Date: 2015-07-22
From: Stony Brook Shelter, VT

To: West Hartford, VT
Miles today: 26.3
Weather: broken clouds

Up at 6:30am with the rest of the group. I was happy to exit my tent for once due to the small reservoir that formed during last night's storm. I tossed and turned in all the warm gear I had, but it was rendered close to worthless once wet. The only way to begin warming up was to hit the trail. The sunny morning promised fair weather and I looked forward to a later opportunity to dry out my gear.Yoohoo, Huey, and I pulled away from Rabbit and Wilson and were soon standing atop "the lookout," a cabin with a set of stairs leading to a roofdeck. Once on top, a 360-degree view of the mountainous terrain of Vermont and New Hampshire towards the east stood before us. We decided here to continue another ~6 miles to VT 12 where we would break at a farm store for lunch. As we continued up and over Ascuteny Mountain, the sky clouded over and a light rain began falling. With rain jackets and pack covers on, Yoohoo and I pulled ahead, sloshing through mud and wet grass as we gradually descended towards VT 12.We reached VT 12 as the rain let up and made our way a few hundred yards off the trail to On the Edge Farm for lunch. Although a cute store offering farm-fresh produce including eggs, beef, pork, honey, homemade cookies and pies, and limited snack options, the prices are a bit overpriced on a hiker's budget. Yoohoo and I went in together and bought turkey meat and made our own sandwiches. I also had a couple Snicker bars, 4 Coke's, and a piece of homemade strawberry and rhubarb pie that Wilson treated us to. While we were relaxing and digesting afterwards, blue skies reappeared and I took advantage by spreading all of my gear in the grass. No more than ~20 minutes later my gear was dry and my spirits greatly improved. We returned to the trailhead where we found Rabbit snacking on his lunch, not knowing we had ventured off nearby to the store. He rejoined the ranks and the 'USS Bennington' continued on.Immediately after entering the woods, the trail climbed up and over a series of 4 small mountains (or large hills,) rising ~300-600ft each, with names like Dana Hill and Totman Hill. I found this a particularly unique and scenic stretch because each peak summit was home to different stands of trees including pines, whatchamacallits, and what's their faces (I wish I knew more trees.) It was also during this stretch that Yoohoo and I identified a few more solid echo locations. Descending from a particular ridge overlooking a valley, we "yoohoooood" and "ewweeeeed" to discover that our echoes seemed to climb over a nearby Mountain before returning to us from the next valley over.We finally reached Pomfret Brook, a rushing body of water slightly flooded from the recent rain. A cable extended between 2 trees on either side of the creek, a means of assisting hikers should they choose to fjord across. Not wanting to risk further soaking my boots, we moved a few feet upstream to a few boulders sticking just high enough out of the water to hop across. As I reached the other side, I began making my way along the slick rocks before eating it at Yoohoo's feet and dropping a trekking pole into the water. As my pole began floating away, and knowing that Wilson was right behind me, I let out a quote from Castaway: "Wilson! Wilson, I'm sorry!" Fortunately Yoohoo grabbed it for me and all was well. Seconds later we reached a red bucket filled with a few Mt. Dew's and sat along the road for a few minutes to enjoy them.Being close to a mile from another off-trail market, Cloudland Market, where we hoped to stop and enjoy another quick soda, a ~900ft climb still remaind between our locations. With it already being 5:00pm, we decided to send the quickest person off in order to get there as soon as possible. We didn't know what time they closed, but assumed possibly 6:00pm. With a steep climb waiting and me chomping at the bit, I was released and off climbing - a single song on repeat that'd accompany me the rest of the evening. I soon reached the summit, enjoyed a passing view of surrounding mountains, let out a quick "Ewweeeee" to which Yoohoo returned his "Yoohooooo" from some distance behind and below me, and continued blazing on. I followed the ridge line for a quarter mile before climbing another ~300ft. The remaining distance was downhill which I covered in no time. I reached the road at 5:30pm, but unfortunately found a sign stating that the market closes at 3:00pm on Wednesday's. Crap. Oh well, nothing else to do but to continue on.I knew that ~2 miles ahead up and just over Thistle Hill was Thistle Hill Shelter. I reached it in what seemed like a blink of an eye and headed in to use the privy. I ran into Moosehead here where I assume he might have stayed for the night. The privy, I might add, was particularly unique. With sidewalls rising just about as high was your waist and the remaining being mesh screen, I as able to sit and enjoy a 360-degree view of the woods around me. It felt very comfortable and inviting, unlike most of the closed-in crap boxes along the trail. I checked my guide and saw the remaining terrain for the next ~5 miles was dominantly downhill leading into West Hartford, VT. I decided to continue on for an hour or so, utilizing the daylight, before pitching my tent. Huey arrived as I was refilling my water and decided he'd continue on with me.With both of us listening to our individual songs on repeat, we'd cruise along as the miles passed quickly. At 8:00pm we stopped to decide whether to camp or push on - push on, it was. We ended up covering the ~5 miles in an hour and a half. We exited the woods just before 8:30pm and made our way down a road to a house we'd heard gold things about from SoBo's the night before. A husband and wife trail angel duo offering a place to crash, soda, and occasionally food. Unsure of whether or not to show up at 8:30pm, Huey and I cautiously knocked on the door to inform them that we were on the property. Opening the door was a man named Randy who was happy to have us and gave us a quick rundown. In a loft above an old garage was a sleeping quarters for hikers - cots, a fridge, power outlets, and a TV complete with a wall of movies/DVD's. He told us to drop our stuff, which we did quietly due to 4 sleeping hikers, and return to the house where he'd grill us up some hotdogs. We grabbed some cold drinks off the porch and then he invited us in to eat our hotdogs and join him in the living room to watch an episode of American Pickers. It was an excellent way to cap off a 26-mile day and an awesome act of kindness from Randy.After downing our hotdogs, watching American Pickers, and chatting with Randy who, along with his wife, has been a trail angel since 2001, Huey and I retired to the sleeping quarters and fell quickly asleep under the coolness of blowing fans. An overall great day of hiking.Here's to the drying power of the sun, a day of 7 sodas, and the kind, welcoming spirit of Randy and his wife.*Also, thank you to both Spartacus and Christine for your new readership. I appreciate the kind words and thank you for choosing to follow along in my journey. Cheers to you both.