers! It seemed a bit too cold for that in Vermont on this particular day, but did provide some curiosity for what we might see ahead. Before resuming our journey, I climbed the tower once more, and what a view it was this time! The air was perfectly clear and I could see blue mountains and lakes in the distance. Every day out here holds a new picture.        With fresh vigor, we headed down the other side of the mountain. We heard rain pattering on the leaves of the forest canopy, but it remained light and didn¢t necessitate the use of packcovers or raingear.       I had planned our food allocations for our trip, but had apparently underestimated how many calories Erik would require, as his body-fat was a lot lower than mine. When we reached the parking lot, the rain began to fall more heavily, and we took the opportunity to stock up on a little extra food for Erik, and take a short nap in the car (even though I wanted to pretend the car was not there, so as to make it a more ¢real¢ hike). Giving in to this luxury, we were almost feeling like we could just call our hike over and drive home¢¦ However, we gathered our will and trudged onward. There was only one problem: Where was the southbound trail? We saw only one path across the street, but it was barricaded and overgrown. Seeing no other alternatives, we felt it was the only choice. This had to be it. Walking through the knee-high grass, I began to miss the soft, open soil we had just been on. Was this what the AT usually looked like? Maybe I didn¢t want to do it after all. The bugs became vicious, and we had to climb over downed trees and walk through swampy areas. It just didn¢t seem right. A big bull-frog jumped out of the way of my oncoming foot, startling me. I saw no white blazes on any of the trees- just orange diamonds with white arrows. After 20 minutes, we came to a small body of water blocking our way, and decided to turn around. My spirits were low. I was expecting to get to the shelter by 5pm, but we had just wasted 40 minutes on a grown-over snowmobile path. We were bitten and scratched, and still didn¢t know where the real trail was. But as we returned to the parking lot, we looked to our left, and saw a brown sign with white lettering! I then looked up the road and saw a white blaze on a tree! We were back on track! We collected ourselves at the entrance for a moment, trying to resume a more positive mindset, and then stepped out into the forest once more. The real Appalachian Trail was so welcoming to me. It was as if I had found my home again. This was where I was happy to be¢¦ Once we had reached the wooden bridge at Black Brook, we knew we had just completed one mile and had only 2.6 miles to go.       Even though this section of the trail was essentially flat, it contained many small ups and downs, which required more energy than I had expected to give. We had seen few other hikers on the trail during the past few days, and I began thinking about how lonely I would feel if I were out here on my own, without Erik right behind me, or setting up camp alongside of me. On one of these small ascents, I looked up to see a young, fresh-faced, bespectacled kid with incredulously bright, clean neon shorts bounding towards us. Having a feeling that he was a thru-hiker (it was pretty easy for me to tell who they were), I asked his name. ¢Ishmael,¢ he replied. He told us that he had received his name as a result of carrying ¢Moby Dick¢ with him for the first 500 miles- a book about a young man on a solo search. I asked Ishmael what he had discovered on his own journey and he smiled and responded ¢Not things¢¦ what¢s inside.¢ He said that you change when you are out here for a month. He inquired about Kelley Stand road, and with our directions was off with a spring in his step.       We took a couple of pack breaks and I finally gave in to Erik¢s constant urgings for me to eat a power bar on a particularly rocky and slow descent. I didn¢t want to eat anything from his pack, as I wanted to do this all on my own. Little did we know that the shelter lay only steps away!          We had reached Story Spring Shelter- our destination for the night! It was 6 o¢clock. I set my pack down and reached for the registry, while a happy and curious bird hopped about, looking at me with high hopes for a few crumbs. Erik wanted to build a fire, but the kindling was too wet. He managed to pull me away from my reading and had me set up my tent and get dinner going before it got too dark out. We had chili that night, and it was so good! The guy at EMS had warned me that my first backpacking trip was probably not going to be fun. He said dehydrated food tasted awful and that we would have to make sure to hike enough to build up our appetites. Another salesperson warned me that hiking in the heat was no fun when I excitedly told him I was going backpacking in Vermont in June. I don¢t know why all the dissuasion¢¦ My chili at home didn¢t taste that good! Oh, and while we were at the car, Erik brought the last of Diane¢s brownies with him for us to have as dessert, along with some powdered milk!      As it had been a hard day, Erik suggested that instead of continuing our planned itinerary, that we return to the car the next day, drive over to the White Mountains, and climb our familiar Mount Washington on Sunday. He might not be able to make it back up here this year to do our annual climb, and thought it would be a good opportunity to fit it in. I didn¢t want to give up our current plan (as this was my first trial for doing the AT), but given how we were feeling, I said we could sleep on it and decide the next morning. Erik had brought some tiger balm with him, which we rubbed into our aching shoulders, and I took some vitamin I.      Soon, night fell, and I walked over to my tent with my headlamp. Erik had moved his bug hut to the shelter, and as I was too tired to attempt to throw my first bear bag, I suggested we hang it on the mouse proof hanger¢¦ which turned out to be several feet from Erik¢s head! This would be my first night in a semi-state of aloneness. Erik would not be within a foot or two of me, so I would have to defend myself against any intruders. Not minutes after I had turned off my light, the noises began¢¦ leaves rustling, twigs snapping. Maybe the incumbent attacker had hid in the woods, waiting for me to turn my light off¢¦ I lay awake again. Although I was sleeping on dirt and not on wood this night, the ground still hurt my thighs. A mosquito had also made it inside my tent and buzzed in my ear. When I did fall asleep, I was tormented with nightmares about running out of Aqua Mira and not having a method of purifying water for the remainder of the trip. Ah, nighttime¢¦