Date: 2013-10-28
From: Rte 9 Bennington VT

To: Goddard Shelter
Miles today: 10.1
Weather: broken clouds

The morning started early, with a road walk and a bus ride to get to the trailhead. Last night I left my car at the trailhead parking lot at VT 11/30, near Manchester. From there I went 3.7 miles on foot to stay at the EconoLodge. In the morning, it was a 2.2 miles to the bus stop in front of Rite Aid. Waiting for the bus, I had a coffee and donuts from the nearby gas station. The bus left a little after 7:00, and took me to the main terminal in Bennington, where I transfered to a free shuttle to the trail head at Rte 9.The trail starts by crossing the river on a nicely arched footbridge, and soon begins a steep ascent that will total 2,180 feet at Goddard Shelter on Glastonbury Mountain. There's a split rock formation, not too tight a squeeze. It made me think of "Fat Man's Misery" in Purgatory Chasm, in Rhode Island. My daughter took me on a hike there several years ago. I went down into it, and was somewhat puzzled that a young hiker and his girl friend took so much interest in watching me. Probably they didn't think I could climb back out - they left as soon as I did it. I stopped at the Melville Nauheim shelter for lunch, consisting of peanut butter and jelly on a wrap. The hike was planned for four days, and that amount of the ingredients added some weight to the pack, but it seemed like a good idea to have the calories available, in view of the cold weather. Stopping at Hell Hollow Brook to get some water, I experienced an equipment failure. The SteriPen which was operating on almost new batteries showed red, meaning the treatment was unsuccessful. I had spare batteries, but didn't understand why they failed so early. So I dropped a pill into the water and went on. Then I figured it was the cold, and moved the SteriPen into my shirt pocket, under the fleece. I was wearing two shirts, a fleece, and a Goretek jacket. When I got to the shelter, the SteriPen worked, so I kept it in my sleeping bag that night. I was wearing new boots, Vasque Breeze 2.0 GTX, 11.5 wide. My feet are somewhere between 11.5 and 12, and the woman who sold them to me at REI suggested I try the wide, which seemed to help the fit. I bought them the day before the hike. A fellow shopper remarked that it wasn't that good an idea to take a longish hike without breaking in the boots, true enough. I probably could have hitched into Manchester when I left my car, but I figured the few miles to the motel would serve as a break-in and if there were any problems they would show up by then. My previous boots were called Zephyrs. I like to hike in boots but relatively light and fairly flexible in the soles, apparently the breeze or zephyr name describes that type of merchandise. In any event, the Vasque fit well without any break-in, were waterproof as advertised, and kept my feet warm. I only met one hiker, kind of a Zombie type, a bearded young man with a glazed look in his eyes, he asked me what time it was, received the information he required, and continued on down the trail. Sometimes it's nice to make a little conversation when you meet someone hiking in the wilderness. The Glastonbury Mountain area has been declared a wilderness, according to signs near the trailhead. That means there is less attention to blazing, and the the trails are not swept or brushed as thoroughly. There were blowdowns that hadn't been removed. As the sun slid toward the horizon, I started to wonder if I would make the shelter by daylight. I got out my headlamp and wore it like a necklace, but it was still daylight when I made the shelter. I wasn't carrying a tent, under the theory that the shelters are spaced at ten and occasionally five mile intervals, and there would always be plenty of room, since very few others are hiking at this time of year. I had a survival blanket, which is big enough to be used as a tarp, as a fallback option. In retrospect, it would have been better to carry a tent and save the weight somewhere else. Arriving at the shelter, I had it to myself. It's large, with a porch on front, and a nice view out over the mountains. Because of the altitude, the trees are fir with a sprinkling of mountain ash, similar to what I encountered at the top of Mount Graylock. It's a wonderful location. Previous occupants had left some firewood, but I didn't bother with it, and turned in as soon as I had eaten supper.The night was fairly cold - somewhat below freezing. The sleeping bag I had with me is rated to 15 degrees, and it was OK but not great. I had Nike trainig pants as PJ bottoms, and wore two shirts and a fleece. I wound up using my jacket as a cover over my legs, it seemed to increase the warmth a bit. My feet stayed warm. My water froze.