Date: 2005-08-07
From: Rt. 103, Wallingford, VT

To: Baker Peak, VT
Miles today: 19.6

19.6 miles todayBaker Peak, Vt. I got up at 6am and went downstairs and had some coffee. Larry and Mrs Gorp were both already up. We sat and talked a while, then I went upstairs and packed up. Mrs Gorp and I went to the Whistle Stop for breakfast after I resupplied at the Gulf Station. It was nice having a good breakfast before I started hiking. I have to thank Mrs Gorp again for taking such good care of me. She's the best!!! ;-))) It was very nice to get rested up, clean and fed. She drove me to the trailhead and 3 Packs came out of the woods. He recognized Mrs Gorp from his hike in '02. Mrs Gorp was even going to give me her Leki poles that I liked so well. I couldn't take them, but will probably end up with a pair just like them. I said goodbye and headed into the woods at 9am and Mrs Gorp took 3 Packs to the Whistle Stop and dropped him off. I crossed the suspension bridge over Clarendon Gorge and started my first climb when I saw a deer. I still haven't seen many of those around yet. I came up to Bad Ass Turtle and Red about 30 minutes into my hike. I asked her where Footslogger was and she said he's back in Wyoming working. Hey Footslogger, how come Bad Ass Turtle is out hiking while you're back home paying the bills?? You need to talk to Skeemer to see how he works it out. ;-))) I stopped at Minerva Hinchey Shelter and signed the register. I hiked on up to the top of Bear Mountain and then down to Rt 140. I sat down on the bridge that goes across the creek and ate lunch. I figued I might have a chance for a coke, but it didn't work. :-((( I sat there about 40 minutes before I hiked on and climbed the next mountain up to White Rocks Cliff and then to the summit of White Rocks Mountain. I was out of water again and was hoping that when I went down this mountain, I'd get water from a spring that was listed in the guide book. When I got to the spring for Little Rock Pond Shelter, there was just a puddle there. I dipped up some water because I was thirsty. I hiked on down to Danby-Landgrove Rd and Mala had been set up for a couple days cooking hotdogs for hikers. I had just seen him at Glencliff about 5 days ago. He was all out of hotdogs and soda, but he still had some beer. I sat down and had a beer and we talked almost an hour before I hiked on. Mala had asked me to tell any nobos that he wouldn't be here anymore. I hiked on to Big Branch Shelter and stopped for a few minutes to sign the register. When I left, I had only walked about .2 miles and I saw a guy by a tent. He had a Florida Trail patch on his shirt and that caught my eye. I asked him about it and he said his name was Corn Cob and that he'd done the top part of the Florida Trail. That's the part I have left to do. While we were talking, he mentioned something about hiking in '02. I asked him a few questions and he said there were a few others down in the stream that had hiked that year. I walked over and looked into the stream and I saw Tiger Lilly, Jellybean and Carbo. I had hiked around all 3 of them in '02. I hadn't seen many hikers from '02 in a while, so it was great to see they weren't all sitting behind a desk. :-))) I said hello to Tiger Lilly and she looked up and said, "Do I know you??" I said to think of what I'd look like with a big, bushy beard and she said; "Stumpknocker!!" It was good seeing all of them again. They're all hiking the Long Trail together. Corn Cob had hiked in '02, but we never met even though we hiked near each other. The other lady there was Sketcher and I'm not sure if she hiked in '02 or not, but it was good meeting her and Corn Cob. I sat down and decided to eat my dinner there and catch up on old times. It turns out that Carbo and Jellybean got married in '03. I ended up staying there about 1 1/2 hours before I figured I better get back to walkin'. I headed on up the mountain and stopped at Lost Pond Shelter for a few minutes before heading up to Baker Peak. I got to the peak and couldn't get my camera to work for the nice sunset. I sure hope it starts working again. It's been a really good little camera. I set up on the rocks and was going to cowboy camp, but when it got dark, the mosquitos came out in force. I headed back into the woods and set up my tent...I love my tent. I'm going to just name some of the nobos I ran into today because I ran into more today than any other day so far. Thunder, Vapors, Billy The Kid who I met last year, Chainsaw, Waist Deep, Dandylion, Forty Niner, Songline, Buffalo Bob, Little Herb, Live Strong and about 10 others that I didn't catch their names. I felt bad for Live Strong because he asked me about the trail magic. I said he was packing up and leaving and Live Strong said; "That makes about five times I've missed out on trail magic where someone was cooking hotdogs." Oh well, the trail does teach you how to do without. :-)))