Date: 2013-07-07
From: Stony Brook Shelter, mi 1,707.6

To: VT14-West Hartford, VT-The Arkwright's
Miles today: 26.3
Weather: light rain

For over 50 miles now, since first catching up to Analog and FoxTrot on the summit of Bromley, we had woken in a synchronous manner, packing gear up by 6:30am, choking down a quick breakfast of complex carbs, and bolting down, or up for that matter, the AT by no later than 7am. This morning was no different. All three of us had set up tents behind the Stony Brook Shelter the evening before. We were packed and bolting down the trail around 7am. Stony Brook Shelter which lies on a prominent east trending kink in the AT (the second shelter east of Tucker-Johnson Shelter where the trail first turns east of Rutland), heads into what geomorphically appears to be an ancient fold belt that has since been placed on a chopping board and minced. Instead of long linear ridges, the trail crossed over many short knolls and in and out of deeply incised ravines. In the afternoon, north of Thistle Hill Shelter, we discovered that there was a lot of steep climbing, for what appeared to be mostly down hill in AWOL's 2013 guide. It was important to always remember that any slight topographic hick up on the small scale of AWOL'S watermarked profile was generally 200-vertical feet of change. Some of the climbs however, seemed relentlessly steep and long for what appeared to be a smooth sail into West Hartford. It was late in the afternoon when we finally intersected VT14 at West Hartford and began dragging our feet down the road into town. A picturesque large red barn house appears at the first bend in the road, before crossing the bridge across the White River into town. I think it was Analog who first noticed a small AT symbol on the Arkwright's sign which we saw as an invitation to knock on the door. At first there was no answer. The residence was being used as a sign making business, and had several other structures toward the back of the property that could facilitate dry work space. Speaking of dry, Arkwright was one of the towns that got hit hard by hurricane Irene- I believe in 2011. The local White River jumped its banks and inundated the entire town. The town today, seemed much of a ghost town. Many houses were still boarded up, including an old church immediately adjacent to the Arkwright property. When we finally met the husband and wife, they were as friendly as ever. They welcomed us to set up our tents anywhere on the back lawn next to their personal flowing creek. The creek had been partly dammed to form a pool, where they invited us to wash up if we wished. The also brought out a large box of hiker food left by others. It contained mostly Mountain House freeze dried meals, which as you know, are pricey. FoxTrot, being penniless, stuck his mits in the box first and grabbed most of the choice meals. When we sat at the picnic table on the back lawn next to our tents, we agreed to do some trading between the freeze dried meals and donuts. We cooked dinner on the bench, which was interrupted by the start of thunder showers. We finished our cooking and quickly moved to the peripheral covered porch of the main house out front. Mr. Arkwright sat out front and talked with us as we ate. It rained through the night, along with the occasional flash of lightning and rumbling thunder