Date: 2004-07-19
From: Bascom Lodge

To: Seth Warner Shelter
Miles today: 13.2
Weather: mist

There was no hurry in the morning. It was still raining and there was the somewhat irrational hope that Buick might show up. It was probably about 10 or 11 in the morning when I finally started to put my rain gear on and then it happened. Buick came in. Wow. That was cool. We talked for a while but then it was time for me to go. A few things needed to be picked up in town for me but not for Buick. Buying so many meals in towns lately kind of messed up my food planning. We'd catch up tonight. Photo Oops:Here's a sad little aside. Due to confusion regarding the way my camera stores photos, the next 135 photos are missing. That's 9 days worth or virtually all of Vermont. That means all the photos of journal entries are missing too. I could just cry. Maybe I did some. The sadness is compounded because the next few days were a particularly tough time for me. Any photos in this next section, 7/19/2006-7/28/2006, are either from other trips of mine or just snagged of the web. I'll do my best to recall what I can. This error won't be realized until this fall.Mount Greylock was the tallest mountain in Massachusetts and still is at 3,491 feet above sea level. Williamstown, my resupply, was a mere 650 feet. That's a fair descent compared to those of late but it would be spread over 6 miles of trail. No problem. I'm thinking Buick had caught up to me just before we got to town. The trail came onto a side road which led through a neighborhood. The rain had stopped. We got to the intersection with the main road. He kept going and I stuck my thumb out.There was lots of traffic. It was hard to know where to stand with a traffic light and a 4 way intersection. Finally someone stopped. It was a small car. This was one of those incredibly lucky hitches. I didn't need to get much because of all the meals ¢out¢ in the last few days. A post office and some groceries were on the agenda. This guy turned out to be a young minister and offered to take me to both places and then back to the trail. Unbelievable. He took me to the Post Office. My Palm PDA had finally gotten wet and lost it's mind a short while ago. That was sad since it had a few notes and the contact info of some new trail friends. It was pretty useless now so it got shipped home along with the solar charger. Then we went to the store and picked up the few things I needed to get through the next few days till Manchester. He then took me back and dropped me at the trail. After profuse thanks he drove home to his wive and kids and it was back to the soggy trail for me.Just 4.1 miles later it was time to celebrate with a shout. This was Vermont. Next would be New Hampshire, my home and then Maine and Katahdin, the end. Oh boy. 3 more miles of easy though wet walking brought me to Seth Warner Shelter. No longer was it called a Lean-to. This was the first shelter in Vermont. It was still light out. Buick sat with some other folks at the picnic table playing chess with a kid. He'd been looking for a chess partner for a while. There were lots of folks here. I broke out my stove and they made some room.It was kind of fun here. We were sort of celebrities or old wise men. These folks were all setting out to hike the Long Trail. That's right the Long Trail began at the MA/VT border. It is coincident with the Appalachian Trail till Sherburne Pass and US-4. Here the AT heads east for NH and the LT continues north to the Canadian border. These folks were about to spend the first night on their 270 mile trek. They were full of questions. They were seeking answers we had found 2 months ago. At first it was hard to take them seriously because it was all so second nature to us now but it was brand new to them. They were all carrying too much of course. On top of that they had gotten soaked on the first day. That was too bad. We did our best to answer their questions. It was a blast.This was an 8 person shelter and I must have been the 9th. Everyone moved over to make room. That left me pinned up against the 2x4s on the side wall. Sleep was not great that night. Waking as often as I did with the rain causing plenty of WIPS (Water Induce Pee Syndrome), that's right, I had to get up and climb over people to go pee more than once that night. Grrr.It had only been a 13.2 mile day but that had given Buick the chance to catch up. Seeing him again was worth it. We spoke briefly of his troubles on the home front once the rest of the gang had turned in after dark. Figuring we would have plenty of time on the trail to talk, it was best to get some sleep now.