Date: 2008-07-19
From: Rutland VT

To: Secret Shelter "Swansong"
Miles today: 0.0

Bill came out to hike with me today! We confirmed plans last week for him to meet me in Rutland VT at the Mate' place (Back Home Again Cafe'). Bill was right on time at 8:30am. I gave him a tour of the cafe' and hostel and also shared my enthusiasm about Mate' and all of the great things that it brings.Bill was excited to show me his new Honda Civic. I assured him that he caught me at a good time as my laundry was fresh and I was showered. One of the other hikers at the hostel, "Cubby" caught a ride with us to the trail head.We arrived at the trail head at 10ish. We hiked at a decent pace. Cubby tagged along in the back. I asked Bill how he was doing mid way and he said "you guys are killing me". I laughed it off and he said... "no really you guys are killing me". Bill said that he was impressed with the pace. We weren't really killing him though... he kept up just fine.Bill, Cubby and I had a great hike to the summit of Killington. It was about a 7 mile hike. We talked about reasons for hiking the AT, hiking in general, gear, movies, food, ambitions, employment... Bill left after summiting Killington. We ate lunch in Cooper Shelter near the top of Killington. I showed Bill all of the pictures in my camera along with a narrative for each. He then hiked directly back to his car at the trail head. It was a pleasure to have is company for the first part of the day. Thanks for coming out to visit Bill!Currently I am at a "secret" shelter. The shelter that I would have liked to stay at was Governor Clement, however Governor Clement is to close to a civilian road and gets vandalized on weekend nights. My guide book also says that hikers have been known to get harassed there. I'm not worried about being harassed but am concerned with getting a good, silent nights sleep.The "secret" shelter is about .5 miles passed Governor Clement. I got word of the shelter along the trail from north bounders. They gave me specific instructions on how to find the shelter... take a right off the trail at the logging road crossing... wait until the logging road comes to a "T"... take a right at the "T" and look for the pile of rocks leading in to the woods... I found it just fine and carved arrows in to the dirt along the way to lead the other south bounders behind me to the shelter. I am tired and still wet. I got rained on in 3 separate storms today. I got dumped on more than ever. There was also hail mixed in with he rain. The thunder was awesome once again and I walked smiling, anticipating the loud booms after bright flashes of lightning.Mango and Grettle? They took extra time in Rutland this morning. They chose to be slack packed over 18 miles for the day. Slack packing is when you only hike with a very light weight day pack with only snacks and water. You arrange for someone to drop you off lets say... 18 miles out. Then you hike back to where you started but only with minimal weight on your back. It makes for a much easier and faster hike. They call it slacking because it is considered cutting a corner. I chose not to do it and hiked solo for the majority of the day. I will be meeting back up with Mango and Grettle at some point in the near future.~Santana~ "by myself but not alone"