Date: 2016-08-21
From: VT, Kelly Stand Rd, 1633.2

To: VT, Vt 11 & 30, 1650.7
Miles today: 17.5
Weather: overcast clouds

The world is going crazy! Last Sunday we didn't make it to church or hike. Today, we did both! Since we basically took Wednesday off, only doing 6 miles, we wanted to make up some miles today to stay on our schedule. Yes, there is actually a method to our madness. So we decided to hike today instead of just resting and enjoying time with each other.   And if you recall, last week we missed church because the service time had changed and it was too late to find another church. Today almost met a similar fate. Google maps graciously led us to the top of a hill.   There was no sign whatsoever of the 182 year old Londonderry Vt First Baptist church that should have been standing there, however. After quickly consulting their website, we learned that the church burned down 6 years ago. Hey 176 years ain't bad. Their "temporary" location was at a community center nearby. We quickly plugged the new address into our GPS and braced ourselves for arriving a few minutes late. It's always a little awkward going to small churches where everyone knows you are a visitor. Sneaking in late doesn't help. Arriving to the new address about 5 after, we found directions to a nearby park where they were actually meeting today. Oy! This was starting to feel like some kind of holy scavenger hunt. Determined to find the church, we set off down some back roads and onto a dirt road that provided access to a local swimming hole. At 10 minutes after, we walker down a hill and found a wonderful congregation worshipping the Lord outdoors in the splendor of creation. They were seated in a semi circle around a floating diving platform equipped with a makeshift pulpit and two guitars. Sadly, there was no swimming choir behind the pastor... Our fears of having to sneak into a small church late and sit in the front row were replaced with fears that we would instead have to stand- most people brought their own chairs. To our relief, there was a pair of unoccupied Adirondack chairs off to the side. Forget pews! These are a serious improvement. We took our seats and watched in awe as the pastor waved his hands as he spoke, secretly hoping he would walk on the water. We settled for watching a hawk swoop down and buzz him during a song of worship. We were delighted to learn that he has a degree in meteorology, which explained the hand motions. He confessed that half of the times they met outdoors, it had rained. Even if his scheduling accuracy was about par for a weatherman, he made a great pastor! He spoke about Jesus's compassion on the lost of this world, and how Jesus offered solutions rather than just identifying problems, using his miracle of feeding the 5000 as a text. So true! With so much brokenness all around, it's easy to become jaded and not show compassion.   After service, we visited with them for awhile. The congregation was made up of some of the kindest, Jesus loving people we have met on the trail so far. And those baptists sure know how to cook! Lots of snacks made for a nice time of fellowship after the formal service. We started out this morning looking for a building. Instead, out of the ashes of one, we found a living church!We then headed back to the crossing we finished at yesterday to knock out an 18 mile section without any good access roads in between. It worked out well because Porter needed to tie up some planning for a little trip we will be taking after summitting Katadyn which will conclude our epic honeymoon adventure with a bang. More on that later. As he hiked, Sherpa ran into Thor, School Bag, and Rocket again. They were happy to announce that School Bag was far from burned out, having put in an 18 miler, 14 miler, and another long one today! Good luck School Bag! The trail climbed up mt Stratton, a 3900+ foot peak complete with a gondola and skiing opportunities. After descending the slope (by foot of course), the trail passed a nice pond and a scenic overlook called prospect rock. A weather system was moving in so Sherpa didn't linger long at any of those places, instead pushing ahead quickly to the end. Somewhere along the way, he passed an unmarked spot, officially mile 1641.8, which is the 3/4 point of the hole trail!