Date: 2005-08-06
From: Rt. 4, Wallingford, VT

To: Rt. 103, Wallingford, VT
Miles today: 17.4

17.4 miles todaySleeping in a bed...again!!Mrs Gorp's home.Wallingford, Vt. I think I forgot to write in yesterday's journal that I have now been on the trail for one month...and one day, now. I slept really well last night, just didn't get enough sleep because I was up until midnight writing my journal and going through my bounce box and checking on some computer things. My room in Mrs Gorp's home is on the third floor and there's a tv (I guess it works), a computer and a nice, soft bed...oh yeah, and a telephone. There's also a wonderful view of Bear Mountain. I'll be walking over that mountain tomorrow.I wonder if I could move in. ;-))) There's also a skylight that opens up, so it stays nice and cool up here. I heard noise down in the kitchen about 6am and went down because I was sure the noise had something to do with coffee. Yep, Larry had the coffee ready when I got down there.   Mrs Gorp got me a day pack to use today and she let me use her Leki poles because one of mine was broke. She had some liteweight titanium poles with no shock absorber in them. She took me through Rutland on the way to the trailhead at Rt 4 and I bought some snacks for the day's hike. She dropped me off at 7:30 at Rt 4 and I started climbing Killington. The weather was perfect...low humidity and temps in the 50s and no bugs. I met Fig and Just Visiting before I got to the first shelter. They're both nobos, although I forgot to ask if they were thru hiking the A.T. or the L.T. I didn't go to Churchill Scott Shelter. I felt too good to stop, so I just kept climbing. I met Rocky and Bulwinkle just before Cooper Lodge...aren't they famous or something??? I'm sure I've heard of them before. ;-))) Cooper Lodge is an old stone shelter near the top of Killington. I stopped in there for half an hour and ate a sandwich and read through the register. When I got to where Goldilocks signed in, he mentioned that he was hiking in his underwear. Hey Goldilocks, sure hope you don't wear Speedos!! Moosie signed in just after him and said that he was wearing his pants. (I'm sure all the other hikers appreciated that) I finished climbing Killington and met another nobo by the name of Slow and Steady. I forgot to ask all 5 of those nobos if they were hiking thru on the A.T. I started going down the mountain and really enjoying my day. It was a fairly long down to Governor Clement Shelter where I met 2 more nobos. Their names were Princess and Pogo and they are hiking the A.T. I came up to a cooler and there were cokes!!  Woohoo, trail magic!!! Mad Hatter '04 had left them along with a register and a camera. I signed the register and used a couple extra smiley faces, Then held the register up next to my head so he could see who signed it and I took a picture with his camera. I had a very nice smile today. :-))) I ran into Grey Walrus, Sunshine and Pathfinder next...all nobos. I kept walking and enjoying my day when I came to a stream about an hour later that had more sodas left in it. What a great day...Mrs Gorp treating me so good and hauling me around to the trailhead after spending the night at her home, and 2 locations with trail magic!! I met 2 sobos there by the names of Firefly and Harvest Moon. We talked a while before I hiked on. I came to Clarendon Shelter about 6 miles later and stopped to sign that register. I only had 1 more mile to hike after that down a steep hill to Rt 103. I walked a mile to the payphone and called Mrs Gorp. I was a little early getting done with my walk today, but she came right up and picked me up. She had taken my Leki poles to an outfitter and had them fixed while I was hiking.....she's the best!!! (Did I say that right Mrs Gorp??) ;-))) She really is a trail angel. I'll never be able to repay all her kindness. It's been great seeing her and Larry again. They always make me feel so welcome. I got me another shower. That's one today and one yesterday!! I'm smellin' pretty good. :-))) I went out and sat with Mrs Gorp by the pool and started figuring out my next two weeks on the trail. I'm trying to work it out to stop by Amoeba's farm in 3 to 4 days. It sounds really nice, so I hope we can connect. I wrote out checks for the 3 bills I had to pay. Only one of them is late...not bad for not getting my mail for several months. Mrs Gorp grilled some burgers and hotdogs and made some corn on the cob that was grown locally. She also made sucotash and green beans and then we had a very good blueberry pie and ice cream with coffee for desert. I'm going to fade away to nothing if I keep hiking like this. I'm sure if you looked hard enough, you could see my ribs starting to stick out. No one believes me when I tell them how hard this backpacking thing is. It was very nice of Mrs Gorp to have my Lekis fixed, but she shouldn't have let me use hers. They are liteweight titanium and have no shocks to them and I like them alot better than mine. I wonder how much my new titanium trekking poles are going to cost?? I was telling Mrs Gorp a story about a nobo I met a couple weeks ago and she said I should tell that story in my journal, so here goes; (I don't think I wrote about it when it happened)  I was walking down the trail and this nobo comes up. I started talking to this nobo just like I talk to all the other poor nobos that I happen to meet on the trail. This particular hiker looked at my backpack and said to me; "When you walk 1800 miles like I have, you'll find that you want to carry more stuff with you than what you're carrying now." I looked at the large backpack that nobo was carrying and smiled and said; "Maybe....when I've walked that far, I will." :-))) I would have loved to tell that hiker I have walked that far and I'm happy with the 18 pounds I carry. ;-))PS  Hey Mrs Gorp, you're THE BEST!!!!!Thank you, Thank you, Thank you.