~*~ Long Trail Journal ~*~

“And So it Ends”

9-1-06 Johnson, VT to Roundtop Shelter

9-2-06 Roundtop Shelter to Spruce Ledge Camp

9-3-06 Spruce Ledge Camp to Tillotson Lodge

9-4-06 Tillotson Lodge to Jay Camp

9-5-06 Jay Camp to the End

9/1/06

Johnson, VT to

Roundtop Shelter Today’s miles: 3.6

What a beautiful and lazy morning. Although I was up early, I let FM sleep because he hadn’t been feeling too well last night. I went about the task of sorting and organizing our food. NEVER go into a grocery store to resupply when you are hungry. Holy Food Batman! Our packs are going to weigh a ton today. Somehow we ended up with cans of beans, hot dogs, real grinder rolls, and much, much more. I think I have 12 pounds of food. Oy.

FM rolled out of bed at 9:30 and headed down to the river for a “bath”. It got really hot, really fast. I couldn’t believe the temperature. Hiking to warm up was not necessary today. Not by a long shot. Especially since we had about a mile road walk to the trailhead (no hitch) and hadn’t left until a little after 12. Hot pavement and hot summer sun is quite a combination. Oh well…we’ve got plenty of time. The relocation of the trail and the new suspension bridge over the Lamoille River is so cool! Very different than some of the rickety-ass bridges we’ve been across.

A steep climb up to Prospect Rocks was amazingly nice. The rugged terrain we’ve been battling has seemed to disappear for the time being. We actually could walk rather than climb and crawl. The spruce lined trail made both of us very happy and relieved. A girl we met on the rocks claims that this entire section is more of the same and a lot less rugged. Oh happy day! I can walk and stretch my legs for a change.

Of course we lounged in the sun on the rocks for awhile. A lovely view of the Lamoille River Valley and Whiteface Mountain and the Sterling Range was hard to resist. We finally pulled ourselves away and for the next few miles had an incredible and gradual ascent up Roundtop. The girl wasn’t lying, the trail was simply beautiful and so easily graded.

Roundtop Shelter is unlike any we’ve seen. It is magnificent! A log bunk in almost an “L” shape with a small “dining room table” inside, a picnic table, a porch, a firepit (now refurbished thanks to FM) and, in the back, a gorgeous Western view and a bench to enjoy the sunset from. On might call it “too good to pass up”. We did.

So it was a short day but this place is beautiful. We settled in, made a fire, roasted hot dogs (for cheesedog subs) and FM added a 3^rd mouse trapeze to the shelter. An Outside magazine that was left will be my evening entertainment. I rescued a little mouse from the confines of the mulch bucket in the privy and while we sat around the fire, we were amused by yet another little mouse that seemed to be pregnant. She wasn’t too shy and kept coming out from the safety of her fire pit hiding place to check us out.

Tomorrow, we hit it. I’d like to do 14+ but we’ll see what GM has to say about that. J Gorgeous day and a gorgeous night – my fingers are crossed that this weather will continue for the next few days. Hurricane Whoever can just go the hell away!

9/2/06

Roundtop Shelter to

Spruce Ledge Camp Today’s miles: 14.7

The weather Gods were wrong! (I’m knocking on wood) Although it was much more mild today, we did not get rained on and that’s what matters. Getting wet on your first day out of town is never pleasant because it seems like it takes forever to dry out. We didn’t leave Roundtop until about 10:30, after a nice morning fire and hot breakfast. Since the trail is much less rugged, we are finally able to stretch our legs with long strides again. It feels great to be able to move so effortlessly. It sure makes the miles go faster too.

The long climb up Laraway Mountain wasn’t bad at all. GM took off like a shot…I didn’t see him again until I got to the Laraway Lookout, a beautiful rock outcrop with a unique view of Mansfield. I like looking at southern views – it’s a great feeling to know you’ve not only seen the mountains but you’ve sweated and sometimes cursed your way up and over them. It’s a real sense of accomplishment. There was a nice section on the way up with a huge rock wall on the northern side. It was immense and seemed to go on forever. I was surprised that FM wasn’t still there, climbing all over the place and up the rocks. Usually, he can’t resist a good climb.

After traversing Laraway, we stopped at Corliss Camp to fill our water and have a snack. We chatted with a gentleman who was only out for a few days and he offered us some fresh baked bread with deviled ham. Sold! It tasted so good. He said “it doesn’t look like you two have had real food in awhile”. Was that an insult? Hmm…either way, we happily gulped down the food before heading back out to Spruce Ledge.

We departed and headed up Butternut – a steady ascent with no view. “You build me up, Butternut, baby, just to let me down…” Yup – had that in my head the whole way up and over. At Corliss, it looked like it might rain so we were hustling the 6.7 to Spruce Ledge hoping to beat the wet feet thing. Fortunately, this is an easy section to cruise on. We stopped at Basin Brook and loaded up with 4 liters of water. If rain comes – we “stop, drop & camp”. Of course, with 9 pounds of water, it’s not going to rain. So we carried it down and up Bowen Mountain and almost all the way to Devils Gulch. Murphy’s Law, you know. Had we not gotten water, the clouds would have opened up and we would have been forced to hike on in the rain.

We reached the spur to Spruce Ledge & saw it was only 830’ east. So I looked east and saw rock stairs. Noooooo!!! Nothing like reaching home and having to ascend 200’ to get there. I have a severe hatred for rock stairs and log stairs as they are never spaced properly for my stride. I end up stepping up on the same leg the entire time and therefore, exhausting it. Plus, they are usually just high enough to make it more tiring. I often say I just need another couple of inches of leg to make the climbing easier. It would also make getting over blow downs a lot easier as well!

Nice shelter but 4 guys are already in it so we are tenting. Devil’s Perch Outlook has a great view of Belvedere as well as Ritterbush Pond. We set up camp, changed into dry warm clothes and then scarfed down dinner: tuna sub w/cheese, ramen, sour cream & chive mashed potatoes and I’m on my 2^nd cup of hot cocoa. Yay for ho-cho and fleece! I did scurry over to the Outlook to get a quick picture of the view before the bad weather really came.

Hoping the rain holds off…I hate packing up a wet tent. Day hikers told us the forecast is looking better…I hope they are right. 31 miles to go and we’d like to stay dry!

Time to read for awhile and then go to bed. It’s only 8:30’ish but I’m whooped for the day and will sleep well. Don’t know where we’ll end up tomorrow but I’m kind of hoping for Hazen’s Notch – 14 miles north. Especially if it’s a nice day. Do the miles when you’re dry, Baby!

Yup…I’m delirious…sleep is beckoning me.

9/3/06

Spruce Ledge Camp to

Tillotson Camp Today’s miles: 8.8

What a crappy day. It rained last night and was completely overcast this morning. Consequently, we were in no hurry to leave. We took everything out of our tents and took shelter in the lodge. Then, it poured down. Our tents got more wet this morning than they did throughout the night. Mine especially since I neglected to zip my rainfly. At least I had taken everything out and it was dry in the shelter.

Around noon, 2 younger and 2 older guys showed up. “Desdi & the Rookies”. They were soaked having come from Corliss. As we all chatted, a group of 10 wandered in. Holy hell. Well, we packed up our stuff, wet tents and all, and decided to brave the 8+ miles to Tillotson, hoping the rain would hold off just awhile longer. There is no way we were staying in a shelter with all of those people.

We descended into Devil’s Gulch, aptly named. It was a challenging semi-flat stretch of boulders and rocks. Very different than the rest of the trail and very difficult in the wet conditions. It was like horizontal rock scrambling on boulders covered with wet and very slippery moss. The sides of the Gulch were incredibly high and very steep…it almost felt as though we were hiking in another land somewhere far away from Vermont. It was rainforest-like even.

We had a decent view from Ritterbush Lookout. After some discussion, we thought we’d camp in the fire tower on Belvedere, only another 3 miles or so.

FM loaded 4 liters of water into his pack at Frying Pan Brook so we’d have plenty for dinner and to drink. Then we began our ascent of Belvedere. Roughly 2000’ in just over 2 miles. The bottom part wasn’t bad but it got tricky in the second half. Fire Monger was off and running – I knew he would be out of sight until the summit. I get used to that when he gets in a zombie zone at a pace that I don’t care to keep.

The weather went from okay to iffy the higher I climbed. I took one nice spill on a particularly slick rock slab. At one point, I thought I missed the spur to the fire tower so I backtracked. I yelled to FM but got no response. I finally figured I just hadn’t gotten there and was relieved to once again see FM’s boot print in the mud. Yes, I know his print. You don’t tailgate someone for over 1000 miles and not be able to identify their boot tread in the mud. CSI: Long Trail.

When I reached FM and the tower, I was bummed to discover this is an exposed tower with no walls or roof. ARGH! I wasn’t particularly thrilled about sleeping up high in a fire tower in bad weather but given the rain and conditions, I would have sucked it up if it meant I would be dry and comfortable and out of the wind and rain. We thought about tenting but our tents were still wet and it was cold on the summit. Only 2.8 miles to Tillotson so we dumped the water and took off. We figured that since it was Sunday, we might have the place to ourselves.

Imagine the look on our faces when we finally arrived, wet & cold, only to find a group of 10 Middlebury College students, as well as 2 guys and 3 girls out for 10 days. Yup, 15 people excluding us. The shelter has room for 8. My spirits sank. So much for warm and dry. Both of our moods went instantly sour as we moved away from the shelter to find a place to tent. We are going to be soaked in the morning, there’s no getting around it.

Thankfully and gratefully, the college kids set out to make camp recognizing their size and understanding that they can not “hog” the shelter. The rest of us were very happy, to say the least. I don’t think I’ve ever been so happy to be in a full shelter in my life. It beats the alternative, that’s for damn sure. So tonight in the shelter, we are sharing space with the 2 guys, 3 girls and 2 college kids. We all chatted and laughed while making and eating dinner. One guy had an ancient stove with a tendency to “blow up” as he put it. Crowded or not, I’m just happy to be out of the rain. Still hoping for clear skies and better weather tomorrow. We’ve made it to Division 12! Yay! Only 23.3 miles to Canada. I’m ready for a pint of ice cream and a cold beer & hot shower.

God, I hope nobody snores tonight…

9/4/06

Tillotson Camp to

Jay Camp Today’s miles: 11.7

Well, if I succeeded at anything today, it was pissing off Fire Monger.

Our shelter mates started stirring around 6:45am. Needless to say, almost everyone was up by 7:30. Chaos ensued as everyone tried to pack up at once in the tiny and jam-packed shelter. GM and I just stayed out of the way. By 9:45am, we had the place to ourselves. The weather looked like it was going to clear but when we set out at 11:20; the clouds and mist were back in full force.

My guidebook says we climbed Tillotson Peak and Haystack. Hell if I know…all I saw on the way to Hazen’s Notch Camp was the ground, my feet and my trekking poles. It was very slick coming down Haystack. In fact, we caught up with the college kids on that descent. I think they were a little surprised to see us so soon. None of them had poles so it was slow going for them. We went up over Hazen’s Notch and the west shoulder of Sugarloaf before stopping at the camp for a hot lunch. This crap weather just won’t go away…damn Ernesto!

While at Hazen’s Notch, two older guys came in and we warned them about the impending college students that were on their way. They didn’t seem too impressed or excited about the prospect of spending the night with the kids. Quite honestly, neither did I. Which is why I guess I ultimately made the decision to go the next 5.6 miles to Jay Camp. It didn’t seem as though the weather had changed any – the wind was blowing water off the leaves like mad, but it didn’t appear to be raining.

I was wrong.

For the next 5.6 miles, it rained and rained and rained some more. We went from being mildly wet to being soaked to the bone. I don’t like being wet, particularly my feet, but it was a “c’est la vie” kind of thing. A month on the trail and this was a first. Not bad. However, FM was less than happy – he did not want to be hiking in the rain. There was quite a long stretch where I didn’t see him at all…I wondered if he said screw it, I’m going to Canada today.

The trail is dangerous when it’s this wet. Every step needs to be a careful and controlled one. Every rock and root is potentially hazardous; on the steep areas especially. We are constantly slipping, sliding and straining our bodies trying not to lose our footing. Mud is everywhere and the overgrowth on the edge of the trail just keeps slapping your shins like little whips. It isn’t particularly pleasant to be out when it’s like this, but I really didn’t mind all that much given our tremendous luck with weather we’ve had as a whole.

We ascended Bruce Peak, Buchanan Mountain and passed Chef’s Lookout. We went over Domey’s Dome and Gilpin Mountain but our scenery stayed the same for the entire 5.6 miles. Mud, rock, branch, root, repeat.

I was ecstatic to reach VT 242 because it meant Jay Camp was close by. The spur to the camp is .2 miles and it was the longest .2 ever. Thank God for 4-sided shelters. By this point, I was in the lead and FM was trudging silently behind me.

I got water before I changed. We hung everything up but the rain is pounding down outside. The air is wet so I don’t expect much to dry. Hot chocolate and hot dinner helped immensely. My fingers have finally depruned. As we ate, I thought this camp to be rather creepy actually. Like something out of Friday the 13^th. I’m certain Jason is around here somewhere. If they’d move the Red Privy of Death from Sassafrass Gap Shelter in NC, the setting would be perfect for a horror movie. The deep eerie woods, the creepy little shelter, the damp and dusty floors. Creepy.

I’m crashing early. I’m tired and praying for sun. We’ve got 11.6 miles to Canada and I’m hoping that will happen tomorrow. I guess it really depends on this damn weather. The tin roof is definitely not soundproof.

Warm & dry now and ready for a good nights sleep. At least with nobody else here there will be no snoring and no early AM disturbances. Hooray for that. And maybe by morning, Fire Monger will have forgotten that I pissed him off. At least until he has to put his wet clothes and boots back on…

9/5/06

Jay Camp to

The End

The end is here. It’s been a long and adventurous journey over an amazing trail in my home state of Vermont. I have seen towns that I never knew existed and have met some incredible people in the process.

It’s amazing to me that you can spend so much time in one state. You grow up there, you live there, you are a native. Yet, there is so much that is undiscovered to you. I can understand living in a larger state that you could never see everything but we are talking about Vermont here. Land of maple syrup, Ben & Jerry’s and more cows than people. I have a new respect and love for Vermont after having walked the length of it. Enough to even consider the possibility of moving back at some point in my life. There is a need for some hiker hostels…so who knows.

Although this hike was a Plan B, a consolation prize, it was a journey that I will never forget. From day one standing on the border of MA/VT to Stratton Mountain, where James P. Taylor first conceived the idea of a long trail and where Benton MacKaye elaborated on it for the Appalachian Trail. It was essentially the birthplace of the long trails that we all know and love, whether we are day hikers, section hikers or thru-hikers.

It’s not about the destination, it’s about the journey. I learned a lot about myself while living on the trail. I’ve learned what is important and what isn’t. I’ve learned, the hard way, that the “stuff” we all want is not what matters. If you have food, shelter, water, and a sense of who you are, you will always be home. No matter if your shelter is a piece of nylon or a 5,000 sq. ft. home on the beach.

It will be hard going back to just hiking on the weekends now that I have a taste of how challenging and rewarding a long distance hike can be. I am absolutely not done with long distance hiking. There are a lot of trails out there that are beckoning me. There are mountains, rivers, valleys and meadows to be explored. There is the knowledge that while I can survive life on the trail, I still have so much to learn about so many things. From outdoor skills to life and who I am and who I strive to be. It is a never ending growth process.

We met a lot of people on the trail that say things like “I wish I could take all that time off” and “Must be nice”. I used to be one of those people until I realized that if you have a dream and you want it bad enough, you will find a way to make it happen. Is it risky? Sure. But what is the value of your dreams?

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