Date: 2017-08-07
From: Danby-Landgrove Rd., USFS 10

To: VT 103, Clarendon Rd.
Miles today: 14.3
Weather: moderate rain

It was 48 degrees when my alarm went off at 5:00 this morning.  I did not want to get up, and I certainly didn't want to get out of my toasty warm sleeping bag.  I have a job to do though, so I got up and started the day.  I dressed in the cold, stuffed my sleeping bag into its sack, took the tent down, put everything into the van, got my daypack out of the van, picked up my breakfast cookies and coffee. (My  new plan for morning coffee is to mix a packet of instant coffee and UHP milk in a bottle.).  We headed out shortly after 6:00.I was in a black mood.  For the past two weeks I've had some kind of small slip or fall every day.  But for the past two days I've fallen three or four times.  This has made me lose confidence in my hiking skills.  Before the last few days I was feeling strong and well-prepared for the Whites, but now I'm not so sure.I headed out alone to have some time to think.  Thinking didn't help.  It made me glum.  After a few miles I reached Little Rock Pond.  The sun was just rising above the trees.  Mist was rising over the water.  Four ducks were swimming, just far enough from shore that I couldn't get a good look.  I was hoping for loons, but what I think I got was coots.  It was quiet except for the sound of a distant woodpecker.  There was a big rock to sit on, but I passed it by.  The trail continued to follow the shoreline.  Eventually I came to a small beach and sat down on a rock.  I looked at the pond for a while, then wrote an email.  Terri came along, and I told her what was troubling me.  She reminded me that we've been hiking long miles, and a few days ago raced through the last ten miles to get ice cream.  She said I was just tired and shouldn't get discouraged.  A few minutes later Arlene came along and gave me a similar pep talk.  I got up and continued hiking.After a while we came to a place with a small flat spot that had four or five massive boulders resting on a bed of soft pine needles.  People had picked up rocks and made sculptures all over the boulders, in between the boulders, even in the trees (see photo).  It was so peaceful and beautiful we decided to sit down for a snack.  While we were there Heat Wave and Snacks came along (see photo).  We spent quite a while there, and Bill made a sculpture to add to the collection.  I started to feel better.  Not long past there we came to a similar rock sculpture garden, but this didn't have spaces between the rocks, and it felt cluttered.  There was no place to rest the eye.  A side trail there took us down to White Rocks Cliff (see photo).  We sat on the cliff for a long time enjoying a wonderful view of Rutland, its airport, and more mountains and trees (see photo).  A young couple was there, and we talked to them.  In a great quirk of fate Bill finally met Roscoe G. Tanner.  For several years Bill has been thinking that if he got another dog he would name it Roscoe G. Tanner.  When he meets a dog along the trail he always asks the owner whether the dog is Roscoe G. Tanner.  Of course, the owners say no and think Bill's a bit simple. Today we met a southbound hiker with a brindled pit bull mix dog.  When Bill asked him whether the dog was Roscoe G. Tanner, the owner said, "He's Roscoe.  Who's Roscoe G. Tanner?"  Bill explained that this was a dog name he was saving, but this Roscoe could have the name if he wanted.  The owner replied that he liked the sound of it.  Bill said, "You can do whatever you want with the G."  We talked for a bit with the hiker and then moved on, Roscoe having acquired a new last name.The last overlook of the day was a rock from which you can see the Rutland airport.  There I got a text from Terri that Warren would take us to town when we got back.  We immediately started thinking of food and hurried to finish the last mile of the hike.  Warren took us to Denny's, where I ate a gargantuan dinner.  Once my belly was full I felt a great sense of satisfaction.  It's hard to eat enough calories out here to cover the calories we burn hiking 12 hours a day. Today, for once, I felt like I didn't end the day with a deficit.  The next two days are 20-mile hikes, our last two.  On Friday we'll be in Hanover, NH for a town day, only hiking 10 miles.  My college roommate Meggie will be meeting me there. I'm really looking forward to this.