Date: 2008-07-25
From: VT Rt 12 

To: US Rt 4
Miles today: 23.0

Slackpackin¢ SOBO in the Mud and Crud Slackpack VT Rt 12 to US Rt 4: 23 Miles Last night I found out that a bunch of the guys here were going to slackpack a large section from North to south and I decided to go with them. I¢m still bringing my Guitar and camera with me so my pack will still weigh about 25 pounds with water and a day¢s food. Some guys carry that much as their regular pack. I want that guitar to go every mile with me. It¢s a backpacker guitar, it deserves to go the whole trail. We got out in Tom¢s Truck and drove for a half an hour. My feet were completely asleep by the time we rounded the second turn. It was painful and cold with the wind blowing all over us and our packs. We got out at the trailhead about 30 minutes later and guess who was standing right there? You guessed it; Cubit. She and Kat have been hiking together and she was about to go in to Hanover NH. I was hiking south. We talked for a little bit and then I split, trying to catch up with Croce Hunter who was too fast for me. I got to the top of the first big hill on the way to Wintturi Shelter. It was a nice climb with only 25 pounds. A fella could get used to this. My hernia didn¢t seem to be bothering me even though I kept thinking about it twelve times a second. For food I had only brought with me a half a bag of Gorp and one of those Mat© bars which is supposed to have 540 calories and lots of good stuff in it. I passed the shelter turn off and got up to ¢Lookout Cabin¢ which was a tenth of a mile off trail but I decided to go check it out. I would have to be quick though. I was attempting a 23 mile day with a hernia. I got to the cabin and everyone was there who had come on the truck except for Daddy-O and Peacock. There was an old, dilapidated, grey cabin with a little platform on the roof accessible by a long, rickety ladder. Top hat was sitting up there on his phone, presumably the best spot for service and I climbed up to peep the view, which was spectacular. You could see all of the distant mountains you had climbed as all of the distant mountains you were going to have to climb in the coming weeks. I got back on the trail and it was tough going through ankle-deep mudslides and the trail had turned into a full-blown stream in some places. You couldn¢t avoid it; however, I did relish the lack of mosquitoes and flies I might normally have expected to have to deal with under the circumstances. The day was long and I stopped once to change socks and cool my feet in a rushing stream of perfectly clear water. I crossed by Killington Hydroelectric and got some great shots of a nice set of Falls nearby. I realized that the trail and my maps were not the same. Then I looked at the date on the map and discovered that my maps are seven years old and the ATC moves the trail around all of the time. I was getting a little ticked off as I would expect a climb here or flats there and be completely off. I¢m going to have to try to find better maps for the next section north. The day was long and I finally got to US4 too late to catch the shuttle so I had to hitch in; but first, I had to clean up. I hiked about a mile to a small pond on the side of the road and cleaned of and changed into dry, clean clothes so as not to offend whomever picked me up. I got back on th road and started walking and hitching. It didn¢t go so well. I must have walked a couple miles before I caught a ride from a nice girl who was home from college for a week. I think her name was Anna. She got me beck to the hostel and the road was closed because they have this thing on Friday Nights where they downtown closes and they have bands and vendors and stuff. I got a shower and roamed the street, checking out all the sights and sounds. Then I heard that the Twelve tribes Community was having a special Shabbat Celebration at their house. I thought it was closer than it was and I walked there, putting my total miles for the day around 27. My feet were throbbing as I got up to the house. They were having a service inside but it was more like a gathering. It was cool, they had songs and dancing and eventually Lasagna. Six or seven people were playing a variety of instruments and the songs were very reminiscent of a Hebrew/Middle eastern sound. The dances were like that too, people dancing around in circles, holding hands and leaping and stuff. The kids and adults were all together just havin¢ a blast. I would have joined in; but, my feet said, ¢what you talkin¢ ¢bout Willis?¢ We had delicious lasagna and good conversation until late. I got a ride back to the hostel and eventually went to check out the bar I had heard the blues paying at the night before. It was a variety band this time and it wasn¢t long before I was back at the hostel. The door was locked; but there was a note: ¢Mister F****** Gentle Spirit,If you need to get in,call ***-***-****-Team Awesome.¢ That meant Magnus and Br14Hawk were here! I yelled up to the open windows but I woke up some of the Caf© residents on the top floor. I hadn¢t meant to do that. One of the girls from the community came down and unlocked the door for me. I could have shimmied up the drainpipe but it didn¢t seem appropriate somehow in this spiritual place. I got to bed and considered taking Yohanon¢s offer to take me to the VA Hospital in Nearby White River Junction to get checked out. I wanted to do the Killington Section tomorrow but then it started raining and I figured, the last thing I wanted to do was to slip off a rock with a hernia.David AKA ¢Mister Gentle Spirit¢ Website http://www.wbafinc.org Photos: http://www.photobucket.com/brotherproofVideos: http://www.youtube.com/WBAF1