Date: 2014-08-21
From: Hanover

To: Southern Wilcox Shelter
Miles today: 114.0

So it's been awhile since my last entry, but yes, I am still hiking. Vermont and Massachusetts in this entry! (No photos, not much service here so it takes awhile)8/7: My time in Hanover was now drawing to a close, as I still had the vast majority of a national scenic trail to do. Mustering the motivation to get moving with a full pack was difficult, yet eventually (11:00 am) I managed to get walking again. While my pace was relatively slow for the terrain, I made it to West Hartford before a short, heavy shower rolled in. The Harts kindly let me wait it out on their porch, drinking soda and eating some trail magic baked goods. Without jumping off the bridge there (a tradition, but it was raining and I had no one to do it with) I continued on to the shelter. 13-14 miles felt more like 8, and I was in high spirits for my first real day in Vermont.8/8: Today Vermont absolutely blew me away in its beauty. For the entire day, I would alternate between gorgeous fields, old stagecoach roads lined with mossy river rock walls, and new-growth spruce forests. The green hills rolled underneath a cloudless sky, and spruce needles made the walking an absolute delight. Off in the distance I could almost always hear a lawnmower going: bringing back childhood feelings and memories of being on the fields of my grandparents property. Vermont seemed like a land of perpetual summer, of innocence and sunshine. I took my time, not really wanting the hike to be over, until I arrived at my destination: a private cabin named The Lookout. 4 walls and a small observation tower made it perhaps the best shelter yet on the AT, even if it didn't have any water (I had to pack a few liters up).8/9: A strange weight seemed to fall upon me upon waking up. The motivation and infatuation with Vermont seemed to have disappeared, so upon arrival at a shelter 7 miles away from The Lookout I called it a day. I took the time to read and sleep, and all in all simply be out in the woods. Perhaps it was not the most prudent choice, but I lived with it.8/10: Feeling much better I pushed on to the Inn at Long Trail for lunch, at the base of Killington. I stayed there for a few hours, eating a gratuitous amount of potatoes in fried and baked form. In anticipation of a night hike I had planned for myself I pushed on up the historic AT to Pico Camp, a small cabin potentially very popular with skiers looking for a place to party. Attempts to nap failed due to mouse activity, and at 11:30 PM I left with the goal to just get as far as I can.Note: night hiking alone is an absolutely dreadful experience. The full moon could not penetrate the tree cover, so the only light came from my bobbing headlamp. Paranoia of slipping plagued me, as well as an unease with the quiet darkness. I had traded the green tunnel for the black tunnel, which made the hike slow and frustrating. Only 2-3 miles in I called it quits by the peak of Killington, cowboy camping under the stars.8/11: The miles out of Killington went slow, as the terrain strangely reminded me of some parts of Maine. Throughout the day NoBo's were recommending a place called 'The Whistle Stop' a half mile down VT 103, so I called that my destination for a hot dinner. To my dismay upon arrival I learned it closed at 3:00. The owners were hiker friendly though, so I pitched my tent in the backyard and spent the rest of the day on my phone next to an outlet. Roughin' it!8/12: After an amazing breakfast at the Whistle Stop, I started out on a large push to get ahead of the oncoming rain, which was rumored to be record breaking. With music in my ears I hammered out 17.5 miles before the rain started, feeling accomplished and capable. A couple of NoBo's came by not too long after and we shared stories for hours, making me much more excited for the latter half of my hike. 8/13: Rain, rain, rain. 100% chance of rain for the entire day, so I pushed out 4.6 miles into a crowded shelter and waited out the rain. There's a satisfaction that comes with sitting or sleeping in a warm sleeping bag, watching the rain come down outside. Wolfburger caught up with me here, so I finally had a hiking partner again. The dried hummus I no longer wanted turned out to be a smash hit among the other hikers, as we learned it tastes excellent with pasta sides. All in all not a very exciting day; yet it feels like every day isn't terribly exciting. Perhaps I have a bias, living this life for nearly two months now. Not that it's losing it's splendor; every day is absolutely amazing, filled with stories and experience. I'm just not sure what those are anymore. I dunno, I'm tired. It's early.8/14: 10 miles before noon into Manchester, in hopes we would be able to spend a fair amount of time there. I picked up a glorious food drop (honey sticks! What what!) and gorged on McDonalds and B&J ice cream in the extremely ritzy downtown. A few hours of putzing around downtown, and I got back onto the trail for another 3 miles to the shelter (with a subway sandwich in my pack for dinner). The shelter was mostly full with a orientation group from Cornell. They were all relatively new to the outdoors, and didn't hang their food up. Sure enough, mice came and ate much of their food, even going as far as to make a whole in a pack! Hang your food, kiddies.8/15: On the trail again with Wolfburger at 8:30 or so, hoping to get up and over Stratton Mountain that day. Rain was on the forecast for the afternoon, so the entire day was a hike underneath complete overcast. Stratton Mountain itself was no big deal; not very steep, but relentless. At the top in the extremely cold fire tower we caught up with ChooChoo, a section hiker who's pack was one of the smallest I've seen so far, especially on a SoBo. Together the three of us hustled the rest of the 18.1 day as the rain started to come down, arriving at a shelter and filling it up.8/16: We had big plans for this day. 19 miles, my longest yet, to make it to the road and hitch into town, where a combination Taco Bell/KFC called to us as our god. Seriously, we had been craving it for a few days now, making the going rather quick. We met up with another section hiker, Puck, and arrived at the road by 5. By then one of my boots had entirely given out, which caused the last seven to be painfully blistery. The Taco Bell was everything I had dreamed it to be, and to top it all off ChooChoo covered the cost of a hotel room for the four of us. Great end to a pretty good day.8/17: A frustrating day. My boots were a liability, so I had to go find a shoe store in the morning. Because Bennington is such a spread out town, it was quite a road walk to get to the store where I purchased a new pair of trail runners. By the time we we got to the trailhead, through poor service at a breakfast diner and a parade that happened to be going through town, it was 2:00, and we had 11.5 miles to do. Wolfburger and I cranked them out though, so by 7 we got to the mouse infested shelter. That night I had accidentally left some lemonheads in my pack; a rookie mistake. Thus, in the morning I woke up to a new hole in one of the belt pockets of my pack. While frustrating, it thankfully does not affect my comfort or ability to hike.8/18: Passed into Massachusetts today! While Vermont was a great state, I was happy to be rid of it and moving on south. A border crossing represents progress and motion in a very visceral way, more than any other landmark in our guidebooks. Wolfburger and I arrived at North Adams not long after, and met up with his now fianc© (congrats!) at the oriental buffet. Wolfburger stayed behind to zero in North Adams, but I continued on to the summit of Greylock; a difficult climb with a full stomach. The top blew me away, with a clear field I lay in for half on hour before making my way to the lodge and treating myself to a bunk room and a steak dinner.8/19: In the morning I DEMOLISHED the free AYCE blueberry muffins, then left with a constant pace to Dalton. The trail happened to pass through both Chesire and Dalton, so I had lots of roadwalking through the 18 mile day. I happened to meet up with Puck again, yet quickly passed him on the uphills. Upon arrival in Dalton I had two floats of orange and grape soda respectively. Soda floats were my comfort food for the last few months before the trail, so it felt great having them again. I stayed the night at Tom Levardi's, who let's people tent in his backyard. Thanks, Tom!8/20: An unneeded mail drop pushed my pack weight to the highest it's been since Gorham, yet I still set out with a goal; my first twenty mile day. Starting at 9:15 was probably irresponsible, as well as taking a couple of hour long breaks, yet I still kept going. At the house of 'The Cookie Lady' I enjoyed lemonade and a Klondike bar, yet at 2:30 grew nervous I wouldn't be able to do the 12 miles left to Upper Goose Pond. Then I remembered that everything is easy after the Whites, and got to the GLORIOUS (free breakfast?! Company?! A bed?!) cabin at around 7.8/21: After yesterday's 20 miles, I decided to take today easy and only do 16. 2 months ago K2 would've freaked out at that prospect. Even through the rain I moved quickly, and arrived at camp just before three with an 8:30 start time. I'm getting stronger, whoo hoo! It's also pretty neat that I'm running into quite a lot of SoBos now. I had been leap frogging with Puddin', Gonzo and Spinoza throughout the day, yet saw very few NoBos. Perhaps the bubble is done?As of right now, I have to do 12.3 per day to get to Springer by Christmas and 15 or so to be done by Thanksgiving, including zeros. Thus, most likely I will be done sometime in early December, depending on if Virginia is as flat/easy as NoBos keep saying it is.I passed over I-90 the other day, which was rather surreal. I could have followed the ribbon of pavement all the way to the exit for the Issaquah Highlands. Modern infrastructure is amazing.There seems to be a chance that a friend or two may be able to come hike with me for a few days! No details yet, really, but it looks like some section of New York I may not be hiking alone.Nearly out of Mass, then onto Connecticut. New goal; Falls Village for a shower!