Date: 2007-09-02
From: Sherbourne Pass Trail

To: Rutland Hostel
Miles today: 0.0

mi. 0sleep hostel/beddest Rutland Hostel day 52 Well I'll have to say last night was the coldest I have been on the trail so far. I heard later it got down to 39 in Rutland. I am going to switch back to my thicker quilt as a top quilt. I might keep both. I think when it really gets cold I am going to keep my thicker one and add my 10 degree sleeping bag. I really am not liking this being cold at night stuff. I could have put on my rain gear and been fine, but didn't feel like messing with it. I think what really hurt was my hammock and tarp were parrellel with the wind. With it blowing on my head end. Usually I have it so that I am set up perpendicular to it. This way my tarp blocks all the wind. I checked the bus schedule yesterday. Rutland has a bus that runs to the Inn and back, along with a bunch of other places. The first bus leaves at 10:17am. So I got to sleep in and take my time packing up. I did enjoy my cold deli sandwich that I didn't eat last night for dinner. I will say that I am getting really sick of sandwiches. I am not even to the big deli state of PA yet either. I made my way back to the Inn. I did raid the hiker box there. I scored a liptons dinner and some smarties. Got to love the smarties. Liptons are also a rare find in a hiker box. I caught the bus the town. I will have to say that bus drivers are the best source for info on where you need to go. He dropped me off in town, showed me when and where he whould pick me up, how to get to the library, and where the grocery stores were. Very nice guy. I was going to hit up the library, but really with using my pocketmail I don't have anything I have to check. It would have just been another stop and more time spent. I was walking down to the walmart when a guy asked me if I was looking for the hostel. I said no, but thanked him for asking. It turns out I was right in front of the Welcome home again resturant. It is the resturant owned by the group that runs the hostel. They are a big religious group, some would use the word cult. I heard comflicting info from other hikers. I thought about staying to see for myself. But I don't want to spend a day in town, the money, or deal with a work for stay. I did get a good resupply it at walmart. Not a super one, but they did have enough food. I got 4 days and 3 dinners for $24. BTW the Walmart in Rutland, VT has Olive Drab 1.1 oz untreated ripstop nylon in the fabric department. No I didn't get any. I have a ton of ripstop in the box of good intentions at home. I am only going to buy fabric if I can score some sil nylon or a good color of 1.1 DWR. Did I mention I have a DIY gear problem. Speaking of which, I think I have been away from making things for too long. But the last few days I have been working on a design for my next tarp. It's hard to describe, but if it works I think it could address some of the short comings I find with my hex shaped cat cut tarp. I'll have to draw it out and keep everyone in suspense until after I get back. After resupplying I still had some time before the bus came. So I decided a town meal would fit into the Budget. Nothing special, just some Wendy's. I went there with every intension of getting a large vinella ice cream, but in the end I just wanted a salad. A ceasor and a large soda with a refill gave me the good stuff and the calories. After that I knew I had some time on my hands. I stopped in a small park and sat on the bench in the shade. After all the time I have spend outdoors so far I still enjoy sitting on a park bench in the shade. I spent the next hour or so catching up on my journal and answering a few emails. With my pack next to me I definitly felt like the man that lives in the park, but I'm still enjoying it. I made it to the bus station in time for the 2:15pm bus the driver told me about. Well when he pulled up at 1:45 he said it wasn't leaving until 3:15. It was even the same driver. But I went with it. I went and sat on a bench in front of a park and read some more of my book. Now is where things once again got strange. I had to use the bathroom. The library was only a block or so away, so I figured I would go and do my business and use the internet just because. Did I mention it's Sunday so no go. I really have no concept of day out here. If it wasn't for my journal I probibly would not know the date. So I headed for the walmart a couple blocks away. I get there just in time to not gamble and lose. I thought about buying some more batteries, but elected not to. As I was leaving I decided to go a different way around the block to the bus station. I had already walked the one way a couple times now and wanted to see what was on the other streets. As I am walking on the street I hadn't been on a guy pulls up in his pickup. He asks me if I am hiking the Trail. I said yes the AT southbound. He said he is with the hostel and they are having a barbeque and asked me to join them. I said I was low on cash and on a tight budget. He said it !wasn't a problem and they would be happy to have me. So I got in. I'm a decent judge of charactor and he had is 1 or 2 year old guy in the truck, if your wondering why I didn't question someone that stopped me on the street more. He had just went out to get some water balloons for the kids. He just happened to be driving by. Funny how things work out. One thing I am really learnig out here is that you just have to go with flow and let things happen. I have lucked into some great things. You have just to be ready for them when they come your way. The cookout was great. There was 4 northbounders there and a southbounder. A guy by the name of Shaman. He started south the day before I summited Katadin. I have seen him in the registries and knew he was close. They cooked up a bunch of food for us. Complete with ice cream desserts with fruit and cookies in them. They even had a water ballon toss. Shaman and I didn't do too bad. The whole thing with all the kids running around felt a lot like the big cookout my mom's side of the family does every summer. Last year I kind of started a big water fight were everyone but my grandma ended up envolved and wet. Too bad I missed it this year. They did hold their nightly meeting. From what I can tell they are just a Christain group that practices things a little different. They were all really nice to me. I ended up talking to them for awhile. They didn't really try to get me to join. They talked about normal stuff. They hinted at it, but a whole lot less than some churches I have been to.