Date: 2011-06-24
From: Thistle Hill Shelter

To: Happy Hill Shelter
Miles today: 8.8
Weather: light rain

Oops...I made yesterday another Day 6. It should have been Day 7. Day 8:Start Thistle Hill Shelter, VT, mile 1724.6Stop Happy Hill Shelter, VT, mile 1733.4Hiked 8.8 miles NorthboundSleep shelterCell marginal (mostly one tiny bar, sometimes 2 small bars)Old Goat's notes:We were in our sleeping bags at 6:30pm last night to keep warm and it worked. The only drawback was we both fell asleep early and were awake in the middle of the night.We are both carrying our winter bags which are handling these temperature real well. I am so grateful we decided to have them instead of our summer bags. C6 is carrying her down jacket and I have only my fleece, so far it is working out well for both of us.The weather forecast doesn't look good, spotted showers for the next few days. It is times like this that get me thinking, "Why do I like hiking?". Certainly not for days like this. I love the nice days and the feeling of accomplishment. These are the days we pay our dues for the great days.We'll finish Vermont tomorrow. Thru hikers call this state Vermud, the dirt only needs water and you'll have instant mud just in time for the main thru hiker pack. The class of 2011 will not miss out on the Vermud experience.Today's hiking was very pleasant The hills were not killer hills and there was a fair amount of flat for easy hiking to catch ouf breath on. The Deli at lunchtime didn't disappoint either. After lunch we had only 4 miles to hike, mostly uphill. Fortunately the hills were gradual and we made excellent time getting here. We are the only ones here at the shelter, but then it is only 5pm. I wouldn't be surprised to see other hikers later, the town vortex is calling them so they'll be ready to hit town tomorrow morning (only 6 more miles).Check 6's notes:We were so glad to be in the shelter last night when we heard a downpour of rain for about 2 hours nonstop. Luckily, we each had just stepped out to pee just before the downpour started. Whew!Today's hike was wet because everything is wet and saturated. The only time it rained after we started hiking was when we were in a deli ("Full Belly Deli", West Hartford, VT) enjoying lunch. So we didn't get rained on, but we did get wet. From the bushes and from our sweat. It was too cold to hike in just a shirt, so we wore our rain jackets to keep our body heat in when we need to. When I stop hiking when it's as cold as it is right now, I get cold real fast. I start shivering when I've eaten some food or if I drink a cold liquid. I was in the deli with my rain jacket on while we ate. Once I drank a cold bottle of Powerade I stated shivering. They had hot chocolate - that helped me stop shivering. When we resumed hiking I started with my wool hat and my fleece jacket under my rain jacket until I warmed up. Then we stopped and put the jacket and hat away when I warmed up enough. One advantage of hiking in cold weather...my glasses don't fog up as often. We got to the shelter early and immediately changed into dry clothes. Our tent screen is up because a few mosquitoes are buzzing around. (Another advantage of cold temperatures...less bugs!). It's pretty cold still, however, so I think we'll be in our sleeping bags early tonight to stay warm. Sent from my iPhone