Drop and I hiked three miles to VT 11 and hitched into Manchester Center, VT, with a man from Florida passing through the area. He dropped us off at the edge of town and we walked to the post office where I received a letter from Lowra with a cool puzzle, a new Steripen that actually emits UV light, and an awesome care package from Julia with the following “health foods:”
We met up with the rest of the group and resupplied at Price Chopper, where I met my friend Liz who studied abroad in New Zealand with me. She was nice enough to let five of us cram into her car, and she drove us all to the trail head where we headed north.
We made it up to the top of Bromley Mountain where we rested on the ski lift for a while.
We hiked on and played Drop’s variation on 20 Questions until that got old. Near the end of the day, we came to a section of the trail that was flooded and required some balance and patience to cross. The boards to walk across looked ok until you stepped on them and realized they were just floating on the water. When you put your weight on them, though, they sunk to the bottom and your feet got wet. Here’s Liz standing in the “trail.”
We spent the night tenting by Griffith Lake where we swam and then enjoyed dinner around a campfire with a large group of section and thru-hikers. The next morning Liz dared to hike back alone wearing a Yankees jersey in New England.
I made sure she got back across the flooded section, but I couldn’t promise her protection from Red Sox fans farther south on the trail. Luckily I later heard that she survived the solo trip back to her car. Thanks for joining me Liz!
After she left, I thought it would take me a while to catch up to the rest of the group, so I was surprised to see them all again only ten miles up the trail at Little Rock Pond laying out in the sun. The group spent five or six hours hanging out there swimming or wading in the pond, paddling the canoe that was there, or basking on the sunny beach. I spent some time creating an aquatic “zoo” of salamanders, frogs, and crayfish that I caught and collected in the flooded canoe. After I released them and headed another five miles up the trail, I made dinner and called it a night.
Last night I made it into Killington with Hawk, Bobber, Les, Gold Bond, Drop, Antsy, Cliffhanger, Alien, and Swiss Miss, where most of us stayed at the Inn at Long Trail and celebrated Hawk’s 34th birthday. I was surprised to run into three Colby grads hiking the Long Trail, including my COOT leader John! I spoke to him and his two friends and they gave me some trail magic of some extra breakfast foods they had. Small world!
Now I’m off to hike north in what is forecast to be a 90 degree day. The plan is to be in Hanover, NH, on Friday!
Slower Than That Bear, But Faster Than You 