Legs and Borders

"At least now I knew that my heart was wedded to the mountains - to the wild places. It was there, and there alone, that I was whole, contented, and blissful. No relationship, career, or wealth could ever take its place." Heather "Anish" Anderson Last 20 miles hiking in Vermont, in rain but spending the night at the trail angels. I've set up the alarm clock to be up and running at 5 PM, first and foremost I wanted to be in Hanover as early as possible and to avoid the bulk of rain which was going to intensify in the afternoon. It started to drizzle right after I set off, trail wasn't too steep or muddy so it was fairly smooth sailing overall. I was surprised that Snail did not catch up with me but I guess he had a later start, he wasn't stopping at Norwich for long anyway. I went past few maple trees tap pipes which were extracting the juices later boiled down to make maple syrup, it was quite interesting to see. ...

"I'm going to JoJo the AT and I will start with only ten items" Snail "The state's name "Vermont" was derived from the french "Ver'Mont", meaning "Green Mountain" Information Board Today was the day of my favourite human encounters and not one but two! In the morning I've pushed for five miles to Killington where I was planning to have a breakfast. Half way through the 100 miles of Appalachian Trail overlapping with Long Trail was over and they both went their separate ways. I'm strongly considering coming back here and finishing hiking Long Trail if time allows, it would be great to arrive at the Canadian border again and finish this trail which was an inspiration for the AT. Deli at the Killington was opened and after a fifteen minute walk from trail I've ordered "Killington's Best Breakfast Sandwich" (with steak, egg and cheese), coffee and an apple frit...

Good day with big climbs and yummy food. After a quiet and comfortable night on the pine needle forest floor, I've started the day refreshed and in good spirits. Trail was weaving itself up and down through Vermont, it was drier and the mud wasn't an issue anymore. Before midday I went to Stone's Throw Farmstead, it was half a mile off trail but I've read good things about it and decided to detour to see their offer myself. It was a simple farm shop set up in a shed with dairy products from local creameries, home made sourdough bread and fresh vegetables. I've bought a bottle of chocolate milk, cheese curds and a small loaf of bread, it costed 15$. Sourdough bread was exceptional and so was chocolate milk advertised as "best in Vermont" it definitely lived up to it, so much so that I've bought a second bottle! Cheese curds were ok, there was a lot of them and they only costed 5$ Half an hour later I was b...

After a great "make it yourself" breakfast consisting of scrambled eggs, toast, coffee and yogurt, we loaded our gear into Jeff's truck and were back on trail at 7:15 AM I've weighted my pack before leaving the hostel and it came up to 15.5 kg or 35 pounds, definitely not light but it was the weight I got used to. I've hiked with Yukon until the top of Bromley Mountain and we talked trail gossip. Recently one of the shelters in the Smokey Mountains in Georgia got closed as the bear stole someone's backpack from it, then returned as there was no food in it and held the hikers hostage inside for two hours. I don't think this bear had a bright future ahead if it. Trail was passing next to a Griffith Lake named after some wealthy 19th century businessman also known as "Lumber King". Baker Peak was another interesting section, a climb over partially opened ledges it reminded me of Knifes Edge ridge walk in Pennsylvania. I was planning to camp at the L...

"It was here, in 1909, that James Taylor conceived of the idea of a "Long Trail" extending from Massachusets to Canada. Then, in 1921, Benton MacKaye further expanded that concept into a footpath linking scenic ridges of the entire Appalachian range - and the Appalachian Trail was born." Stratton Mountain Information Board I decided to take it easy today but still had a productive day. Morning started with a climb to the Stratton Mountain Fire Tower, it was a steady push with no difficult sections other than mud hopping, Vermont's special it seemed. I got to the top before midday and to my surprise the tower was opened, I climbed it and since it was a sunny day the view was spectacular! A panoramic outlook of the Appalachian range, it was almost shocking to finally see it from above, so far we just had few side snippets every now and then and only when the weather was good enough. Trail was all downhill from here, ...

Fairly demanding day with tough terrain and elevation gain. Lucy, the German shepherd was surprisingly well behaved over night but mosquitoes and black fly's were not, I could hear constant buzzing around my head and I was regretting that I didn't set up a tent. First on the menu was a ten mile long, steady climb to Glastenbury Mountain, terrain was rocky and muddy, I had to jump over the puddles or find a walk around the bigger ones. Tree roots were also very prevalent, it took a lot of energy to complete that section. Second part of the day was easier, climbs were shorter but the terrain did not improve much. There were few more beaver ponds along the way and I could see their beautiful lodges among the wetlands they produced, those sections were usually board walks as the trail was pretty much submerged. I have only seen five day hikers and five what I've assumed were Long Trail hikers (they were way too clean to be AT hikers). Weather was very go...