Date: 2008-08-05
From: 2 miles north of Windhall River, VT

To: Manchester, VT
Miles today: 6.6

Today started out early. I heard a coyote come by the tent last night sometime after midnight, then next thing I knew it was 5am.I knew we were going to be leaving early to meet my ol' buddy Chief and Xmas at the trail-head in Manchester, so I stuck my stove outside the tent and got my coffee started.I had just finished that and a couple Poptarts when Mrs Gorp said it was time to get moving. I got moving! :-)I packed up my stuff and took my tent down and was ready to walk at 6:35am. We headed north on the Appalachian Trail....through lots of mud.It was a cool morning...probably in the upper 50's. I heard a wood thrush talking to me. I haven't heard one of those buggers in a while.We passed Rootville Rd in a few miles, passed by Prospect Rock, then climbed towards Spruce Peak Shelter. We walked past that side-trail without stopping. We kept walking and started hearing road noises. We saw my ol' buddy Chief and Xmas talking to Twisted Sister when we came out of the woods.It sure was good to see Xmas and Twisted Sister. Ha! ;-)We all headed into Manchester. They dropped Mrs. Gorp and me off at their motel and we got cleaned up while they took Twisted Sister to town.We headed out to ¢Up For Breakfast¢ when they got back. I had the hungry Hiker and so did Xmas. He's a REAL hiker! :-)We walked over to the outfitter afterwards and I saw Forecast and Aggie, then Mr. Bones and Stubs came in.Forecast is over his Lyme, but now Mr. Bones has it. He had a big bulls-eye on the back of his leg.My ol' buddy Chief was wearing brand spankin' new hiking shoes without a speck of mud on them and I found him over in the shoe department looking at a new pair. Chief shopping for new hiking shows, but there is no dirt on his current shoes??? When we were able to pull Chief out of there, we headed up to the northern terminus of the Long Trail on the Canadian border to drop them off.It turned out to be a looooong day because they had 5 food drops they wanted to make. I looked in each of the boxes and their ¢likkor¢ supply....Jim Beam and Evan Williams in plastic bottles.It took all afternoon to make those food drops.My ol' buddy Chief decided he wanted a motel. He said he was already behind on one rest day on this hike....and he hadn't even started walking yet!That is classic Chief. :-)Now I have to tell a classic Mrs. Gorp story;Mrs. Gorp has been in this area quite a few times before, so Chief gave Mrs. Gorp the map and asked her to be the navigator while my ol' buddy Chief manned the vehicle and Xmas rode shotgun. Stumpy was busy eating chicken wings. :-)We were making turns and driving quite a few miles. Chief wanted to go to North Troy and get a motel...because like I said, he was already behind one rest day on this hike. ;-)We were all busy talking and not really paying much attention. The roads were getting smaller, turned to gravel, then narrower, then started getting bumpy and rutted, then we were at the trail-head.Chief turned around and gave Mrs.Gorp a look that I will never forget. 8-)There wasn't a motel in miles....this was THE trail-head for the northern terminus of The Long Trail near the Canadian border....in the middle of nowhere! :-)I felt sorry for Xmas because we were in his car and my ol' buddy Chief left claw marks in the headliner as Mrs. Gorp pulled him out of the car feet first.THE BOYS ARE IN THE WOODS! :-) The BOYS are heading out... We unloaded their packs and I cracked the window and snapped a picture of my ol' buddy Chief and Xmas as we sped off back to Manchester. Now I know why Frogcaller, Mrs Moosie and Jewels all had such BIG smiles on their faces when they did that to me....it's FUN! :-)Another great day spent along the Appalachian Trail. :-)