Date: 2021-06-08
From: Bascom Lodge

To: Congdon Shelter
Miles today: 20.4
Weather: clear sky

I did not go out last night to watch the sunset from Mt Greylock, but I did make it out this morning to watch the sunrise - it was spectacular.  I had already 95% packed last night, so when I went back into the bunk room at the lodge I was ready for the trail in just a few minutes. I decided not to wait for the coffee and muffins at 8 am.  How good can a muffin actually be?It was already 74 degrees at 6 and promised to get hotter.  I had about 6 miles to hike down to North Adams, Ma where there was a grocery store .5 miles of the trail.  About a mile short of town I passed a flip-flopper named Sojourner who I had briefly seen at Father Tom¢s two nights previous. I slowed my pace and chatted with him during the descent.  That dude is a PLANNER.  He had broken down the entire trail before he started, picking the shelters he¢d be at, how many miles each day, he even had booked reservations in Bangor, Maine in two months!  Non refundable!  He¢s been trying to cut weight from his pack, but hasn¢t had much luck. At the grocery store I did a light resupply (tortillas and peanut butter) and grabbed some lunch as well - two Gatorades, Buffalo chicken wrap and a whole mess of sliced pineapple.  I sat outside at a shady picnic table to enjoy my repast.  15 minutes later Sojourner came out with his purchases and I saw why he had trouble cutting pack weight as he bought two different lotions, shoe inserts (just in case) and some more food. By the time I got back hiking it was 83 degrees and climbing, which is what I had to do as well leaving town.  About a mile later I ran into an area that just had a fire about two weeks ago.  The burned area was quite extensive and I probably hiked through it for at least an hour.  Around eleven I crossed over the border into Vermont and started on the Long Trail which the AT shadows for about 100 miles. The Long Trail runs the length of Vermont north to south and is the oldest long distance hiking trail in the US.  Having said that, I was surprised at how overgrown this first section of Vermont turned out to be. There were times when the branches and underbrush were so thick I couldn¢t actually see my feet and had to lower my head like a running back hitting the hole.  It wasn¢t really well marked in places either, leading to some guesswork on which way to go - more on that later.I took a break at 2:30 at a shelter that was thirteen miles into my day.  After getting water I contemplated life for a bit, trying to choose between calling the end to a hot day or hiking 7 more miles before a day of rain sets in. Dry miles won again and I moved on. So a week ago on Monday I suffered my first and second falls about five minutes apart. This Monday I had two bear encounters about three minutes apart!  As I was coming down a muddy, rocky and steep section just before a beaver pond I looked up in response to a noise to my right and 40 feet away staring right at me was a juvenile bear.  I no sooner saw it then it about-faced and ran off into the trees. I had no time to get a picture, but I did pull my phone out for a quick after action report.Putting my phone away I continued down and not 50 yards later there is a crashing sound to my left and I see another, slightly larger bear running off into the underbrush on that side of the trail.  Perfect bear encounters: I got to see them and they ran like mad away from me!I was so jazzed by all of this that 20 minutes past the beaver pond I missed a trail turn and ended up hiking nearly a mile in the wrong direction down a two-track mud run.  In my defense, there were a lot of footprints in the mud, indicating I wasn¢t the only one to make this error.  Still, I was ticked off at the 40 minute delay that resulted from having to backtrack and find the trail.I got to the shelter area a little after six and set up.  I had no cell signal and it took almost 45 minutes to get a satellite text sent through my Garmin InReach to my wife.  I had begun to wonder if this was going to be the first night on trail where I couldn¢t let her know where I was.  Also here is Odysseus, who is a section hiker plus.  He comes out to the trail for 7-10 windows of time and RUNS the AT.  In this stretch he¢s on he¢s had a 50 mile day and a 45 mile day.  And here I was thinking I had no new inadequacies to catalog.  He¢s been doing these section runs since 2018.  My mind boggles.Swede came into camp at 7:30 and described to me in detail just how good was the muffin he waited for at Bascom Lodge.  I remain skeptical.  So I lie here pretty tuckered out from the heat but happy with another interesting and fun day on the AT.  I tell myself that everyday out here is a blessing and that enjoying the here and now needs to be my primary focus.  I¢m getting better at this!