Date: 2023-08-10
From: Clarendon Shelter

To: AT Welcome Hostel
Miles today: 106.6

Google Photos Photo AlbumDay 57Clarendon to The Inn at Long TrailAT miles 16.7Mikes hiked 18.7Today we climb Killington Mountain, the second highest peak in the state and also home to the Killington Ski Resort. There¢s a snack bar up there so high hopes for real food for lunch.A little over an hour into the hike I came to a road intersection where after a short walk I arrived at Stone¢s Throw Farmstead. This is an actual farm that offers hiker friendly snacks and treats as well as other hiker services such as mail drops and Wi-Fi. I got some cold chocolate milk before continuing back up the trail. Refreshed, I was off to Killington Peak. There was a bit of road walking then the trail followed a stream for a while before turning towards Killington Peak. The next couple of hours were a very, peaceful, enjoyable walk in the woods.Then the climb to Killington began. This was a long, strenuous hike. There was a long stretch of rocky fire road that eventually turned uphill into the forest. Normally, hiking on a fire road is a welcome relief both to the feet and pace. This road was rutted with those baseball sized rocks that were a pain in the neck to walk on. I was hoping the trail would be an improvement over the fire road.  The trail was mostly not great as it was very eroded and there were a lot of blowdowns covering the trail. The day was hot so there were several stops to filter water. After what seemed like an eternity I finally got to Cooper Lodge, the shelter right before the summit. There were a couple of tent pads there and Silver Back was eating lunch on one of them. I dropped my pack and grabbed my camera to go up to the ski resort to see what I could see. Miracle and Sunshine were just coming down and passed me. The views at the top were nice but the clouds were starting to roll in. I went back down to the tent platform to eat lunch and head out. We all headed out together. Miracle, Sunshine, and Pizza Handz were heading into Rutland for a resupply and a zero. Silver Back and I hiked to the Churchill Scott shelter. Kibbles and her dog were there along with another hiker we didn¢t know. The tent sites were not so great so we decided to try for the next shelter. We took off at a very fast pace trying to make it before dark. Before long it started to rain a bit putting even more urgency into our hike. As I was almost running down a hill I saw a familiar blue backpack in the distance. It was Jose. We caught up and hiked down to the road crossing together. One of Jose's sponsors, Mad Hatter, was waiting in the parking lot. He offered to buy us a beer at the Inn at Long Trail so we jumped in his truck and went to the Inn. While there we also ordered dinner. I had the Shepherd's Pie which was very delicious.  The Inn at Long Trail has quite a history dating back to the Green Mountain Trail Club days. Part of the inn is built using the rock walls from the mountainside as walls for the inn. McGrath¢s bar has an Irish Pub feel to it. They also have really good food.While inside it started to storm and Mad Hatter suggested it might be better to stay there than hike in the dark in the storm. It didn't take much convincing. We were both glad to not be out hiking in the storm. We'd already hiked almost 19 miles and my legs weren't anxious to do another hard climb. Jose left with Mad Hatter and we called it a day.Day 58Inn to Lookout CabinAT miles 17.3Miles hiked 19.0We ate breakfast at the Inn where we saw our trail magic friends from a couple days before. They stopped by our table to say hi and joke around some. We were also joined by Tinker, a 71 year old thru hiker. He's hiking the trail for his second time. The last time he did the trail in sections. This time he's doing it all at one time. I weighed myself in the hiker lounge and if the scale is correct I've lost 22 pounds since starting my hike. Now I'm back down to my normal weight.After breakfast we walked back up the road to the trail passing Jose, Daybreak, and Dragon Fly. Dragon Fly is a black woman thru hiking with a broken wrist. She took a bad fall on some rocks. The doctors thought she was getting off the trail when they put her cast on. Instead, she told the doctor to put another layer on because she didn't want the cast falling off while she was hiking. Our destination for the day was the Lookout Cabin. It's a privately owned cabin just off the trail in the middle of nowhere. For years the owner has allowed hikers to stay there. The bonus is there is a deck on top of the cabin with fantastic views.The trail passed through Gifford Woods State Park. I passed by Coyote and Banana on my way out of the park. The walk through the park was pretty nice carrying us past Kent Pond. Eventually we came to Thundering Falls, the highest waterfall on the AT in Vermont. It was pretty impressive.  Silver Back and I stopped there for pics and a snack and answered tourists¢ questions about hiking the AT. Next up was a very long boardwalk through a marsh area. Water was up to the boards of the boardwalk in places and the place was teaming with birds. After a day of trying to avoid getting my feet soaked the boardwalk ended at a long, flooded section of trail. Nothing to do but plow ahead. We still had a long hike to the cabin which included a big climb followed by several ups and downs.  We made it to the cabin around dinnertime. There was a definite chill in the air so soup (aka ramen) was on the menu. There was another hiker already there who was already asleep. The SOBO had set up her tent inside so Silver Back and I chose to set up inside as well. Mostly to ward off the mosquitoes. After dinner we climbed up on the deck and the views were incredible. It was getting cold and we were tired so we climbed back down and were in bed before it was dark.Sometime after dark Tinker and Daybreak came in and set their tents up in the loft then climbed up on the deck to watch the stars. They later told me that the stars were brilliant.Day 59Lookout Cabin to Thistle Hill ShelterAT miles 15.0Miles hiked 16.7Sometime early in the morning I heard a hiker climb up on the deck for a bit then climb back down. I later found out it was Coyote. Silver Back and I got up and hiked out before anybody else woke up. We hiked to Winturri shelter to fix breakfast. I had to make a privy visit so Silver Back left ahead of me.  A little more than an hour later I came to a swampy field where it wasn¢t real obvious where the trail ran. I caught up with Coyote and we hiked together for a while until we came to a place where we weren¢t sure if we were really on the trail or not. Coyote continued straight and I went left. I came out at the road intersection where there was a support van for a group of runners. I asked if they¢d seen any hikers and which way the store was. They had no idea what I was talking about so I got out Far Out and figured out where the store was. I hiked up the road to the country store for lunch and some snacks. Silver Back was already there along with several other hikers. I went in and got a sandwich and a couple of sodas. They had spam packets! The first I'd seen. So I bought a couple of packs looking forward to a dinner feast in the near future.After eating we headed back out. The day and hike were very pleasant and uneventful, passing through mature, open woods and fields to our campsite. As I was coming to a road crossing I saw a flock of hen turkeys with poults about 2 miles before the campsite. I counted over 30 turkeys in the flock. e made it to the Thistle Hill shelter where there were a lot section hikers camped. Roadrunner and Coyote were also camped here. I cooked spam and added ramen and mashed potatoes and accidentally added Orange Crush drink mix. I was hungry and not about to waste that Spam so I had no choice but to eat it. Amazingly, it was edible and reminded me of orange chicken.  I filtered water then hung my bear bag on the first try then went to use the unique privy with a view. Who thinks of these things? It started raining about 15 minutes after getting in my tent. Good timing. As always, I hoped to stay dry during the rain.Day 60Thistle Hill to Hanover, NHAT miles 15.0Miles hiked 15.0Today is the day we leave Vermont! Silver Back and I planned a zero in Hanover, New Hampshire to eat, rest, resupply, and plan the next leg of our journey.  I was slow getting out of camp then had to make an unscheduled/unanticipated nature call so Silver Back got ahead of me. We had several climbs today with lots of ups and downs but overall the trail tread was very walkable and the hiking pretty enjoyable.  Silver Back and I had a room reserved in Hanover so out of convenience it would be good if we arrived into town together. I knew he was somewhere in front of me but I figured I would catch up with him before town. After several miles I was surprised when I hadn¢t caught him so I started power hiking to catch him and couldn't figure out why I wasn't catching him. I passed a trail to a shelter but looking at the time figured if he had stopped there for lunch he would already be gone so I kept on. Turns out I had probably almost caught up with him by the time he got to the shelter.  With about 5 miles to go I figured if I ran I'd catch up to him so I ran most of the 5 miles into Hanover. No Silver Back. But I finally had a signal so I texted him but he didn't have a signal.  Nothing to do but wait. I got a snack from a gas station and sat on a park bench across from Dartmouth College looking like a homeless person amidst all the well dressed Hanoverites and Dartmouth students and families.Silver Back finally had signal and responded. Turns out he was at that shelter I passed by.Oh well. Everything worked out.We got a ride to our motel, started laundry, cleaned up and headed back into town for dinner. We were eating at Molly¢s. Silver Back was meeting one of his friends, Hot Hands, there. The food was excellent. We said goodbye to Hot Hands and went to the gas station for snacks before heading to the motel. The gas station was closed.  Back at the hotel we repacked our packs and figured out what we needed for food from the store the next day then went to bed.Day 61Hanover to Trapper John ShelterAT miles 16.2Miles hiked 18.4We caught the bus into town then walked to the co-op for resupply. I stopped at an ATM for some cash then we were off into the woods. Mud right away. I thought I left Vermont and its mud behind. I would soon learn that when it comes to mud, Vermont has nothing on New Hampshire. We had a pretty good climb right away then descended into the very definition of a quagmire. The trail was not even a trail. And the black, soupy mud was prime mosquito territory. I somehow got separated from Silver Back so I was ¢hiking¢ alone.I finally came to a road crossing which provided temporary relief from the mosquitoes. There was a cemetery just down the road to the left. Maybe things will get better. Nope. Little did I know they were about to get a lot worse. So it was more of the same Vermont style trail. There were even sections where hikers got to choose their own trail. I came to one section that was so ridiculous that I thought, "The heck with Leave No Trace principles. I'm not wading through that mess. Trail maintainers could do a better job."  Now I'm going off the trail in an ever widening circle looking for dry ground. Having found it, I started working my way back to the trail. Ah! Nice trail again. Oh! Choose your own path again. Some semblance of a trail again. There's a white blaze. Good. And so it goes for about 45 minutes until I finally reach the next road intersection. I look both ways for traffic and see a cemetery down the road to my right. What are the odds that there is a cemetery at consecutive road crossings? Are you kidding me? The trail provides and the trail punishes. So I did an about face and started back up the mountain.Wanting to make up for lost time I decided to skip lunch. Bad idea of the day Number 2. Cars and hikers don't run on empty tanks. When I finally made it to the correct road intersection I was about done. Nothing to do but sit on a log and eat. I had signal so I called Robin while I ate lunch and licked my navigational wounds.Summoning my strength I started back up the trail not remembering there was a significant climb coming up. This one was kicking my tail. Having not eaten enough I was drained. I had to take multiple breaks and was almost nonstop eating snacks.After what seemed like two forevers I made it to where we planned to camp right at dark. There was a 3 person trail crew building a new privy. After viewing the old privy it's a good thing. The old privy was disgusting. I quickly set up my tent on a little hill then made dinner. One of the hikers, Friendly, had built a fire so I sat in the smoke to ward off mosquitoes. As soon as I finished eating I was in bed and almost immediately asleep.It rained during the night but I managed to stay dry.Day 62Trapper John to Hexacuba ShelterAT miles 12.0Miles hiked 12.0It started raining about 3 AM. I woke up about 7:30 and fixed breakfast in the shelter then packed up the tent. Silver Back had gone off to the privy for his morning constitutional when I then saw him wandering off into the woods. When I asked what was wrong he said there was no way he was using that privy. I should have warned him. I finished packing then wandered off into the woods for my own pre-hike evacuation.Thankfully, it finally stopped raining around 11:00. I climbed to the top of Smarts Mountain then climbed up the fire tower. Not much of a view but the clouds were pretty cool to watch. While there I checked my messages and saw where I had a message that I had to resign my coaching positions since I retired. This caused a delay as I had to make several phone calls trying to sort everything out. It seems that as part of my retirement I had to resign my coaching positions even though they are separate from teaching. Almost everybody was surprised by this. I now had to wait a certain number of days before I could reapply for those positions. Ridiculous.After all this excitement I ate a quick lunch in the rangers cabin then headed back down the mountain. Pretty soon I was climbing on a lot of rocks. This made for slow going because of the mud, wet shoes and wet rocks and roots. I came to one rock where I kept slipping back down. After several tries I finally made it up.  At the bottom of the climb to the shelter I stopped to get water. I was soon joined by a well dressed, energetic, friendly, cheerful section hiker named Chris. He and his wife were out hiking for a few days and stopped here for the night.We hiked up to the Hexacuba shelter, an Octagonal shaped shelter, together. Chris talking excitedly the whole way. There were no decent tent sites - especially if it rained and it was supposed to rain during the night. I decided to sleep in the shelter with Chris, his wife, and Friendly. One hiker (Kitchen) showed up with his support dog (Dynamo) and he (the hiker, not the dog) seemed lacking in social skills. He didn't ask if it was OK to bring his dog in the shelter and he didn't take off his muddy shoes. Interestingly, Kitchen and Dynamo started their hike in Pensacola, Florida.In no time Chris was best buddies with Dynamo and Kitchen was at least conversant.I found out much later while hiking with him that Kitchen had been medically discharged from the Army and Dynamo is his support dog. Kitchen is a pretty nice guy who seems to be dealing with a lot of issues. He's also a very strong hiker.Day 63Hexacuba to Hiker Welcome HostelAT miles 14.4Miles hiked 14.9We had a pretty straightforward hike to the Hikers Welcome Hostel in Glencliff, NH. But straightforward does not mean there was no excitement.The morning started with a climb up Mount Cube. While not a high mountain, Mt. Cube has caused more than its share of hiker injuries and/or rescues. The climb up was not easy and the top of the mountain was all rocks. In good weather this would have been spectacular hiking. Today I was sliding all over the place. I took two hard falls which made it really hard to trust my footing making for some nerve wracking hiking.On the way down I passed some trail crews constructing rock stairs. I¢ve always been fascinated by what must go into the construction of rock stairs so I watched them work for a while and asked a lot of questions about how they moved the rocks into position. They demonstrated this device that was similar to a come along that moved pretty big rocks with ease. Then one of the guys says, ¢or you can do it the old fashioned way.¢ while picking up a pretty big rock and carrying it up the trail. Beast mode.About 2 minutes after visiting with them I had my third fall of the day when I hit a slick patch of mud at the top of a hill and slid on my butt to the bottom. I was not a happy hiker. Now, with more trepidation I continued hiking up the muddy, rocky trail hoping to remain on my feet the rest of the day.After a couple of hours walking without falling my confidence was returning and I was picking up the pace. The trail turned into a creek and the maintainers had installed bog bridges to keep hikers out of the creek. Walking across some split log bog bridges running down the center of the trail turned creek I came to a bridge that sloped down since the end log was missing. I slipped on that and found myself thigh deep in the drink. That put me in a rather foul mood.  Now I was hiking angry. Just before the road there was a huge pool of muddy water. I tried skirting around the edge instead of plowing straight through the pool. Adding insult to injury I had a fifth and final fall into that mudhole. I somehow managed to prevent a full face plant by landing on my knees and catching myself with my trekking poles. There are no words¢¦I finally made it to the road to the hostel. Roadrunner and Mountain Goat were there along with many other hikers. I was surprised to see Chia there since he was supposed to be summiting based on his itinerary when I last saw him in Pennsylvania. Turns out he was bitten by a black widow spider and had to get off trail for awhile. When he saw he couldn¢t make it he decided to hike until he had to go back to school. CT was also there. I figured I¢d never see him again either.The hostel was very welcoming. I signed up for a shower and laundry. My clothes were so muddy I had to prewash them in the shower before throwing them in the washer. Then I ate a couple of Hot Pockets for dinner before catching the shuttle to the store. The hostel has its own resupply closet and the owners allow hikers to see their offerings and prices before making a supply run so they can compare prices. Turns out the prices meet or beat that of the stores.  We grabbed some food and headed back to the hostel to resupply and go to bed.There was a lot of excitement among the NOBOs in anticipation of climbing Moosilauke and entering what most consider the highlight of the hike, the White Mountains. Going to bed it looked like a favorable weather forecast so I hung my tent off the balcony to dry and turned in for the night.Hiking the Dream!