Date: 2018-07-06
From: VT 9 / Bennington, VT

To: Glastenbury Mountain Campsite, VT
Miles today: 10.4
Weather: light rain

We left Puddle¢s house and dropped her cat at the vet and got a quick breakfast to go at Dunkin Donuts. Brian drove us to the trail head where we left off at Rte 9 near Bennington, VT. Thumper was rejoining is on the hike and was in the parking lot. She had been hiking while we were off, then stayed at a friend¢s house. Her friend brought her to the trailhead. Puddles sister-in-law, Becky and her husband Dave were also there. They had trail magic which I took advantage of before getting back on trail. A banana and root beer. Becky was joining us for a hike today. We said our goodbyes and off we went. We hiked 1.4 miles to Melville Nauheim Shelter...all uphill. We stopped at the shelter for some snacks and to take a break before Becky headed back down to the car. She had stashed some fresh muffins from the bakery in her daypack and offered them to us. Thumper and I devoured the morning glory and pumpkin muffins, which were delicious. When we were ready, Thumper, Puddles and I headed north while Becky headed south, back to the parking lot. It was really nice to spend time with her today, and share part of the journey with her.The hiking was good today, going through the Glastenury Wilderness. The weather held out, even though it looked like it might rain at times. The trail was sometimes covered with pine needles or leaves, with rocks and roots interspersed. Occasionally I smelled the strong scent of balsam, and would deeply inhale to enjoy it to its fullest.I have been having some issues with my right knee for a while, and even after taking five days off, it was not happy today. I was getting occasional sharp pain on my patella, and it still feels swollen in the joint, with a lack of mobility. I can bend it further than when I came off the trail, but the inability of it to bend adequately is effecting my ability to hike comfortably. I have ordered a brace, but I still need it to bend, something I will be working on with stretching of my entire lower body, and working on my IT band. Since I¢m right side dominate, I think I¢ve been subconsciously using my right leg for all the heavy lifting when I have big step ups. I¢m going to focus on using my left leg for more of those big steps. I also having issues with a knot in my left shoulder blade and cramping of my left pectoral muscle. I had an adjustment and some body work while I was home and it feels much better. As I was hiking today, I started to feel the tightness coming on. There was no pressure on my shoulder pulling down, but I could feel my shoulder strap pulling back. I started thinking that my pec hasn¢t been getting any type of exercise, it has simply been getting pulled back by my shoulder strap. I started to experiment with different techniques of using my trekking poles, focusing on using my pecs and lats more, instead of my triceps. I found a way to use them that relieved the cramping and tightness. This should help with the rest of my hike.Throughout the afternoon, hikers were fist bumping me because Brian, Puddle¢s husband, and Dave, Becky¢s husband, were passing out trail magic (in the form of snacks and cold beverages). Some of them knew my name and called out as they approached me. They apparently recognized me from a photo Brian was showing. They would mention Puddles and I let them know she was up ahead. Thumper arrived at Goddard Shelter, which looked quite full. We looked at some tent sites, but the ones available weren¢t very level. One hiker mentioned some nice campsites up the trail about a quarter mile. When Puddles arrived, we decided to explore the campsites, then realized they were up on Glastenbury Mountain near the fire tower. There was no water source there, so we got water from the source at the shelter and headed uphill. We arrived to find nice campsites next to the fire tower. It was breezy and getting cold. We arrived near sunset and were treated with a beautiful view of the sunset from the top of the tower. I lingered for a while, with the wind blowing hard and temperature dropping. I was cold, but made dinner and escaped into my tent, when I realized I forgot to pee. I braved the cold, and then dove back into my tent, where I bundled up in my sleeping quilt and finally got warm enough to fall sleep, listening to the wind blowing through the tops of the pine trees. It was a good first day back on the trail.