Week 22: Getting Ready For The Whites

Day 148: Killington

Saturday, August 3rd

Spencer’s house

16.7 miles today

1708.2 miles total

It ended up raining last night and into the morning. So it was a little hard to get motivated. The climb out of the shelter was super steep and I was soaked in sweat and my calves were burning. We passed by a small cow farm but my phone was too damp from sweat to take a picture.

We crossed the 500 miles left marker. Then halfway up killington we passed the 1700 mile marker. It was a long hard climb. It took us a while to get to the top. It was super humid, had to have been nearly 100% and we had to check on Joe to make sure he was okay. The trail doesn’t go to the summit so we dropped out packs and took the spur trail to the top which was nearly vertical. This was our first 4k foot mountain in a long time.

The climb down took a while too. It was a lot of climbing, and by this time we were just so exhausted because we’d been hiking for over 12 hours. We could’ve finished a few hours earlier but Joe was struggling with the humidity and couldn’t keep enough fluids.

We finally got down to the gap around 7 something and met Spencer’s parents there who took us to the inn at long trail for dinner before heading home. The food was superb and they had live Irish music. I had to get a Guinness. We saw a few of the other hikers already there as well like Oscar and Emily, one hit and yard sale, professor milkshake and birdy.

We didn’t get in until pretty late, and after putting my stuff down and taking a shower I basically went to bed.

Day 149: A rest day

Sunday, August 4th

Inn at long trail

0 miles today

1708.2 miles total

I slept in as long as I could. I had a couple bagels with cream cheese and salmon, I haven’t had one in such a long time and it hit the spot. We resupplied for the next couple days to get us into Hanover, NH then chilled at the house while Spencer saw family. They cooked us hotdogs and hamburgers for lunch. Then we had to book it to the store because Joe needed a new pair of trekking poles. Then they dropped us back off on the trail at the inn. We really considered going to the yellow deli hiker hostel but it was already 8ish and it was a thunderstorm outside so it would’ve been hard to get a ride to rutland from here. So we ended up splitting a couple rooms with another hiker, bibo.

Day 150: Wet Again

Monday, August 5th

Winturri Shelter

19.9 mile today

1728.1 miles total

The included breakfast this morning was well worth it. But I had to sleep diagonally on the twin bed to fit. I caught a hitch back to the trail around 9:45 and caught up with some other hikers. Stopped to view thundering falls, the largest falls in Vermont on the AT. I took a lunch at the shelter and caught a bunch of people there, most of them were going to the lookout shelter which is just before the one we were going to. It’s a big privately owned cabin but there’s no water or privy there. The problem with my plan was that it was supposed to downpour around 5-7 so i thought about waiting it out there and maybe pushing on.

It didn’t matter because the rain came at 4 and then an another storm came just a couple miles before my final destination. So I got soaked twice if that’s even possible, so it didn’t matter anymore. I made it to the shelter around 6 and moonshine and a section hiker were already there. So he gave me the rundown on the place and I setup as quick as I could just so I could relax. Of course when I got here too it stopped raining for the most part, I kind of hope it does pick up so it’ll keep the bugs away.

Day 151: I’m Ready

Tuesday, August 6th

Happy hill shelter

21.1 miles today

1749.2 miles total

I actually got to sleep rather early last night but was awoken at 10 to a loud thunderstorm and a guy flashing his bright light into the shelter to setup because he got in late. I eventually did go back to sleep but it continued to rain all night. This morning was really cold too which made me less motivated to get up and going. Some people from the last shelter had already starting coming down to get water by the time I left just before 9. I did the next 4 miles in about an hour but it was mostly downhill and some sections so overgrown I couldn’t see the trail but had to push through the brush.

Today was another hard day though climbing wise, over 5,300ft but it really didn’t feel that bad I kept a good pace all day. I met this guy, easily forgotten, who’s been hiking the AT for 412 days… he had some stories about the rain last year being up to his chest. I can’t imagine being on trail for that long. Then I met this finish guy, Gandalf, and we had a similar pace so I hiked with him for a bit of the day. We stopped in west Hartford and luckily it was a Tuesday because they had a farmers market going on only Tuesdays from 3:30-6:30. Afterwards we kept going 4 more miles to this shelter so tomorrow will be a 5.8 mile day.

I setup in the shelter again just in case it rains and also because it’s just easier to setup and breakdown. I ate my food and dried my clothes out in the fire, life is good. I feel like these last couple days have been a physical challenge to see if we’re ready for the whites and I feel ready, I say ‘bring on the challenge.’

Day 152: Dartmoth Dinning

Wednesday, August 7th

Spencer’s house

5.8 miles today

1755 miles total

I had no motivation to get up what so ever, knowing that today was a short day. Just before we did leave though Spencer coming rolling in. He’d stayed at the previous shelter and woke up at 3 to get here by the time we left. The hike down into town was easy peasy. I didn’t realize the last couple miles of Vermont were a road walk though. I picked an apple from someone’s yard and walked down the street to the Connecticut river h bridge, the boarder into New Hampshire. I met Joe there and we waited for Spencer to take pictures. Two states left.

We walked into town then and met up with Bibo at the dinning hall and some of the students there swiped us in so we didn’t have to pay. The food was pretty good, better than UNCW and they had the Olympics playing on the wall from a projector. We spent several hours there. Watched the Men’s US water polo team beat Australia in the quarter finals.

Then when mojo got into town with Ziggy we met up with them at the lawn and Spencer handed the brick off to BIBO. We said goodbye to Ziggy since he’s getting off trail for a couple weeks to go to Europe. Then went to the co-op so the guys could buy some food. Spencer’s dad then picked us up and took us back to the house. After the usual chores they made dinner for us around 9pm then we went to bed.

Day 153: A New Tramily

Thursday, August 8th

Trapper John Shelter

16.7 miles today

1771.7 miles total

BIBO calls us the three musketeers so now we’re all listening to the audiobook as we hike. BIBO and mojo have joined our crew now that Ziggy is gone. So I’m Aramis, Joe is Porthos, Spencer is Athos and mojo is Constance.

Mojo expected us to arrive at 8:45 like we said but we showed up at 9:45 as we usually do. The hike was slow today with our packs as full as we could muster. But I didn’t mind the slow pace actually it didn’t make the hike seem so bad. We still did 16 miles and got in at a reasonable time, enough to setup our stuff and have dinner with plenty of daylight. I tried to hang my bear bag and when I finally got the rope over the branch and tied off I gave it a slight pull and the branch came down instantly. I tried another and it was so weak my bag barely got off the ground. Finally I found a dead tree leaning against another and when I got my rope untangled i finally got it hung up properly long after everyone else had done so. There’s 8 of us crammed in a shelter made for 8, awaiting the storm that’s supposed to come this weekend.

Day 154: Debby

Friday, August 9th

Hexacuba Shelter

12 miles today

1783.7 miles total

It rained last night but we were all cozy and warm inside the shelter. We were up and out around 8 but had to wait for this guy to get out of the privy (he was in there for a long time). The climb up to smarts mountain wasn’t too difficult but it did take a while. The rocks were all wet and slippery, there’s more mud than all of Vermont and at the top the winds were easily 40-50mph. I had lunch in the cabin up there after we went up the fire tower. Chips, peanut butter tortillas and salmon ( not together).

Eventually we made it to the shelter and it’s the only one on trail that’s hexagonal with two walls open. It’s cool but tonight Debby is passing over us and should be dropping a lot of rain so not the best to be in a storm but it’ll suffice. It was just us and now it’s completely full, 11 of us crammed in weird angles.