Date: 2003-08-02
From: River Rd

To: Winturri Shelter
Miles today: 14.2

As often happens, my stomach is at war with my legs.After a huge fried-egg-and-ham bagel, a pastry and some raisin bran, milk, coffe and OJ, my belly is demanding some blood with which to digest."Get in line," say the legs, heart and lungs, which are actively climbing a 700-foot Vermont hillside. "We need the juice. You and the bagel can just hang tight for a little while."We have escaped the gravitational pull of Sherburne Pass, and are back heading north. Though it is still raining, the forecast calls for rain all week, so what is the point of hanging about spending money? Vermont has acquired too much of my cash lately. It's a spendy sort of place.Finch and Ma Finch had picked us up at 7:30 am this morning and, after a deli stop, kindly dropped us off at the Trailhead in the rain. I caught Chief's eye and we said our good-bye's quickly and set off, leaving Finch and his missus to say good-bye in private. They really seem to miss each other's company. Long-legged Finch passed us readily on the uphill within a short while. It was the last we would see of him until the shelter. Now I know why he is so thin. He goes like a bat out of hell. I had to peel off my raincoat despite the cold rain - 700 feet in .3 miles carrying weight causes some heat.The walking today is a bit tough, lots of climbs and descents in the thick humidity, without the payoff of a view. Or even sunshine. The trees drip. Young Boat had written in the journal at Story Brook: "Sure, it's raining, but would you rather be in a cubicle staring at a bright rectangle only to go home at night to another cubicle and stare at another rectangle?"After his entry, I wrote: "Ditto. What Boat said."Chief and I yak about this or that, or not. His pace is similar to mine. He's a retired Chief of the Raleigh Capitol Police, though he seems rather gentle-natured for the work.The long green tunnel permits us few views. It's not until the end of the day that we come to a "Lookout Trail," a privately owned cabin on top of a mountain. We shuck our packs, hide them and start up the Stony Trail. After long, hard climbs with heavy food bags, the spirit hungers for a little bit of vista. We are not disappointed.The cabin is about 20x20, with a central hearth and six-on-six casement windows sprinkled about. It has a loft, and is swept clean. Thru-hikers are allowed to stay there. Even better, it has a ladder to a platform on the roof.We climb the steep ladder to the top platform, where a young couple and their baby are standing. They look fit, and walked in from a road far below. The platform generously hands us a 360 degree view of the surrounding mountains and ridges, and Lakota Lake below. The sun has spotted out, there is a breeze, and it is the best part of the day.On the way to the shelter, we climb through a startling black-and-white forest. The spruce trunks are tall and limbed high, and strikingly black. Are they wet? Yes, but it's more than that. On closer inspection, we discover this area had a burn, perhaps last year during the drought. Yet the paper birches are bright white, a sharp contrast. Why so white when the spruce are black? Oh yes, they are paper birch - they have peeled. A closer inspection shows older bark at the base which is dark. It makes for an enchanted forest, as the relentless Vermont green has covered up the rest of the burn.We run into some SOBO thru-hikers who tell us Vermont is "boring." I can see why they might say that after the Whites and Maine. But they are in for a long spell in the "long, green tunnel." I hope they find a way to sustain interest.We spend the night at Winturi shelter, as thunderstorms are predicted. The water source is a 20-foot waterfall/cascade of jumbled rock, cold and clear. I soak my hot feet in a pool downstream. Nick, a young man from England, filled his waterbag at the same time.Cobra and Splash are here too, as are three southbound section hikers. For some reason, we hear ruffed grouse thumping away in their mating call. The sky is fairing off, not thundering as predicted. The bugs promise to be fierce. I'm glad I found a headnet in the hiker box at Delaware Water Gap. It's come in handy many a night such as this.We fall asleep to waterfall music.