Date: 2009-07-28
From: Little Rock Pond Tenting Area

To: 2.5 miles past Clarendon shelter
Miles today: 15.6
Weather: scattered clouds

I was the first one up in the morning and the first to hit the trail. After a little while, Feels Like Today caught up to me and we hiked together for a bit. It wasn¢t long before we came to the magical rock sculptures, which surprised me, as I thought they would be further ahead. This was one part of the trail that I had been looking forward to. Even Feels Like Today pulled out his camera for the occasion. It was like we were in a little fairy world.    As we hiked on, Feels Like Today pulled ahead and I reached the second set of rock sculptures at the head of White Rocks Cliff, alone. After taking a few pictures, I debated whether or not I should go down to the cliff. The sign said it was 0.2 miles away. I started down the rocky hill, carefully stepping, stepping, and trying to see the cliff ahead. I never saw it. I figured it was too long of a sidepath and that I better head back. Then Andy appeared. He was going to go down and take a look for himself. I told him I would see him up ahead.    It was a warm day, and I finally felt like swimming. There was a lake near Minerva shelter and I thought it would be nice to cool off before I went to the restaurant. I soon came across a man going south, who told me that there was a large group of thru-hikers gathered at the shelter. Oh, really? He said it was only about 10 minutes away. I picked up my speed to try to catch them. When I arrived, only Feels Like Today and one other hiker were there. The rest had already left for the restaurant. I had now narrowed the gap from 5 miles to 1 mile. I decided I better get moving if I wanted to join them. I had three miles to cover, and boy did I hike them fast! I was on a mission! When Feels Like Today finally caught up to me near the end of it, he couldn¢t believe it. ¢When you want something, you really go after it!¢ he commented. He asked me why I wanted to catch up with them. ¢Do you want to hike with them?¢ I said I was just thinking about that myself. I wasn¢t really sure. I said it would probably be fun for the first second, but after that, not so much. We hiked over the bridge spanning Clarendon Gorge and made our way out to VT 103. I waited for Feels Like Today to make sure he didn¢t want to go to the restaurant. He did not, so we parted and wished each other well. I followed a caretaker down the road to the Whistle Stop. Leon was outside on the porch and said hello. The rest of the group, including Mr. Pink, was inside. When I walked in, he rolled his eyes and shook his head at me. I was stunned. What was that about? I had just caught his full day lead in only a day and a half, on a sprained ankle, and this was his reaction? I couldn¢t understand. Before he had left Manchester, I threw all my frustration at his awful behavior towards me aside and gave him a big hug. I was full of life and spirit. What was this? I waited for the bathroom in silence. Then, I sat down across from Stats and looked at the menu. I was not starving by any means. In fact, I thought the amount we were eating out was overkill. I ordered a western omelet, and sat through an uncomfortable meal. Mr. Pink kept implying that he was so much better than us because his group stopped to go swimming at each lake they had come to. (Even though he didn¢t actually swim). ??? What is the purpose of such talk? He was working very hard at coming up with statements that were meant to make me look inferior to him, when in actuality, they made not one iota of sense.   While at the restaurant, I received a second offer from my rolfer Brian to be worked on by someone who was closer to the AT. I got excited about this possibility, but found out I would need to get to Burlington at a specific time. Scheduling rides and appointments were far from the space my mind was in, and I felt like I would just prefer to keep moving and take the time needed to heal my body later.    The group planned on heading back to Clarendon gorge to go swimming, and I decided to go with them. I walked the half-mile back with Stats.      I loved being in the water. I felt so much more alive being in its midst, as opposed to looking at it. The current was so strong that I had to hold onto a rock to prevent myself from falling over the rapids. I stayed in for awhile before getting out to dry myself on the sunny rocks.      However, the freedom of this moment was soon to be overcome by increasing oppressiveness as the rest of the afternoon would become more and more uncomfortable. Mr. Pink refused to even look at me for the rest of the day. He took photographs of everyone there except me. At the same time, another hiker (who had ignored all the advice I had given him) came on shockingly strong to me and would not leave my side for the rest of the day. Everywhere I went, he followed me, and was constantly trying to touch me (the more shocking part came when he took me aside). I felt extremely uncomfortable. After everyone was finished swimming, they wavered about what to do next. Some wanted to go back to the restaurant for dinner, some wanted to hike on, and some wanted to camp right there. We waited so long, that members of the big group coming behind us started to catch up. I decided I wanted to hike on and the guy who was coming onto me got up to come along with me. I told him that I wanted to be alone. Then I stepped in front of Mr. Pink in the circle of people and asked if he could check on me later on as I felt very uncomfortable. He snapped back, ¢Why?¢.. I told him I¢d tell him later. Based on his previous behavior, he should have been the one person looking after me.   Off I went, into the night alone. I stopped at a ledge and looked at the sky. I wanted to stay there and watch the sunset, but knew I had to continue on. I could tell that the sunset that night was going to be a beautiful one. I stopped at Clarendon shelter to cook dinner, and then packed up once again and pressed on. I hoped to find a clearing where I could see the sun set, but only found woods, which frustrated me. I kept going and going, and soon it was dark. I hadn¢t found a spot I could set up my hammock in and started to feel stressed. Finally, I just wandered into a patch of woods. The ground was littered with dead leaves and I hoped not to step into a covered hole and hurt my ankle again. I found two trees that were sufficient, tied up my hammock and tarp, and crawled inside. Mr. Pink did nothing to check on me, but I did get a short apology e-mail from the hiker that had been overly aggressive with me.