Date: 2006-07-26
From: Sherman Brook Campsite

To: VT 9 (Bennington, VT)
Miles today: 16.6
Weather: few clouds

Just after leaving camp this morning I ran into a man by the name of Tyvek Man. He is a south bounder that is hiking the entire trail barefooted and all of his gear is made from the building material tyvek. It is kind of funny because you never know whom you will run across out here and he was definitely one to add to the list. Not long after meeting him Jane, The Professor, Jessie James, and I crossed the Massachusetts / Vermont border. This means eleven states down and only three more to go. For the next couple of miles there was not a lot to mention besides the section hiker that twisted her ankle. I offered to help but they insisted that they were fine and that they were just going to take it slow to the next shelter. Not long after I passed them I ran into a southbound section hiker by the name of Chris. He was just out hiking for the day. Chris and I talked for a while about the trail and the upcoming town of Bennington, VT. He grew up in the town and offered us a place to stay for the night if we decided to come into town. He sometimes offers hikers a place to stay but does not advertise as a hostel. I ended up getting directions to his house just incase. At the next shelter Shasta and H-Bomb had taken a really long lunch break waiting on us to catch up. With Jane, Shasta, H-Bomb and I back together we push on to VT9 for our next break. Our initial plans were to go another 1.8 miles to the next shelter but when we got to the road everyone was thinking about ice cream in town. We did a quick coin toss to make the decision about whether or not to go into town and since the first two flips landed heads up we were headed into town. I guess it's not illegal hitchhike in the state of Vermont because we were thumbing for a ride while a state trooper watched. Lucky us a girl just getting off of work at a nearby state park picked us up and took us into town. She dropped us off at a Friendly's restaurant. This worked out great because after we ate all we had to do was walk next door to Chris¢s house. He gave us a tour of his house and then set the four of us up to sleep in his barn. You are thinking hay and cows but this barn had a pool table, dart board, fireplace, and hardwood floors. Not only did he give us a place to stay for the night, he also let us take showers, use the Internet, and do laundry. This is a form of trail magic at its best. Since we had a great place to stay for the night with tons of stuff to do we all took over the place and had fun. H-Bomb was our DJ and commanded the radio for the evening while Jane and I shot some basketball. Now if you want to see this girl shine you just give her a basketball and goal. She was nothing but smiles. After things cooled off a bit and we had gotten all settled in for the night we decided to go next door for the ice-cream that we initially came into town for. We invited Chris's son Josh to come along with us and I believe it made his day. Not long after the ice cream we were all useless so lights out to another day of happy hiking.Tonight at Chris's house: Jane, H-Bomb, Shasta, Josh, Chris, and I.