Date: 2020-09-07
From: Greenwall Shelter

To: Route 4 (Rutland)
Miles today: 25.5

Happy Labor Day! Felt better with a solid night's rest. The air is now cool enough in the morning I'm reluctant to get out from under my sleeping bag. I finally hit the trail about 8:30. I really need to start earlier. I'm burning daylight, and there's less of it each day. Every minute I spend in camp is one less minute I can rest during the day.Passed a few SOBOs in the morning. A couple of them barely acknowledged me. One with earbuds, who I stepped aside for and greeted, hiked by without a word, without even turning his head. Don't be that guy! But one was very talkative, downright excited. He was Lando, a very young kid who only started August 3rd. He's on a deadline to finish and is happy to be in easier terrain and able to do bigger miles.The trail dipped sharply into Clarendon Gorge where it passes over a narrow suspension footbridge. But I noticed directly below was the clearest, most pristine, boulder-lined swimming hole I've yet seen. So I scrambled ten yards down the steep bank and jumped in. It was cool, but so refreshing after eight miles of breaking a sweat. After drying off I hopped the boulders to the other side and clambored up the far bank. This is the kind of spur-of-the-moment diversion I want to have time for during the shortening days.I pounded out a few more miles over no notable climbs, until I happened on a small wooden sign on a tree: "Katahdin - 500 miles". That's it, less than a quarter to go. It's gone by so fast, and yet I feel the weight of the miles - emotionally if not so much physically. It's exciting to know that I will see far more thruhikers in the last 500 miles than the all the trail behind me.And speaking of which, I stumbled on a clutch of SOBOs getting water in the valley below. NatGeo from Harrisburg, who takes lots of wildlife video. He's seen 5 moose. I've seen zero! So jealous. Two others, The Hard Way and a Pittsburgh guy wearing a kilt named Whole Foods just bumped into each other for the first time since their first days in the 100 Mile Wilderness.I met many Long Trail hikers as well. An older brother and sister - the sister working on completing the trail in sections and the brother, having done it twice, out to support her. A mother and grown daughter. A young guy bearing two homemade walking staffs. And many others.As I climbed Killington, the first really substantial climb at over 2500 feet since Three Ridges back in Virginia, I crossed paths with Roo. So glad to see her back on trail. She asked about Whole Foods and the others, who fortuitously had told me they were all headed to a shelter just eight miles back. She'll be able to reach them tonight and have some company again.Killington did a good job of whooping my butt. But it's baby steps compared to the Whites. I've got my work cut out for me. Where the trail crests there's a blue-blazed side trail to the actual summit, some 300 feet higher over a sadistically steep vein of rocks. Actually it wasn't that bad but it did test my lung capacity. The wind was gusting at the summit and it felt significantly cooler. Enough to remind me of the fickle weather ahead of me in the alpine regions. I went over the summit to the ski resort lodge and gondola lift, but both were closed for the day. They only operate on weekends, and serve mountain bikers wishing to ride down the trails. A number of hikers were setting up for the night at Cooper Lodge at the foot of the summit side trail, but I wanted to put down more miles and, hopefully, get a good meal and lodging tonight at the Inn at Long Trail. Killington was much rockier than Stratton and the descent was slower. A Long Trail hiker I passed told me the Inn was booked for the night. Well, second choice was to hitch into Rutland for food and a soft bed. It was late in the day, though. I hustled but didn't reach the road until after 7:30. It was already dusk. No cars stopped as my light waned. Finally it was too dark to expect anyone to stop. I was over 7 miles from town. Mentally committed to my plan, I tried Uber but no driver could be found. I called a taxi service but they didn't pick up. I called a trail angel but he was working and couldn't come. But he gave me another name - Flipakey. Flipakey answered immediately and not only picked me up but put me up in her home for the night. She does this frequently, especially since the one hostel in town, the Yellow Deli, is closed. She drove me around to get dinner (Five Guys, yum!) and resupply. Ironically, after I had called her a girl drove into the small condo parking lot I'd chosen to wait in and turned out to be an avid hiker. She would have given me a ride if I'd needed it. In fact she planned her own thruhike next year and was curious about my pack and tent. We chatted until Flipakey arrived.So another long day ending at dusk, but not at an empty shelter. I have a feeling (a hope?) I won't be seeing too many of those anymore.