Date: 2015-07-05
From: VT 140 - mile 1677.2

To: US 4 - Mile 1700.9
Miles today: 23.7

Today I relearned a valuable lesson on the trail. We dropped our gear off at Rip's back door since we were planning to meet up with him after our hike so we got to slack pack. We both met a Rip when we stayed at Elmer's Sunnybrook Inn in Hot Springs. I got to hear Rip play the piano after dinner the last night. Andreas had talked to him when he stayed the day before. Liz and Leo dropped us off at the trail around 8 am. It was a great morning and the trail seemed a little drier though I could feel it was more humid than the day before. I caught up to Andreas at a view of the Rutland airport where someone had left a plastic chair. The next section was nice pine but had some deceptively slippery rock face. I skied at least once on one of the rocks. After a rock scramble climb, I took a quick break. Some day hikers from Boston asked me if I knew how long it took to hike the AT. It's strange when you slack pack because everyone thinks you are a day hiker too. I then set off realizing I was not hiking any faster than I do with a full pack. The main difference is that my feet don't hurt as much from the extra weight. So I was behind pace for when we were scheduled to meet Rip. After about 5 miles, I saw Andreas taking a break by a creek which we had to ford. So I let my feet dry in the sun and ate my lunch while we chatted. It was a really nice day, and he wasn't concerned about time especially since we agreed to only hike the 23.7 miles vs longer. Unfortunately there aren't any roads before 23.7 so we had to go at least that far. We set off again on another nice piney section of trail. I stopped to sign the trail register and took a picture of the "Katahdin 500 miles" sign. I remember passing a southbound hiker in the Grayson Highlands around the 500 mile point. He had returned to the trail after an injury and was finishing his hike. I remember being excited about completing 500 miles and wondered what it would feel like to only have 500 left. Now that I am here, it feels a little surreal. I know the toughest miles are still coming but it's strange to think I may only have a little more than a month left on the trail if all goes well.I forded another stream. We had a 7 mile climb up Killington. It was gradual but long and had some tricky terrain since the last couple miles up, the trail was on the edge of the mountain and there were a ton of tree roots to climb over from fallen trees, dead trees or trees growing on the side of the trail.Finally I made it to the top of Little Killington and then the trail went across the ridge which was up and down. I felt exhausted. My muscles felt tired all day. I was mentally stressed from feeling like I was chasing a timeline. It's wonderful to meet up with people but it does add pressure because I don't like people to wait on me even if they say it's okay. So The stress is internally generated by me and I felt depleted physically and mentally. I knew I wouldn't be done before 7 pm as I had 7.9 miles to go and it was 4 pm. Andreas thought we would be done by 6 pm. I reached the Cooper Shelter 1.6 miles and 45 minutes later and saw the side trail to Killington Peak. I passed by thinking I did not have the time. But then I stopped. I had just hiked 7 miles up a mountain and I was going to miss the peak by 0.2 miles? I decided to go. The trail went straight up steep rocks the whole way. It was a tough and exhausting climb but the view was wonderful, slightly hazy in the distance. A family of day hikers were up there and one of the boys asked me questions about hiking the AT. Where did I sleep? Did I see any bears? How long have I been hiking? Etc. He took my picture and they left down another trail that sounded easier than the one I had taken but I didn't know where it went. So I went back the way I came which is worse descending with loose rock and it was steep. It took an extra 25 min round trip but I was happy I had gone. Unfortunately I took the wrong trail path and ended up on the ski slope with the ski lift and had to go back to the shelter and find the AT. So now I was rushing even more since I lost a half hour. But the descent was Rocky, steep and muddy so I had to be careful. I realized why it's important to hike your own pace and that I needed to get more rest. I mentioned in another post I am not a big sleeper, and I am able to function with less sleep than most. The physicality of hiking Vermont took more out of me than I realized and I can't cheat the rest anymore because the trail only gets more didficult. Hiking 20 miles in VT is more difficult than hiking 20 miles in most of the other sections of the AT I had already hiked. I finally have to admit I need more rest. "No duh!" but those who know me understand the this is a big concession from me so they know how exhausted I must be to get to this point.I finally reached Pico Camp and had a landmark to text Rip that I was 3.8 miles away and they should eat without me since I wouldn't be done till 7:45 most likely. I assumed Andreas was already done. When I finally finished at 7:40 pm, I was shocked to see Andreas sitting on the roadside. He had just finished around 7 pm and had not hiked to Killington Peak. He too had a tough time and said the trail wa more challenging than he recalled. Rip picked us up at 8 pm. Rip brought his friend Barb who also sings in the choir Rip has conducted for 15 years. He will be giving his last concert on Wednesday before he moves to a new musical director position in Cambridge. We plan to return to Rutland for his concert. Rip took us to his favorite Chinese restaurant. We enjoyed dinner then stopped and picked up our stuff from Rip's and met his friend Kathy. Since their place is small, we were going to sleep at Barb's house. We were exhausted and grateful to Rip, Barb and Bart for their hospitality!!