Date: 2007-08-12
From: Govenor Clement Shelter

To: Home
Miles today: 10.6
Weather: broken clouds

Angels ExistPaddy-O woke us up at 8 by blasting "what would you with a drunken sailor" by Burl Ives from his truck stereo. That was a very fitting way to be woken up! He cooked more bacon and we had the same breakfast as the day before. He offered to slackpack us to US4 in Rutland and of course we took him up on it again. We had a 3 mile, 2000ft climb up to Killington Mtn at 4235ft elevation. All of us were hungover which made the hiking slow at best, pack or no pack. I hiked with Singe most of the way up. We scared up 5 grouse at once and were definetely startled by the sound. At cooper lodge we took the .2 blue blaze to the summit and found ourselves overwhelmed by people in their sunday best who had taken the gondola up. Singe, Misplaced, and I sat at the summit for a bit then walked over to the Gondola for the ski resort. The guys running the lift said it was free for thru hikers so we took a ride down to the base just for fun. I had been on that gondola before and it was weird to see it again without snow on the ground. Nothing was open at the base lodge so we rode back up to the summit and got lunch at the summit lodge. After lunch everyone headed back to the trail, but I stayed to call Ken. This was the first time I had cell reception since I left Manchester. I got a message that he left earlier, so I knew I could talk with him. He answered when I called and we talked for a bit. When I mentioned that I could get home from rutland, he said that he would Love to see me and his voice perked up a bit. He wasn't telling me to get off the trail, just that he would like to see me. That made my decision, I was going home. I figured I could take the Amtrak to NYC then get home from there. The next 6 miles were very tough for me. I was essentially saying goodbye to the trail, fully prepared to end my thru hike to be with Ken. I managed to make it down to the road and met up with the slackpacking crew. I explained the situation and could tell everyone felt bad for me, especially Paddy-o. I was going to get a room at the Long Trail Inn with singe and chuckles and leave in the morning, but as I was walking away paddy-o called me back. He asked if I was definetely going home tomorrow and I said yes. Then he offered a ride somewhere tonight. I asked "where to" and he just said "we'll figure it out". I thought it couldn't hurt to at least get closer to home so I got in the truck with him. Off we went down rt7 into mass then I suggested we take the mass turnpike to rt87. He said sure and next thing we know were driving south on 87. We got closer and closer to NJ and then Paddy-o said he would take me right to my house! We got there at 1:30am and he wouldn't take a dime for the trip. He dropped me off and we talked for a few more min then he headed home to White Plains, over 2hrs away. The kindness of people surrounding this trail absolutely amazes me. There should be more people like that in the world! He gives new meaning the the term trail angel. Today's StatsStarting Point:Governor Clement Shelter Ending Point:HomeMileage:10.6Elevation Gain:2810ftElevation Loss:2730ftHiking Time:7:24Weather:cool sunnyPain Factor:2