Trail Notes – June 29 – BELATED

John and Rebecca, particularly Rebecca!, completely spoiled me during my regrettably brief visit!

On this particular morning, I meant to wake up at 5 am, and say goodbye to John before he left for work. Well, I did wake at 5 am – I always do… but the bed simply refused to let go of me. I so completely exhausted myself fighting to get free of the pillow that I fell back asleep and did not wake again until 7:30 am. When I came upstairs, what greeted me, but a stack of blueberry pancakes, sausage, bacon, and free range eggs from their own chickens. And COFFEE. Oi, if I had stayed longer, I would have gained back all the weight I lost… and I would still be in food nirvana!

The first half of the day was sightseeing and resupply; purchase of food, a visit to an outfitter, a nice interlude at a distillery with tasting samples. I had no luck finding replacement insoles, but I did get some other things I needed. Also, there was a BIG CHAIR. It was a really BIG CHAIR. Either that, or I drank a little bottle labelled “Drink Me”. You decide!

Rebecca had to be in New York that evening, so sadly, the half day drew to a close, and she dropped me off at the trailhead about 2 PM. I hiked two miles to the next shelter, still feeling full – it was not until about 7 pm that I felt up to eating the steak sandwich she packed for me. 🙂 Since I was so early there, I was able to secure THE prime tent spot – completely level and cushiony with leaves, just behind the shelter. This turned out to be a mixed blessing though later, when a troop of Boy Scouts arrived and filled in the space between my tent and the shelter with their tents. Suddenly I was running a gauntlet of tents just to reach the privy!

Since the Long Trail and the AT are running together for 105 miles, there are now LT northbounders and southbounders, as well as the AT ones, and more Canadians in the mix; makes things more interesting when comparing notes! That night, there were 2 NOBO LT hikers, 2 SOBO LT hikers, 1 SOBO AT hiker, and one flipflopping AT hiker (me). Plus the Boy Scouts. Fortunately, they settled down pretty quickly.

I hiked on.