Days 119 to 137
July 28 to August 15
Seven Oaks Road, New York to
Arlington Road, Stratton, Vermont
Thru-Hiker's Blues
Hi All:
It's been a while since I've sent Sally an update for our blog. Well, I think I've been suffering from the thru-hiker's blues, pretty much questioning why I'm still out here on the trail.
Today, for example, I fell five times thanks to the slippery, muddy, wet rocks. Plus, I managed to snap one of my hiking poles. I now have several more painful bruises to add to my collection, and my left knee and hip are talking to me.
My feet are seldom dry. I hike in wet boots and socks daily, only to take them off in the evening and put wet boots and damp socks on the next day.
With all of the humidity and rain there is on the AT, your clothes and gear are continuously damp. Mold and mildew love these conditions. You open your pack, and it smells like mildew. You climb into your damp goose down sleeping bag, and it smells like a moldy, wet goose.
The clothes you've been wearing for the past five days not only smell like your body odor, they reek of mold and mildew. When you pass day hikers, you think that they smell pleasant with their freshly laundered clothing. You notice that people give you the wrinkled nose test and a wide berth. You go into a restaurant, and you're ushered to a back corner away from most patrons or to outdoor seating. Actually, that's kind-of fun.
Hunger -- you're always hungry. You could easily eat all of the food in your pack in one sitting. If you did, you would be out of food for the next three or four days.
When you do go to town for resupply, most small towns have the same resupply items: Ramen noodles, Knor side dishes, packaged tuna, and Pop Tarts. Four months of eating the same things gets pretty monotonous.
Then the sun comes out, I meet someone interesting on the trail. I take some time off, I wash my clothes and sleeping bag. I'm hiking with a new trail companion (Slugger), and I have only 550 miles to go. Things aren't so bad. Life is good, and I hit the trail and keep walking.
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Slugger |
Sally's Notes:
TRAIL MAGIC:
On July 30th, Titanium (Dan) sent me a link to a FaceBook post shared by a trail angel, Pacer, who kept track of all the thru-hikers he met that day. Here are photos of Titanium and Slugger from Pacer's collection, as well as photos of his hiker register and menu for the day. If you click on the link below the photos, you will meet more of the thru-hikers who enjoyed the trail magic on the same day.
SLUGGER:
Slugger started the AT in Georgia on the same day as Titanium, so they had leap-frogged each other often along the trail. I met Slugger as she passed us while I was dropping off Titanium and Rocky at the Mason-Dixon Line as the trek through Pennsylvania began. Her husband Bill flies out from California when he can and provides trail magic of his own, facilitating slack packing for a few days at a time. I was imagining that Slugger must have been a college softball star, but Slugger says that she was gifted with her name by a friend when a slug slowly glided across her sleeping bag early in the trip.
CATCHING UP
Days 122-128
July 31 to Aug. 6
New York to Connecticut to Massachusetts
The day after Pacer's trail magic, one interesting person that Titanium (Dan) met was Badass and Blind, who is blind and thru-hiking the AT this season.
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| Badass and Blind |
The storm video above was taken on August 2nd and was part of Hurricane Betsy's tail as it hit the AT in the Northeast. Titanium found a stealth camping site that night and then awoke the next morning to realize that Slugger was camped nearby. With a failed new tent that was taking on water in all the wrong places, Titanium decided to dry out in Fishkill, New York, securing a room where Slugger's husband had booked her a room.
In the meantime, I sent the tried and true Nemo Dragonfly tent (along with rain gear that had previously been sent home) in a priority mail package to the next anticipated stop in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, to help Titanium avoid the nightly drenching his new tent was allowing. The Dragonfly made it through the thunderstorms in the Smokies, so surely it would be an improvement!
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| Open-Air Privy -- No Smell! |
The hikers quickly dispatched the AT miles in Connecticut before crossing into Massachusetts. During his last night in Connecticut, Titanium stayed at Barbie's Place, a bed and breakfast catering to thru-hikers and run by Barbie, the 80-year-old proprietor whose family originally owned the farmland around for miles and who certainly does not look 80! She has a welcome mat that says, "Barbie's Dreamhouse," and she serves a mighty tasty breakfast.
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| Barb, Proprietor of Barbie's Place |
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Barbie's Dream House |
Days 129-137
August 7-15
Conn.-Mass. Line to
Arlington Road, Stratton, Vermont
Back to Titanium's Daily Log:
Day 129, Aug. 7
We crossed the 1500-mile marker today and crossed into Massachusetts. We made it into Great Barrington to stay a couple of nights and slack-pack with the help of a shuttle. A good Mexican diner and the promise of a resupply package with my Dragonfly tent were very welcome!
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| Connecticut-Massachusetts State Line |
Day 130, Aug. 8
Slack Packing: A wet day with a lot of steep, rocky climbs and descents. Bear Mountain had a lot of scrambling and bouldering. I fell four times and ended up with a small cut on my face. We had meatloaf for dinner at The Well.
Day 131, Aug. 9
Overcast and drizzle most of the day. Great trail with a lot of boardwalks. Severe thunderstorm warning to get off the trail. Tropical storm Ryan moving through. Deluge started just after shuttle driver picked us up. Washed clothes.
Day 132, Aug. 10
Nice day. Pine needle-covered trail. Long sections covered with standing and running water due to tropical storms that moved through last night. Second half of the day the trail turned rocky with very long, slow climbs.
Hiked through Dalton, Mass. Trail runs through the residential section of town. Had lunch at a local sub shop and picked up supplies at a Quickie Mart.
Camped in the "Cookie Lady's" field at the blueberry farm called "Blueberry Hill." We got in too late for berry picking or cookies.
Day 133, Aug. 11
The trail was much like yesterday with a lot of wet, muddy trails and water running down the trail like small creeks. I missed a turn and ended up taking an alternate route into the town of Cheshire. The AT runs through town.
Got into town and the camping area about 8:15, just as it started to rain. Set up camp at Father Tom Campsite, an area provided by the town for hikers and cyclists; both were camped there.
Chesire's claim to fame is the Chesire Mammoth Cheese, which was gifted by the town to President Thomas Jefferson in 1802.
Day 134, Aug. 12
We went into town for breakfast at Charlie's diner. The place was packed with thru-hikers and locals. Both the food and service were great. And this establishment, like many others I've visited, was cash only.
We packed up our gear and headed out but stopped at an ice cream shop near the campground. I got a drink, and Slugger ordered a "small" cone with sprinkles. That thing was huge.
The weather was overcast and threatened rain, but the rain never fell.
Our objective for the day was to climb Mount Greylock and camp near the shelter. The hike to Mt. Greylock was relatively easy with the exception of the last two miles, which were extremely steep and rocky. The trail was very eroded from rain and snow run-off.
I was having stomach issues and was about two hours behind Slugger. I arrived at the summit as the sun was setting. At the summit are the Mount Greylock Lodge and the Veterans War Memorial Tower, a massive stone monument/observation tower. Sally and I had actually ridden our bikes up the road to Mt. Greylock many years ago when we lived in upstate New York, but the summit looked different coming up the trail on this evening.
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| Veterans War Memorial Tower Mt. Greylock, MA |
Day 135, Aug. 13
We hiked from near the Wilbur Clearing Shelter at mile 1591.4 to a stealth campsite above a beaver dam at mile 1609.9, crossing the Massachusetts-Vermont state line along the way. Great weather. A lot of steep, rocky climbs interspersed with lots and lots of sticky mud.
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| 1600-mile Marker |
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| The AT & the Long Trail Run Together for 100 Miles |
When the wind blows here, it rains acorns. Those things hurt when they contact the bridge of your nose on their trip to the ground.
It felt like this day would never end. Nothing in itself was that hard; it was just when you combined the number of climbs and muddy sections of trail that it made for a challenging day.
At day's end, I camped on the side of a hill in a little spot barely large enough for my tent -- definitely a stealth site.
Day 136, Aug. 14
We hiked to the trailhead near Bennington, Vermont, today, where Slugger's husband Bill picked us up to stay in town. He is in Vermont for several days and has an ambitious slack-packing schedule set out for us. Thank you, Bill!
Vermont, known as the beautiful "Green Mountain State," is also living up to the nickname thru-hikers give it: "Vermud."
We slack-packed about 23 miles today with Bill picking us up where Arlington Road crosses the AT in Stratton, Vermont, at mile 1640.6 of the AT (about 550 to Mount Katahdin in Maine!).
While Bill and Slugger stayed at a hotel in Manchester, I tried out an interesting hiker hostel called the Wicked Station Hostel. When I made the reservation, I was given a key code to enter. The code worked fine, and at first I thought I was all alone in the building. I eventually realized that another guest was in a locked private room upstairs, but I never saw that person. It was well organized with a full kitchen that had lots of signage. I spent an enjoyable evening with the whole ground floor of the hostel to myself, and I fixed myself coffee and waffles before leaving in the morning.
NOTE FROM SALLY: UPCOMING IN NEW HAMPSHIRE
I will be driving with the dogs to New Hampshire over Labor Day week and will help Titanium and Slugger with a couple of days' slack packing in that state. We plan to have Rocky hike with Titanium while I am there for a happy trail reunion. However, we're thinking that with the notoriously tough White Mountains in New Hampshire up ahead for the hikers, Rocky will need to return home with me for now.
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| Rocky in Tennessee Maintaining His Trail Legs |
You mentioned questioning your sanity about taking on the AT. That is a good sign. We would question your sanity, if you were not doing the same.
ReplyDeleteMight the AT be the toughest physical undertaking in your lifetime?
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