White Out

     I returned to the woods after stripping as much non essential stuff from my pack as I could in preparation for what was to come.  I hiked a short distance to Jeffers Brook shelter where I ran into a surprising number of north bound thru hikers.  There was a guy named "ManBearPig" who I ran into over the Georgia North Carolina border, but hadn't seen the entire trip.  He was traveling with a guy that seemed constantly stoned, appropriately named "DudeManBro".  Also, I ran into "NutterButter" again who, since she had to split from two other ladies, was also hiking alone.  She and I decided to hike through The Whites together just to be on the safe side so neither one of us get too lost or too dead.  

     I woke around five the next morning, packed up quickly and started hiking in the grayish early morning light.  There was no approach to the mountain, it started immediately and continued a steep uphill grade for four miles.  I, of course, was soaked in sweat.  The forest slowly gave way to shorter scraggly pines.  The trail leveled off and I walked along a ridge lined with pines slightly shorter than myself.  In front of me loomed the peak of Mount Moosilauke.  I left the level tree lined ridge and began climbing again.  The trees faded as I gained elevation.  The trail was now marked with rock piles called, cairns (karens).  A wide grin spread across my face as I reached the top and could see in every direction.  

Baggins

     I spent one more day visiting a maple syrup and cheese farm with Susie before hitting the trail again.  You really can't blame me, it's cheese, and maple syrup, and Susie.

     Back on the trail, I left Killington VT and headed uphill.  Not long into the hike I came to a place called Maine junction.  This is where the Long Trail and Appalachian Trail split apart.  The Long Trail continues north through Vermont and will end in another hundred miles or so at the Canadian border.  The AT turns hard east and makes a bee line for the state border.  I wished all Long Trailers good luck, even though no one was standing there, and resumed walking.

Long Trail

     I returned to the trail the next morning and my father hiked with me until the terrain got too steep, which was almost immediately.  The trail wound its way up to a high ridge where a few miles in I came to a sign.  I just crossed into Vermont.  The Appalachian Trail is now also called the Long Trail for one hundred or so miles.  I snapped my obligatory picture and kept on hiking.  It wasn't long until I came to a shelter so I stopped and took a quick break.  There was a young guy there with a fresh face and a big pack.  I asked him how far he was going.  He said the whole thing.  Up until now that had meant he was attempting to thru hike the AT, but now that I was at the start of the Long Trail it meant this was day 1 for people on an over two hundred mile endeavor.  He reminded me of myself way back in Georgia, excited, apprehensive, overwhelmed and under prepared.  I gave him any advice he asked for and wished him good luck, he was gonna need it.

Choose its

     Let me start off by saying that I forgot to mention that I made it to Connecticut.  I met up with my father around Kent CT and we ate with people in pink polo shirts and khakis.  When I left the next morning from the trail head the heat was just as oppressive as it was the day before.  I climbed up and over a mountain right off the bat and was instantly soaked in sweat.  A new addition lately has been these little tiny flies that circle inches in front of my face.  Occasionally one of them strangely decides it is going to fly directly into my eyeball.  At this point I slam my eyelid shut, which kills the kamikaze bug and then I stagger around as I try to remove the corpse.  Sometimes the dead bug finds it's way under an eyelid which is gross in so many ways, but what can I do.  Now picture this scenario while climbing down steep treacherous rocks and you can get a felling for my situation.