Date: 2007-09-04
From: Vermont!

To: Williamstown, Mass
Miles today: 0.0

Yay! I've made it to the 500 mile mark...531.8, to be exact. So many things have happened since I last wrote, I'm not sure where to start.The last time I posted I was in Hanover, NH. Spending the night at Baltimore Jack's was interesting...we had quite a bit to drink at the 5 Olde Nugget, and hitched a ride back to his house. I was pleasantly awakened by some resident roosters, who were quickly on the receiving end of some rocks. I spent another day there just hanging out, talking to Coffee and Roy, who both showed up into town, and watching the Dartmouth sights (very nice, might I add). I was intent on leaving town, and once it got dark, against the words of Barbarossa, I left. Knowing that my phone charger would be waiting for me in the next town, I turned it on and called Kevin. I talked to him for quite a while, and then called my friend Grace. While I was telling Grace about the Mt. Lincoln experience, I missed the two stacked blazes and took a wrong turn. I walked, and walked, and walked some more, all in the wrong direction. I pulled out my companion and consulted it...no help. Finally, I called a cab, after wandering for about an hour and was dropped off back at the bar where everyone was. Needless to say, everyone laughed at me, but with the help of a pitcher of Long Trail Blackberry Ale, it all rolled off my back! Spent a second night at Baltimore Jack's, and took off early in the morning with Barbarossa. While we left the house early, we did not leave town quite that early, but continued on at a good pace. I was able to see where I had missed my turn, which was interesting. Mom had sent my phone charger to West Hartford, which is just inside Vermont from Hanover, so we swung by the PO to pick it up. As we were walking in front of this house on the way back to the trail, some dude shouted "Have time for a cold one" out of the front door. Of course we had time for a cold one. One cold one turned into around 5 each, and when Randy's wife came home there were some tense moments. There was another dude there, Mel, who was working on a car in the driveway. Mel is legally blind. Mel used to be married to Randy's wife. Randy and Mel are really good friends, Mel likes to drink Bud Light. Randy likes to drink Bud Light. Barbarossa and I really like to drink Bud Light. That went on for about 2 hours, and Randy mentioned jumping off of the bridge across the street from his house. Being a couple deep, Barbarossa quickly agreed to jump off the bridge. I had not had quite enough to drink, so I volunteered to be the official photographer. Barbarossa jumped off the bridge after Randy bobbed up and was able to still move his arms and legs and denied any tingling sensations or other things that might indicate a serious spinal injury. We did a quick push for the rest of the day, and stealthed along the trail in a nice mowed field, with great views of some shooting stars. We watched the international space station float from horizon to horizon, and passed out.The next day was not that exciting. Only hiked 15 miles, after planning to hike over 20. A big storm came through, and we pushed to a private cabin on the top of a mountain hoping for a good view of the storm. Barbarossa got there a few seconds before the rain started, and I only had to walk for about 10 minutes in the rain. It was nice to be able to sleep inside, and I got some good quality reading time in.The 31st brought us into Rutland, Vermont, where we were able to catch up with four other SOBOS, Tartar Sauce, Woodward, Uly and Sock Hand. Barbarossa and I caught a ride into town with Plans Too Much, a local who offers free shuttles and the like, and got some groceries and everything. We sat around the bar for the next few hours, spent a decent amount of money and talked to the people staying in the Inn at Long Trail. Not wanting to spend money to sleep inside, we planned on camping across the street in some grass next to the overflow parking lot. We had the pleasure of watching the Daily Show and the Colbert Report, both of which were rather entertaining. We also talked to a couple from Texas, and Barbarossa enjoyed sitting about 18 inches in front of the woman, who seemed unable to talk without spraying saliva all over the place. Luckily, I was spared. I welcomed September by climbing to the top of Killington Peak, which has a ski hut on top. The place was packed with weekend hikers and such, which was not too exciting, but I got a massive bacon cheese burger, which filled me right up. When Barbarossa had put his pack on in the morning, his shoulder strap broke. As he has the same exact pack as me, I looked at mine, and my shoulder straps were about to break, too. I called up Gregory, and their service center was closed, so I called their regular number, and gave the poor guy who picked up the phone quite the ear full. I don't think he has too many remaining good thoughts about through hikers after my venting, but it felt good, because I was really angry. Apparently, there have been lots of problems with the pack I've got, the Z55. I really like the pack--it fits well, rides well and has a nice design. However, they don't seem to have been field tested very well. I was also upset that because of the extended weekend, I was going to have to wait another 4 days before they could start to do anything about fixing the problem...grrr. We stayed at Clarendon Shelter for the evening, where we had a big fire (no white gas this time). We all acted crazy, and I enjoyed a few sips from the lightweight traveler I picked up the the roadside liquor store.We woke up and walked a mile downhill then 1/2 a mile down the road to The Whistle Stop Cafe, where I wolfed down a double order of French Toast, which was incredibly good. DQ, a NOBO from Australia came in, and I asked him what city he was from. He was from Perth, and grew up on the street that I lived on when I was over there for school!!! I thought that was the craziest thing ever, as did he, so we talked about Australia and stuff for a while until it was time for us to leave. We did some good miles out of town, as the walking was really easy. The terrain in Vermont is mucher kinder on the body than Maine and New Hampshire. There are quite a few switchbacks, which make climbing easier, and the Trail spends quite a bit of time going through pine forests, which have nice soft areas to walk in. I came across a couple from Long Island towards the end of the day and walked with them for about a mile after they offered me a ride into town, but I ended up not needing to go in for anything. This was rather unfortunate, because they had a brand new, bright red Mustang, which looked and sounded quite fun to ride in! Woodward had hitched into town, and when I arrived at the shelter, there were two cases of beer to go around, so we all had a great night.Yesterday, we woke up rather late, because we only had 14 miles to do. We all took two hour naps on top of the first peak that we got to, and then after wandering a bit further went swimming. The weather has been absolutely perfect, and the walking continues to be good. The swimming was very nice, but unfortunately they don't allow soap, so I couldn't really clean myself off...I'm starting to smell after about a week without a shower! Barbarossa caught a ride into town to get beer at the end of the day, and I carried 18 cans of Bud Light for 2.5 miles up the side of a 3,260 foot mountain...it was quite the workout. We spent the night on top of Bromley Ski Resort in the Ski Patrol Hut, which was amazing. It was really warm, despite the super high winds outside. I stood on top of the observation tower for about 30 seconds to get a picture of the sunset, and then went back down to drink some brewskies.Anyways, I'm going to be in NYC, Williamsburg & VA Beach at the end of the month; shoot me an email or give me a call if you're interesting in beer, or other good things while I'm temporarily out of the wilderness!