Date: 2015-06-18
From: Melville Neuheim Shelter

To: Unnamed Campsite
Miles today: 21.0

Today felt extremely long and exhausting. It didn't rain (yet), but the mud was extensive and sticky. It made even the flatter sections difficult. Like most of the AT hikers, I decided to suck it up and just walk straight through the mud instead of hopping around it. This is because my shoes, socks, and legs are already covered in mud. But walking straight through it isn't very effective either, as the mud tries to steal my shoes. It seems to be slowing me down and draining my energy.I stayed in my sleeping bag until 7am today. The sun wasn't shining, so I was quite demotivated. I left at 7.30 though, and made my way through the mud. The first part of the day was about 9 miles of up. Some parts were steeper than others, but generally the trajectory was up. I reached the top about 10.40, where I saw the 'Glastenbury' tower. (Yes, that is how they spell Glastonbury here.) I took one look at the rusty and rickety metal framed tower and decided that I could do without that view. From there, I headed down to Kid Gore shelter, where I had lunch with Brother Luie. I also met a family who are doing a week long section. It's 3 tweens, 2 men, and a grandmother. They were heading north, to the next shelter. I met them there a couple hours later. The afternoon really dragged on. I think I hiked at literally 2 miles an hour, even on the flat bits. I got to the next shelter by 2.45, and still had a bit more than 3 miles to go. I didn't get to my random campsite until about 4.30. I'm here by myself now, though I hope other people will see how full the previous shelter is and come here. Today I saw a lot of moose poo, but not moose themselves. I can't say I've ever studied animal faeces, but it looked like a cross between horse and deer scat, and a moose is basically a cross between a horse and a deer, so it makes sense. Either way, I don't want my lonely campsite to be raided by moose or bears or anything else.I also noticed that mice have chewed holes in my little light weight sweat towel. I'm going to start being really careful with my stuff on shelters. I have a choice for tomorrow- I can do about 18 into Manchester Center, and get there later in the day. This will give me less time to do everything I need to do. Or, I can do 15 tomorrow and then 3 the next day for a nero. Either way, it will be a weekend, so everything will be expensive. There is a famous hostel in Manchester, but I can't call to make reservations and they only have space for 10 people. I would actually prefer to skip Manchester altogether. But I am going to run out of lunches and snacks. I also need to get some kind of ankle support and some new shoes. I'm not sure about the new shoes yet though, as I really don't want to get new shoes and immediately ruin them in the Vermont mud. Annoyingly, Manchester is probably the only place near the trail that has good shoe options, and hopefully one of the gear shops will have something to help my ankle. I rolled it hard early on this morning, which hurt but was actually a good thing. During the night, I somehow moved one of the bones so it rubbed painfully against my shoe. But at least when I rolled it, it stopped rubbing.