Date: 2009-08-20
From: Stealth Campsite off Trail

To: Thistle Hill Shelter
Miles today: 15.9
Weather: overcast clouds

After a few light rain showers last night Bark and I finally opened our eyes around 7:45am. I think we were both hoping for a slightly earlier morning, but since it was a late night of hiking we felt we deserved a slow morning. We were packed and ready to go by about 9:00am so we headed out. We camped with Otter last night, but left just before him. The day started out pretty nice. The trail was graded downhill and the ups were gradual and not too long. We were thankful for the easy start since we were anticipating a long and strenuous day. We made it to the first shelter around 10:30 and decided to take a snack break. Since the shelter was actually .2 miles off the trail we found a log instead and started snacking. Bark was a great husband and walked the .2 straight downhill in order to fill up our water bottles. The next water source was not for another 7 miles so we had to do it. The forest floor was beautiful and clean with tall pines and soft pine straw everywhere. We both really enjoy hiking through areas like this, the miles seem to go by a little quicker when you have things to look at. We hiked until noon and then declared it lunch time. Since we ate sandwiches for dinner last night we opted to cook a pasta side. Sometimes a hot meal is exactly what you need for a long day aheadWe waited a while and thought Otter would catch up, but before long we saw J-Bird instead and hiked on with him. We had interesting conversation about the trail and the 8 times he has hiked it. Once we made it to Rt. 12, J-Bird headed towards lunch in Woodstock, VT and we kept on trucking. For the next 8 miles Bark and I were riding the Vermont Rollercoaster. We hiked up and over several 500 foot climbs as well as in and out of a few afternoon thunderstorms. We didn't expect to see any views today, but to our surprise we saw a few really nice shots of the surrounding mountains. Since the rain had recently passed there was fog down in the valleys which was beautiful to look down on. As difficult of a day as it could have been, Bark and I really had a great time. There were a few opportunities to really get tired and discouraged, but the Lord sustained our energy and our positive attitudes. The mp3 player totally came in handy, except while changing a song, I had a pretty awesome fall. Just a little slippery mud and down I went- poles flying! No problem though, not even a scratch or a bruise, I was safe! Bark and I made it to Cloudland Rd. where we debated on whether or not to go the .2 miles to the farm where they were offering ice cream, but when we realized we only had 2.3 miles left until the end of the day we deicided to keep on going. It was not long before we heard voices.. and then the shelter sign! Woohoo! We had survived the roller coaster day. About an hour after we arrived, we heard a familiar bird call and up walked Otter with Big Fish right behind. Firecracker arrived just a few minutes later and she and I had some good conversation about hard days for girls on the trail. It had been a tough day for her, and yesterday was rough for me. There was a small work crew from Dartmouth college working on the privy, and they needed some help moving some things around. Bark, Otter and Big Fish headed down to help out and I finished making dinner. For a little while longer we heard chainsaws and hammers as they continued to work, but soon they headed out and back to town. We are looking forward to not only being in New Hampshire tomorrow, but visiting friends in Hanover for a couple days. Only 14.6 miles left in Vermont! 2 states to go...