Date: 2004-08-13
From: Worcester, MA

To: Glencliff, NH
Miles today: 0.0

for once, i have untimed access to a decent computer... i even get to use firefox instead of IE.Goose, k-dog, rainy jay and i have essentially been hiking together since massachusetts. I'll try to summarize the events since the trip to worcester.Massachusetts:got back on the trail saturday morning. We hiked 7 miles from tyringham to rt 20, where jay's parents were sitting and waiting with coolers of drinks, sandwitches, and fresh fruit. Hiked another 7 into the next shelter and made it a short day. incredibly, we ran into postcard, a hiker who all of us had met and passed over a month ago. He kept up 25 miles a day while the four of us slowed down and started zeroing much more often. The next day we hiked through dalton and into cheshire. We ended up eating at restaurants in both towns. We stayed in a church rec room in cheshire and set out the next day to climb mount greylock (tallest peak in MA, first time above 3000 feet since northern VA) and then on to the first shelter in VT. We ended up seeing over a dozen southbounders that day, more than we've seen the rest of the time combined. Climbing up greylock was not a challenge at all, the 2500 foot climb was over the course of 8 miles. We came down the other side of the mountain into north adams, where we stopped at friendly's to eat. we finally got back on the trail at almost 6:00, and still had about 7 miles to do. Most of us got there after dark, and the shelter was already full. we had crossed into vermont, and the mud began at the same time (pictures soon to follow?)Vermont (Vermud):We were 50 miles from rt. 11 and manchester, where my parents have a ski house 3 miles from the trail. the other three didn't want to zero, but wanted to take a nero and relax in the afternoon. I would rather pick up the pace and get two nights in a bed, so i did 2 25 mile days while the others did 20,20,10. I invited skippy and poppins, and megabyte and friar were included even in their absense. The second day, i caught up to yogamonkey and awol, who both planned on stopping at spruce peak, the shelter 3 miles before the road. I met them on the top of stratton mountain, which i have been up at least a dozen times, but the day i was up there was the best view i have ever seen there. I convinced the two of them to hike 3 more miles, and the three of us got to the road about 7 and hitched to my parents house, where my car is being stored for the summer. We drove into manchester and ended up eating at the chinese resturant which turned out to be pretty good. It was also the first chinese restaurant i went to with a caucasian waitress.Thursday, i had to pick up kdog, goose, and jay at noon. Yogamonkey and I dropped off awol at the trail (despite trying to convince him to zero.) we saw lonesome dove there getting back on the trail. she needed to get to killington and couldn't stay, but told us where to find joker in town. Yoga and i took care of stuff in town, bought a ton more food, then went to the post office. we ran into wife driving beater and heatmeiser. Beater and wife already had a place to stay, but we convinced heatmiser to join us instead of hiking out. I took a few trips to the trailhead to pick people up, and by nighttime there were quite a few of us- me, yogamonkey, kdog, goose, jay, friar, skippy, poppins, joker, rainy jay, heatmeiser, and raven. We had an awesome dinner(roast chicken, london broil, salad, corn on the cob, baked ziti, ice cream, etc. etc.) and slept well. In the morning, we had a big breakfast(scrambled eggs, french toast, bacon, fresh fruit, etc.) then cleaned, vaccumed, and changed sheets. At 11 we all sat around the table and decided that we should take a zero and stay another day. joker, heatmeiser, and raven all had to get back on the trail, and by a stroke of luck, we ran into megabite at the trailhead when i dropped the others off. He had errands to run in town and said he didn't want to stay in town, but we eventually convinced him otherwise. Also in town, mayaguez and deisel were outside EMS at a losss because there was no vacancy at any hotels or B&Bs anywhere near manchester. I invited them to come along, and they brought some burgers and fixings for dinner. Now or Never was in the supermarket with the same dillemma, so he picked up some pancake mix for breakfast. The burgers weren't as good as dinner the previous night, but were still good. We watched supertroopers and mystic river and finally got to bed 'early'. Everyone slept on the floor so we wouldn't have to make the beds again.I dropped people off at the trail then yogamonkey and i went into town to get rid of garbage and empties. In town we ran into allegany(guy who got bit by the snake) and postcard(guy we hadn't seen since virginia) we finally got on the trail about noon, and made it about 16 miles to another full shelter.The plan was for me to do 15 then 25 to catch up to rainy jay and the others, except they decided to do 25 to pass the $6 a night fee shelter, then another 25 to make it to the inn at the long trail in killington. Yogamonkey and i pushed to try and catch them, but didn't realize how far they had gone. I later found out that we missed them at the road near killington by about 15 minutes at most.I had lunch at the inn - cheddar ale soup and an irish reuben, and guiness (served at the proper temperature, complete with the shamrock on top). We knew they stayed at the inn, and i figured they would expect me to get there, so i figured they would only do 10 to the next shelter. I hiked out, got to the shelter, and there was no sign of them. It was too late to go farther so i stayed and contemplated how to catch them. Shelters were all 10 miles apart, meaning they would do 20 mile days and i would have to do 30 to catch them. Hanover, NH was 37 miles away, and i wasn't about to let them enjoy another town without me, so i pushed on for a 32 mile day (something i promised myself i wouldn't do again) The terrain didn't look bad on the map, but all of the hills were straight up or straight down. I got to the shelter just past nine completely exhausted. Luckily they were there, and were dumbfounded and amazed that i had caught them that day (the 22 miles they did had completely whipped them, and i did 10 more than that) And of course, about an hour after i caught up with rainy jay, it started to rain.New Hampshire:even though we've been in this state only a few days, the adventures have already started. We hiked 5 miles from the shelter to norwich,VT. We were going to get breakfast at the norwich inn restaurant, but we looked in the window and decided it was too expensive. we went into the supermarked and bough milk, juice, cereal, and donuts which we ate on the sidewalk in front of the store. People looked at us funny, again.We made the massive voyage of the 2 mile road walk across the conneticut river into hanover, where the prices were even higher (260 a night at the hanover inn, for a single person, weeknights only!) After hitting the post office to get our packages and some winter gear in the mail, we ventured to the DOC (dartmouth outdoor club) building where we checked email and i made a hasty update. we found a bus schedule and had to rush out to get the bus to EMS to get some cold weather gear.EMS had tons of gloves. except they were all size medium. EMS had tons of hats, except they were all baseball caps and OR sombreros. EMS had sleeping bag liners, except they were $60+ After some bugging and a trip to K-Mart (and taco bell on the way) we had most of what we needed. We sat in the store and looked pathetic until a guy asked us if we wanted a ride to hanover. we did. (it was pouring rain)On a side note, EMS has just in the past week gotten their line of 'ultralight' packs. Some of them even looked decent.The guy who drove us (mike) had just graduated and was moving to NYC to sell his individuality and free will to become part of a corporate machine, but he was at least aware of what he was doing. He dropped us off at the grocery store in hanover where we finished resupplying before heading to the bar he recommended we go to, 5 olde. We ran into baltimore jack in the bar (trail icon, hiked several years in a row, works summers in outfitters along the trail, part of 'billville' that did the hiker feed in port clinton). We talked to him for a while and also ran into AWOL and joe flamingo. Awol is doing the trail in two summers and was finishing in hanover this summer. His friends were coming up to pick him up and take him to montreal for 2 days. After several pitchers and then some, he asked the four of us if we wanted to go. At first we all agreed, then we got to discussing. In the end, jay and i decided to hike on because we would not enjoy it as much knowing we were making no progress on the trail. Kdog and goose decided to go, considering montreal isn't just a 5 hour drive away like it is for us, and tehy will probably never get this chance again. Jay and i agreed to go nice and slow through the whites to make sure they could catch up sooner rather than later. We stumbled out of hanover and made it about 10 feet down the trail into the woods at the edge of the soccer field before giving up and setting up a tent. Jay and i hiked the past two days and just made it into glencliff to the hikers welcome hostel tonight.now that i've pretty much summed things up until now, i think i need to get to sleep ASAP.