Date: 2006-07-30
From: Mt. Graylock

To: Seth Warner Shelter - Vermont - 12th State 
Miles today: 13.2
Weather: few clouds

This morning was another ride to Mt. Graylock by Bama¢s gracious hosts and fond farewells. The day was cool and clear, but following the rains of the last day or so, the trail was very muddy. Bama is now in Vermont! Only three more states to go and some of the prettiest hiking on the AT ¢ or so say some. Bama said the sign ¢welcoming¢ them to Vermont was a pitiful, handwritten thing as opposed to the handsome, wooden one placed by Massachusetts welcoming SOBOs ¢ she was sort of surprised.The mud was so bad in parts that she was forced to avoid deep, boot-sucking mud by hopping (and jumping) from rock-to-rock and hard surface-to-hard surface. Bama¢s hiking seemed more like being a human checker piece hoping across a board. I have read from other year¢s journals that this stretch of trail is rather infamous for its mud. So far, Vermont is a long way from the hiker¢s paradise she was led to believe it was. The trail maintenance seems non-existent. Bama doesn't expect many more 15-18 mile days until the trail improves.Maybe the Green Mountain Club represents trail purists that feel undue maintenance will ¢spoil¢ the experience and that hikers should do it the natural way. As a result, if this is true, hikers have now created ¢outlaw¢ trails on the parallel drier and easier portions of the terrain ¢ thus defeating the philosophy of damaging as little of the environment as possible. Maybe the trail is just overused. Either way, Bama thinks it needs to be re-routed.Aside from this, it was a pretty day and another great turkey sandwich from Judy and Silvano. Bama and Little Wing made it to the Seth Warner Shelter, about three miles into Vermont. There were two other section hikers there doing the Long Trail. Due to the boggy nature of the trail, the mosquitoes have been horrible. Bama and little Wing were forced to sleep in their tents to avoid them.From Cuppa Joe and Touk¢s Long Trail journal they commented, ¢So far we have identified four varieties of bugs that love to torment the hikers. Blackflies go for the legs and feet. Deerflies enjoy the back and shoulders not to mention they like to fly in circles around your head for hours at a time. Horseflies and mosquitoes round out the list and they attack any area that is exposed. We all look like something out of the plague with our bug bites everywhere.¢Reports from other journals say that sighting of moose are possible starting in this region. An adult moose bull, averaging 1000 pounds and standing 6+ feet at the shoulder, is the largest wild animal in North America. Moose cows can be dangerous and have been known to kill wolves, grizzlies, black bears and people in defense of their calves. Oh well, one more animal to be on guard for.The MA/VT border is also the southern terminus of the Long Trail, reaching from here to the Canadian border. This portion of the AT is actually older that the AT and was complete in 1921 when the AT was proposed. It is the nation¢s oldest long-distance trail and the Long Trail and the AT share common ground from here for 100 miles until the Long Trail heads off in a different direction north. This heavy use area uses caretakers for maintenance and some of the shelters require payment to stay in them. Off-trail camping is restricted.Bill