Date: 2019-09-20
From: Minerva Hinchey Shelter (VT)

To: Lost Pond Shelter (VT)
Miles today: 14.9
Weather: clear sky

I woke up around 4:15 and got up about 15 minutes later. I wasn¢t ¢aggressively loud,¢ but I didn¢t try to be quiet either. My sheltermate got up about an hour after me and said she was waiting until it got more light out to start hiking. I was on the trail by 6am, the fastest I¢ve gotten out of camp since I¢ve been hiking by myself.When I began hiking, I needed my headlamp to see. I did more banging of my trekking poles than usual because I was concerned about surprising bears, skunks, or other woodland creatures that are up in the early morning.I had only gone a half mile when I had to go to the bathroom. I tried to ask my colon why it could not have decided to go when we were back at the shelter where there was a privy, and I did not get a response.At this point I also had cell service, so I talked to Spike¢s Dad on the phone to figure out our plans for when he comes to pick us up tomorrow.I took my time today. The trail was relatively easy and I had an early start, but doing an additional 4.7 miles to get to the next shelter didn¢t seem like a good idea. I stopped in the morning and had a snack by a waterfall. In the afternoon, I had an extended break at the Little Rock Pond Shelter and a shorter break at the Big Branch Shelter.Big Branch was right on the trail, while Little Rock Pond was just off the trail. I didn¢t see Sidewinder or last night¢s sheltermate pass me, although they could have while I was at Little Rock. I did see several nobos. Two were a couple of older guys who asked me if I was heading to Massachusetts or just out for a section. I said, ¢Actually, I am heading to Georgia.¢ ¢Oh, yeah, I keep forgetting that we are also on the AT,¢ one of them responded.When I got to the shelter, I was glad I wasn¢t going any further. There appears to be something wrong with my feet. The arches have been kind of red and burning recently. I don¢t remember when I first noticed it. Maybe a couple of days ago when I was at the Inn at Long Trail? Anyway, there is a creek here (I have no idea where Lost Pond is ¢ I haven¢t found it), and I would like to soak my feet, but I don¢t really have the time to do that. Maybe I should have when I was getting water. Anyway, whatever is going on with my feet, it is much worse today than it has been.I tried to hang a bear bag, and have just not had any luck with any of the trees here and I was tired and wanted to get off of my feet. I have my food hanging from the shelter. I hope there are no bears in the area. I am pretty sure I heard one run away from me yesterday morning. There was a shelter just south of here in Vermont where a bear *destroyed* the privy (rumor is that someone couldn¢t finish their dinner, so they dumped it into the privy). Anyway, they passed a law in Vermont that you have to ¢properly¢ store all food, so in addition to not having bears, I am hoping there are no ranger-types who show up. So far I am alone in the shelter, and no one is camping nearby.So, Spike¢s Dad comes tomorrow and is planning on staying 5 nights in Vermont. We had talked about doing some camping together, but that just sounds like too much work to figure out the logistics for that, so instead I¢m planning on just doing day hikes and then he will come out for one. However, I am looking at the road crossings coming up, and there is a 19 mile stretch without a road crossing. I don¢t understand this because it feels like I have been crossing roads about every 5 miles recently. Anyway, I have been staring this for the last 30 minutes without anything changing, and I guess we¢ll just deal with that when we get there. How my feet look and feel in the morning will also determine what happens.