Date: 2003-08-25
From: Stealth Campsite, Harmon Hill

To: Stealth Campsite, Little Pond Lookout
Miles today: 7.1

Well, today did NOT go as planned...sometimes I question the logic in planning at all! We got up early, as we were heading into Bennington, VT to go to the post office (me) and resupply (Randy and Tumbling Grace), and wanted to get in and out of town as quickly as possible. Yeah...so, define "as quickly as possible". We got going at 8:30, and were at the road at 9:30. We met Slack, Smarshmallow, her brother Seth, Free Radical and Double A getting ready to set off on a 20 mile slack pack. They informed us who was in town (Pop-O, Flatlander, Pushing Up Daisies and Viking), and said, as they were leaving, that Vermont was "an easy hitch". I do believe they jinxed us! We usually have no problems getting rides, but today, it took 40 minutes before a young guy pulled over to pick us up. He was very nice, and drove us all the way to the store we'd asked to go to. The only problem was, we didn't realize how large Bennington was, nor how far away from the center of town Hanna!ford's Supermarket was. We got all the shopping we needed to do done, then sat outside trying to get someone with a pickup truck to bring us back to the center of town. We gave up after awhile and started walking and hitching again. This time it only took about 5 minutes, and the fabu guy who picked us up in his Volvo station wagon not only took us to the post office, but offered to bring us back to the Trail, as well. Unfortunately, we still had more to do, so we declined his generous offer. I picked up my mail drop as well as a card from my friend, Helen. Thank you, Helen, for the card, the ocean view and the contents, which have been partially (and hopefully, suitably) disposed of! It was MUCH appreciated mail! It will be great to see you when I get home next weekend! We went from the post office to Friendly's for lunch. Randy and I both got fajitas, with free sundaes, and Tumbling Grace got pot roast. I don't know if I said anything about Gerri acquiring a Tra!il Name...and I realize I've continued to call her Gerri in my journal. She was dubbed Tumbling Grace by Pushing Up Daisies, as she falls quite often, but does so gracefully. I'll try to be better about using it. We were totally full, and went outside to sit in the sun for a bit. I still needed to get some alcohol for my stove, so I went to the hardware store. On the way back, I called Blue Jay, with whom I had discussed the AT at great length a couple of years ago. He has done a thru hike, and what, almost two section hikes? He had sent an e-mail, offering help in this section (had I known the hitching situation in Bennington...), or just wanted to meet up. We chatted for a bit. He met Blip when she went through Bennington. I thanked him both for encouraging me to undertake this adventure and for his offer of help. He may be able to meet us at The Inn at Long Trail when we get there on Sunday...it was great talking with you, Blue Jay! I went back to Friendly's where Pop-O had shown up. He's taking the day off and staying at a mot!el. We found out that Deacon Blues, Little Bear and Sci Girl also got in today. Deacon Blues has been Trying to catch Pop-O for 49 days now...finally he's done it, and they're staying at the same place! we said our goodbyes to Pop-O, and started out of town...it was almost 3...kinda late for needing to do 10 miles, a lot of which was uphill. We had equally bad luck trying to hitch out of town. Finally, a gentleman in a pickup pulled over to bring us, thankfully, back to the Trail. We set out on the steep up...it felt like we were climbing straight up forever. In reality, it was about 1/2 mile, but with heavy packs in the heat...yikes! We went on to the first shelter and took a quick break, deciding that we should try for the next shelter. Tumbling Grace changed her mind after we started climbing again. We changed our goal to a lookout that was four miles before the shelter. Very soon after that, it started to rain...what else is new? We found a stealth site and !set up in the rain...everything is so wet! I'm dry and pretty warm inmy tent right now, but have to go to the bathroom and don't want to go outside! Guess I'll have to deal. Will end today's journal on that note. More hiking tomorrow!