~*~ Long Trail Journal ~*~

“The Trail Will Get More Interesting”

8-18-06 Great Cliffs to Silent Cliffs

8-19-06 Silent Cliffs to Emily Proctor Shelter

8-20-06 Emily Proctor Shelter

8-21-06 Emily Proctor Shelter to Sunset Lookout

8-22-06 Sunset Lookout to Hyde Away Inn, Waitsfield

8-23-06 Hyde Away Inn to Stark’s Nest Lodge

8-24-06 Starks Nest Lodge to Montclair Glen

8/18/06

Great Cliffs to

Silent Cliffs Today’s miles: 10.3

Well, we seem to have a graduated from camping on every bald to camping on every cliff. I’m sure Dubs and TI-85 would be incredibly proud of us.

The morning ascent of Mt. Horrid proved to be just that. Horrid but oh-so-fun! No view, but I’m not surprised. Who wants a Horrid View anyway? The ruggedness of the trail has increased three-fold and we both know that it is only going to get better, or worse, depending on how you look at it. This mountain lived up to it’s name, as I’m sure a few dayhikers would attest to. These are the climbs that remind us why we are here. We were finally treated to a lookout from Cape Lookoff Mountain – imagine that!

As we ascended Gillespie Peak, I scowled as I reminisced about my old career and my old boss. See, Gillespie is his last name. I delighted in the fact we are enjoying peace and quiet in the wilderness while he’s probably going bonkers with back-to-school bullshit at a place you couldn’t pay me enough to be! Bwahahaha!

All morning we were following moose tracks and loads of moose poop. There was a small tree right next to the trail that had clearly been used as a scratching post. Although FM claims to have seen the outline of the giant creature, I only heard its bugle. It was a low and eerie sound but beautiful in it’s own right. I saw a lot of toads though. At Sucker Brook Shelter there was an entry from yesterday about a moose standing in front of the shelter as he wrote. Damnit! Where’s my moose?!? I thought there were “many much moosen in the woodsenens”! (C’mon Brian Reagan fans…) I’m beginning to think they are only around when I’m not.

Worth Mountain was pretty cool. The Middlebury Snow Bowl is there so once again we were treated to a chairlift on the summit. The descent criss-crossed over ski trails before we crossed VT 125, a mile below. Finally the ski poles we carry around seem to make sense. I tried to convince FM to snowplow down the mountain, but he wasn’t having it. Maybe the lack of snow deterred him.

It was 3:30pm and a free bus was coming at 4pm that would take us to Middlebury 14 miles away. Middlebury = burgers & beer. So off we went and had yummy food at Two Brothers Pub. The onion rings and the food were amazing…just what we needed. An older local man provided amusement as he pondered a poster for “Hip Hop in the Hills”. The thought of a 70’ish VT native attending the event was enough to provide laughter for the evening.

We got lucky with some trail magic and an unexpected hitch from 2 young guys who went 10 miles out of their way for us. I think we just piqued their curiosity – they had no clue what the LT was and couldn’t believe we were going to Canada on foot. The passenger said “now that’s love”. I’m guessing he thought I was dragged into it, rather than me dragging FM into the woods. They asked a lot of questions about food and gear and the trail in general. It amazes me that people can live there whole lives next to trails and wilderness, and not have a clue about it. Nonetheless, we appreciated the lift back to the trailhead and gave them some gas money for their trouble.

We got back on the trail and went just under a mile to Silent Cliff. It was the ideal spot for the sunset and a nice fire. The wind kept the fire roaring with minimal effort on our part. Full bellies and beer – I will sleep well tonight.

8/19/06

Silent Cliff to

Emily Proctor Shelter Today’s miles: 6.9

There was a downpour last night, around 3am I heard FM scrambling to put his rainfly on. The curse of the Rain Gear – put it on or be hexed with bad weather while you are unprepared. This has happened more times than I can count or care to remember. When I awoke, I was surprised to discover it was only 8:15am. “Only”, right? There is a myth that all thru-hikers get very early starts to their day. You’d be surprised to know how many don’t. We like to relax and take it easy in the morning, there is no rush to hurry up and walk when you have all the time in the world to do it. Morning people be damned.

We trekked ½ mile back to the LT to begin our day. The hazy weather and damp air was not promising. We arrived at Boyce Shelter and took a break. We read the register to find entries from Sherpaman & Goat, Lumberzac, Touk & Cuppa Joe. Man, they let anyone on these trails! J It’ll be fun following Sherpaman and Lumberzac’s progress as we head to Canada. We’ve also seen entries from Poison Ivy and pedXing on occasion. At one point, it seemed that Poison Ivy was only a half day or so away from us.

The overgrown trails constantly incite me to sing “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” in my head. I must come up with new lyrics involving hikers! Woo hoo, a mission!

Mt. Boyce was a nice little climb, as was Battell Mtn. FM claimed “it doesn’t look that steep on the map”. No shit. It never does. We chatted with some dayhikers near Skyline Lodge before heading over Breadloaf (mmm…bread…) to Emily Proctor. Ascending Breadloaf, we literally walked into the clouds. While mist floated around us as we hiked across the “upper crust” (I’m so witty). Sadly, the overcast day and mist in the air meant very little visibility and probably no views. I was bummed out about this because I’ve read in many registers that the summit of Breadloaf is really beautiful.

We opted to skip the spur to the summit and lookout because there’s no way we would have any view. Instead, we talked about double quarter pounders, pizza and onion rings as we descended 6/10 mile to the shelter.

Within a minute of arriving, the skies opened up and down came the rain. HA! We beat you Mother Nature, you sly vixen, you!

We cooled off quickly and bundled up in our clothes and sleeping bags. If the rain doesn’t let up, we are staying the night. Not even 7 miles. Big, bad hikers, eh? Phooey – it’s just not worth getting soaked over. Ah, the beauty of not having to stick to a schedule.

Our first shelter stay in 146 miles! Pretty impressive. FM even managed to get a fire going, wet wood & all. Sharing the shelter and fudge with a brother and sister from Montpelier, VT. All of us are aiming for App Gap on Monday. Quick little resupply before hitting Camel’s Hump and beyond.

FM has fleece pants and a book. I’m envious. I need to get new fleece pants…and that MH Subzero Down jacket I saw in Rutland. <sigh>

Time for Soduko & sleep. Freakin’ Soduko…addictive damn puzzles!!!

8/20/06

Emily Proctor Shelter to

nowhere Today’s miles: 0

A zero day! I woke up to lots and lots of rain and we were in no hurry to get wet. So, a zero day was taken.

FM slept a lot while I played Soduko and read “Blind Faith”, a book someone had abandoned. Excellent read – a true crime story set in Toms River, NJ back in 1984. I read the entire book by early afternoon and was wishing another one had been deserted as well. Usually I carry a book but the problem comes that I tend to get so involved, I read it all at once, often late into the night. Not good when you want a full nights sleep for a good day of hiking.

Running really low on food…hoping for blue skies in the morning!

8/21/06

Emily Proctor Shelter to

Sunset Lookout Today’s miles: 9.4

No blue sky this morning. I woke to cold gusts of wind, accompanied by cold wet mist. My head and pillow (aka tent) were wet, as was anything within 4 feet of the front of the shelter.

When Fire Monger woke up we decided to wait and see what happens. It gusted and misted until 12:30pm when a lone hiker arrived. He motivated us to get moving. It’s cold. It’s wet. Can’t I just stay in bed?

When we left at 12:45 the misting had stopped. But, the trails were like mini-rivers, the mud was a foot deep in places and the overgrowth on the trail soaked us instantly. We didn’t get a view from Mt. Wilson, just a big white endless cloud cover. It felt as though we’d been stuck in a shower with all of our gear on. I haven’t seen so much overgrowth on a trail in a long, long time. Certainly not on well-traveled trails. Ultimately, I prefer the overgrowth to overpopulation! What I don’t like about SO much overgrowth is that it makes hiking a lot more dangerous, especially in wet conditions. You can’t see where you are putting your feet and if someone else comes along in the opposite direction, one of you is going in the bushes. There is nowhere else to yield to.

We did not stop until Cooley Glen Shelter, 5.7 miles away. The sun was just beginning to peek through and shed some much needed warmth on us. We made good time around 2 mph, given the condition of the trail which bordered on dangerous at times. The young guy we had seen at Emily Proctor was spread out for the night and ready to crash. He had some seriously wet stuff going on – and it looked like a lot of cotton. I wondered if he would freeze at night.

We opted to leave Cooley Glen and head for Lincoln Gap. Then tomorrow we’d just have 11.6 to App Gap where we need to hitch from to get food. The zero day seriously threw off our already diminished rations. We’ve definitely been eating more lately and needing all the calories we can get.

With the sun out, the wet hiking was much more tolerable. We even had a bit of a view from Mt. Grant! We arrived at Sunset Lookout just after 6pm. What a beautiful view of a bold orange sun sinking slowly over the ADK’s and Lake Champlain. The bad weather seemed to make the sunset that much more dramatic. Quite a few people had hiked up from the road to enjoy the sunset. Couples, little kids, dogs and more. We were spread out for dinner, which got some strange looks from the rest of the crowd.

We decided quickly to camp here, which tags one extra mile on tomorrow. no biggie – the view is spectacular. To the north we could see Mt. Abraham, tomorrows morning quest at 4006 feet and our first of three “above treeline” summits. Woo hoo! After watching the sun set, we made dinner (more Lipton sides & ramen) and a little fire.

The stars are incredible. We’ve seen lots of shooting stars and satellites. It’s very cool to be in the absence of unnatural light. I’m ready for bed. Until we get food we have a King Size Snickers, ½ jar of peanut butter, a pouch of tuna and a couple of protein shakes. Yeah, I see burgers on the menu for tomorrow. Only 12.7 miles away…I can almost smell them. MmmMmm.

8/22/06

Sunset Ledge to

Hyde Away Inn in Waitsfield Today’s miles: 1.1

Blue skies this morning gave way quickly to lots of clouds. We decided it would be better to resupply today and hope for sun tomorrow to ascend Lincoln. We were denied views for the past couple of days and there’s no way we want to head over Abraham, Lincoln and Ellen without being able to fully enjoy them. Not to mention, with the more strenuous hiking, it isn’t safe to go with such a little amount of food. We’d probably bonk before we made it to the ridge.

We were down into the gap before we knew it, facing a 4.7 mile roadwalk on a “lightly traveled road” to Warren, VT. We got lucky after about a mile and were picked up by Mike of The Mad Cab. He brought us into Waitsfield for no charge. We actually didn’t know he was a cab service until we got to our destination. But that explains why 2 stinky hikers were offered a ride in a black Audi sedan with leather seats and power everything. J We offered him money, but he declined and simply gave us his card and said to give him a call if we were ever back in town and needed a ride. I thought that was a nice thing to do, and a great way to get business on top of it.

We hit the grocery store and then went to The Den for a couple of beers and burgers. They were outstanding! Vermont pubs are a thru-hikers dream with hiker portions, reasonable prices and GOOD food.

With the threat of rain, we decided to stay at the Hyde Away Inn for the evening. Cleaned our tents, got laundry done, had hot (and much needed) showers and relaxed in the common area watching TV. We were the only guests and it was great.

Town stops make me feel accomplished; being able to get everything done is great. Tomorrow…the good stuff will commence with Mt. Abraham. Yay!!!

8/23/06

Hyde Away Inn to

Starks Nest Lodge Today’s miles: 9.1

What a great nights sleep! God, I love pillows! I know I’ve said it before but man, I think I need a tee-shirt that says “I heart pillows”.

When we got up at 8am, Margaret the Inn Keeper greeted us and showed the way to the hot coffee. Breakfast, included with the stay, was amazing. Fresh grapes and cantaloupe, French toast, bacon & eggs. She offered cold cereal and yogurt as well but we declined. No need to overindulge. (ha!)

Though Margaret offered us a lift to the trailhead, we called The Mad Cab because he’d been so generous the day before. At noon, he picked us up and by 12:30, we were back at Lincoln Gap.

I was a little nervous. 2.6 miles of rugged climbing to the summit of Mt. Abe. Not so bad but my legs were a bit achy. We finally set out just before 1pm. Before I knew it, we were 1.7 miles up at Battell Shelter. By 2:10pm, we were standing on the treeless and windy summit. The climb had been great and we held a steady pace. It was as if the minute I started moving, my legs stopped aching. The top 200’ or so were very steep and difficult to move quickly on rock slabs with unsure footing. I also got slowed up trying to gracefully scramble a rock in a skirt while 3 dayhikers stood by and watched. There’s just no way to do that.

What a beautiful day and view. The Whites were visible, 80 miles to the East. Mt. Marcy and the Daks hovering to the West! To the north, Mt. Mansfield and peaks beyond. To the south, the ski slopes of Pico and Killington. Our first clear 360* view, without being on a firetower or other manmade structure. Finally, we are above tree-line! We shared the summit with quite a few dayhikers, but it was all good. Dayhikers are good for taking pictures for you. One think I love about the Northeast is that with everything so close in proximity, the ability to see the Whites, the Greens and the Daks all at once is truly amazing. Or as Monty would say, “exotic”.

After over an hour, we headed north again, traversing the ridge to Lincoln Peak with a great view of Camel’s Hump. Eventually we found our way to Mt. Ellen at 4083’! Not high mountains by any stretch but the trails are much more rugged up here.

We continued past the Glen Ellen Lodge, over General Starks Mountain and arrived at Starks Nest, the Mad River Glen warming hut next to its single chair. It sleeps 24 and it’s beautiful! There is a brand new deck with Eastern and Western views, the perfect place to watch the sunset and the sunrise if you wanted to.

A group of 8 UVM freshmen are here, cooking and chatting. This is their orientation. Six days on the LT. Other groups are in the Daks, the Whites, canoeing, et cetera. What a fantastic opportunity! They offered us tortellini for dinner which was very yummy. A few of them talked to us about our hike and asked questions about backpacking. All in all, they were a nice group of young kids and it was a pleasure to share Starks Nest with them. They tried to be quiet and respectful of the other hikers so even if they did make a little noise, neither of us reminded. Besides, feeding us was a great move on their part.

We ate more dinner, much to the amusement of the UVM’ers, and were then ready to crash for the night. It’s nice being cozy in a 4 wall structure, even without the heat going. Tomorrow we plan on camping just shy of Camel’s Hump. We want to ascend it in the morning so we can relax and enjoy it for awhile and not have to rush down to find camp. Here’s hoping for more nice weather! It has cooled off substantially…

8/24/06

Starks Nest Shelter to

Montclair Glen Today’s miles: 13.1

Well, my ass is sufficiently kicked for one day. Yeah, only 13.1 miles but hell…those miles were no joke. It’s clear to me now why the LT is considered to be (mile for mile) the hardest long trail in the country. Rugged is only a single adjective and does the trail no justice. The guidebook says the trail will get more “interesting”. I will have to think about it and define interesting, as intended by the GMC, at a later time.

We departed from Starks Nest around 10am and were greeted almost immediately by our “steep descent” (the guide book cracks me up). 2.5 miles of stop and go hiking, maneuvering down rock ledges too high to step off, descending ladders and carefully using exposed tree roots as stairs. One of the two girls we passed said “my God, my legs are shaking…” It’s not so much hard as it is strenuous because you have to slow down, you have to watch your step and you have to pay attention to what you are doing. Yeah, it’s steep, but it’s technical in a small way. You certainly can not just put one foot in front of the other and go. Unless you want to break an ankle or your face when you fall and eat a rock.

I was relieved to reach App Gap for a little break. Of course, our next task was an immediate 500’ up, 300’ down, another 500’ up and then a 900’ down. Ladies and Gentlemen…welcome to Vermont! The guidebook maintains that “the trail gets more rugged and ‘interesting’”. Either way, the trek up Baby Stark Mountain was challenging and we were rewarded with a great view of Camel’s Hump from Molly’s Balcony.

We reached Birch Glen Shelter and decided to have lunch there. Motorboat and Evil Red were just getting ready to leave when we pulled in. After lunch, I checked the register (hey ENS & Marko – saw you were here in early July. BTW – EarlyBird is married. ;)).

After lunch we had 2.9 miles to Cowles Cove, still 5.1 short of our destination. Thankfully we were given a slight reprieve with less rugged trail and got there just under an hour. We saw Motorboat and Evil Red had decided to push on to Montclair as well. I think we inspired them when we told them what we were doing at Birch Glen. Either that or they just didn’t want to be shown up.

From Cowles, we had a GREAT climb up Burnt Rock Mtn. The last ½ mile of that has been my favorite ½ mile yet. Very steep and tons of rocks, but the rocks that make great stepping at any height you want. I love those climbs! I took off like a shot when we got to them, happy to be moving at more than a snail’s pace on an ascent again. Beautiful views from the summit where we met up with Motorboat and Evil Red again. We all laughed about how the trail suddenly got “interesting”. At 5pm we still had 3.6 miles more to go so away we went. I thought we’d never get over Ethan Allen. “Is this the summit? This? This? Oh c’mon…this has to be it!” Finally, we were there which meant only 1.1 to go. It was all down and more of that fun negotiating.

I’ve never been so happy to see a shelter in my life. My legs were spent and I fell about .2 mile from the place on a wet and slippery rock. Ugh. My right arm aches but eh…we’re done for the day. It won’t ache tomorrow when we are headed up Camel’s Hump.

I think we ate ½ of what was in our food bag and then went to bed. I will sleep like a baby tonight.

Week 3 Miles:

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