Author Archives: atsioneva

July 16:

I got a later start than planned, due to some excellent blueberry pancakes at Inn of the Long Trail, plus a missing steripen, which fortunately did not stay missing. The thing has proved to be worth it’s weight in gold.

I shared the breakfast with four LT hikers; one was majorly depressed and ticked off because he fractured his foot hiking down from Mt. Killington, and had to drop off the trail. Empathy was all we could offer. That and maple syrup and fresh fruit.

Due to the late start, I took the blue blaze trail up from the Inn to the AT northbound, and cut off about a mile of trail. No guilt. The six miles of old AT I hiked made up for the mile of new AT I did not.

The biggest obstacles on the trail this day were Mt. Quimby, and getting lost on a disc golf course while a tournament was in progress. One of them at least had switchbacks. I escaped the other one unscathed; it was a lousy shortcut to the outfitters shop anyway!

The hike itself was pretty nice – a lot of soft pine needles underfoot. Also a lot of mud, which was pretty soft, too. The hike took me by two waterfalls – a smaller one early on, and Thundering Falls later, which was really impressive. I lost the trail at the top of the cliff overlooking the falls, and as a result, climbed down a sandy and pine-needley cliff right next to the waterfall. I got some great pictures, and let me tell you, the climb down was exhilarating and quite terrifying! I relied very heavily on use of pine tree roots as handholds and sometimes on the hiking poles. Going down without a pack would have been more fun; going UP would have been the most fun of all. But I really loved the climb down, and the trail was dutifully waiting at the bottom; I got back on it and went on.

When I got to the shelter, I stank so badly, I couldn’t stand myself! Seriously! All I was craving was some privacy, so I set up the tent, then gave myself the closest thing to a sponge bath that I could, using wet wipes. Something. Anything. Just to feel even somewhat cleaner! I also finished off the peppermint schnapps – after all, I was celebrating my third month in the trail, plus my mother’s birthday!

July 17:

I awoke to the sound of rain drumming on a tent wall. Oh, no. There was a bit of thunder, but the tent cover performed to expectations, and everything inside stayed dry. Again, it made for a late start, 8 am, because I could not pack up and be gone until the rain stopped… The rest of the day was beautiful, but the tent cover was soaked, and needed to be dried, if I could find a place to stretch it out and dry it.

Yesterday was 14 miles to a shelter; today was 13 miles to a town, Woodstock. There is a trail angel there who has been letting hikers camp on his property for 23 years, right next to the trail. I would like to have met him, but he was on vacation, and Miss Janet was filling in for him while he was gone.

A word about Miss Janet – She is a trail icon, and a very popular person on the trail! She used to run a hostel down in Tennessee; now, from all I can gather, she travels the trail, helping out other hostel owners and hikers, mostly living out of her van. I never expected to find her up in Vermont! But it was likely meeting a living legend, and the woman is just incredibly *nice*!

Once I got my tent up, I stretched the cover out to dry while I made dinner, and chatted with Trailmouse, who I last saw at Killington. She’s thru-hiked before, and is finishing a section hike of VT now. I turned in about 8 or so, I think.

Today was another milestone! I hit 700 miles at the end of the day! The miles are beginning to blur together in my mind.

July 18:

A very cranky start to the day; a combination of really bad dreams, and a tent cover that was again soaked, this time from condensation. Trailmouse noticed my bad mood, and suggested a remedy: slackpacking. Miss Janet was going to be driving her pack to our next stop, a trail angel’s house in West Hartford, again about 13 miles, so I piled my gear in, too, and only took food, water, and toilet paper. In the end, there were six of us who did this. It made for a much easier day!

Up, down, up, down, the trail bumped along. It clouded over at one point and I heard thunder, but no rain fell, and the rest of the day was very pleasant. I reached West Hartford about 4:30, but did not stay there – essentially, Trailmouse and I caught a ride into Hanover, the next town stop (yes, I am town hopping now), and I will hike to cover the 10 miles between West Hartford and Hanover on July 19; it will be a melancholy hike, as I leave Vermont behind *sniffle*.

Right now, we are staying with Bill Schults and Betsy Maisien, who have organized an entire network of trail angels in the Norwich/Hartford area who are willing to take on hikers. There are eight here now, and the basement with INCREDIBLY SOFT AND SQUISHY CARPET is a sea of air mattresses, laid end to end. We arrived late, but in time to finish off the stir fry that was what was for dinner!

I want to take the carpet with me. I do. It is just that good! And a shower, a real shower!!! And clean clothes! After days of rain or heat, or rain AND heat… A ripe tomato had nothing on me!

Much refreshed, I hike on.

Reception has been terrible the last few days; will post a mega entry tonight if I can!

Next time, I will go through the mines of Moria…

How do I even begin to sum up? A lot of it, I already have. But my day was shaped by a single phone call made after the storm, from the top of Mt Killington, 3908 feet up, to the Inn at the Long Trail, elevation 2440 feet.

“Hello, do you have any rooms left for tomorrow?”

“Yes, actually we have one room left at the hiker rate $69, but it’s nonreservable; if you make it here before 11 pm, you have a good chance of getting it though.”

Score! I fell asleep, dreaming of a mega celebration, with Irish food, drink, and a comfortable bed to collapse into afterwards. You see, tomorrow, 7/16, marks 3 months on the trail for me, and also would have been my mother’s birthday. Surely celebrating a day in advance was allowed.

Awake was I at 5 am as usual, and eagerly on the trail at 6 am. I fell in step with British section hiker Trailmouse and, having a similar pace and outlook on the world in general, we chatted as we hiked for a good stretch; it made the hiking seem a lot faster!

It was 2.5 miles to the intersection of the old AT and the new AT trails. Once I reached that point, I officially completed the 17 mile section of Mt. Caradhras… I mean Mt. Killington. Once again, I took the blue blaze trail to get down to the Inn quickly. Why rehike a section you don’t need to?

The path was a lot more forgiving this time – ie, it was an actual path, not a river. I made good time and reached the Inn about 10. But… NO ROOM AT THE INN! In fact, the receptionist said there never had been, that they had been fully booked for days, but I was welcome to stay around the lobby as long as I wanted. Ziptie retired to a chair to sulk, and wait for the restaurant to open at 11:30, and sulk. And sulk some more.

Somewhere before 11:30, I stopped sulking, and started thinking. While I could not shower (and I stink), I could at least do laundry, and charge the phone. This place caters to hikers to an amzing extent. Laundry was done, phone was charged, and a grilled Swiss cheese sandwich and bowl of beef stew was hungrily devoured. What next?

Well, next I crossed back over Rt. 4 to their free, overflow tenting area, and set up my tent. Okay, maybe I won’t have a soft squishy bed, but I will have the live Irish music and hiker conversation tonight, and some fine food, and a tent to relax in after!

Feeling much better, I had a rum and coke, then caught the bus out to the Killington outfitters; I needed more purification tablets and a new pair of shorts; the ones I have are getting too big. I will blame this on the rum and coke, but my sole purchase was a Steripen that uses UV to purify water, instead of chemicals, or manually squeezing water through filters. The Steripen pouch hooks onto my hip belt, so I don’t have to make room for it in my pack, and it will eliminate some weight – I will not have to carry so much water all the time, plus it will purify water in a tiny fraction of the time the filter or chemicals took. So I think it a good investment. But I will keep the backup squeeze filter for a bit, just in case.

With some time to kill before dinner, I spent some time with the maps. I estimate that I will be spending my birthday at Kinsman Notch, near North Woodstock, NH – the day after climbing 4800 ft Mt. Moosilauke, the gateway to the White Mountains. Yes, they are looming into my mental view now. Less than 100 miles away. I’ve decided to let myself celebrate my birthday here tonight with a fancy 3 course meal and live Irish music, because … Well, because.

Tomorrow I will hike on in earnest, having escaped this black hole section of trail, and I am eager again. This time I will be more careful in my eagerness! While I am apprehensive about the Whites, I am also looking forward to the challenge! 46 miles and 3 or 4 days to New Hampshire! I will miss Vermont, but I have stalled here way too long, time to kick it back up again. Tonight will be much fun though.

Bear with me.

I hike on.

As I lie here in my sleeping bag, waiting for my pants to dry from sitting in hot cocoa with peppermint schnapps… I reflect on how much I hate this mountain, and the whole 17 mile section, and how much it hates me. Let me recount the why’s.

I already blogged about the aborted slackpack on Sunday, cut short by downpours and developing hypothermia. So yesterday, I was sooo eager, overeager, to get back on the trail; it took a different tack. Extreme heat. It was 95 in Rutland, maybe 10 degrees cooler higher up, when I set off at 2:30, having driven back from Westfield. I really was too eager, and tried to go too fast for the heat. I made it up the first rock scramble, and to the shelter a mile in, but the hill beyond, Beacon Hill, defeated me. This was one serious steep hill, the path was going up at a near 60 degree angle at times; you could almost touch the path in front of you, just by leaning forward a bit. I couldn’t make it up; too hot. I returned to the shelter. A one mile day. I was not happy.

Today I felt much better and much stronger, was up early and gone at 6:20. My plan was 14 miles, and I was confident I could do it. Mt. Killington promised a long, slow climb, but halfway up, the dirt path hugging the mountain turned into a path of rocks and roots hugging the mountain. Very much harder, but I reached the Cooper Lodge Shelter at 2:20. This was not my goal. My goal lay 4.5 miles further, and the really severe storm was not forecast until after 5, so I took a break until 3, then started down.

About a mile down, I started hearing thunder. I did not want to deal with another downpour on the mountain, much less strong winds and large hail, so I retraced my steps to get to the closest shelter. Unfortunately, this one leaks, and the rain was blowing in sideways, so staying dry was not 100% successful, for myself or my gear. It is 6:00 now, and sunny, and I feel like pushing on now that the rain has stopped, but I need to let the gear dry. l feel pretty foolish for turning back instead of going on.

It has been a very frustrating two days. Only 11 miles, over two days. I am more than ready to get to Rt. 4 in about six miles, and move on, so I can finally get out of the Rutland-Killington area! One bright spot tomorrow – the trail goes by the Inn of the Long Trail. More Guinness stew!

Tomorrow I will be in a better mood, I promise.

I hike on. Continue reading →

Are you watching the curtain for movement during intermission? Or did you take the opportunity for a restroom visit? If so, know that there was movement. Someone peeked out for a minute. Someone with wet boots… Very wet boots. Walking through a mowed field in the morning before the grass dries… *very* wet boots indeed.

I was trying to follow a map to find a snowmobile trail that led to a beaver dam, apparently. There were no white blazes to follow, of course, only fences marking property boundaries – I turned back, unsure where I had permission to be and where not. At least it was a walk, if not a hike, right?

Back to the convent I went, in time for lunch and Scrabbling, not necessarily in that order. 🙂 Then I took an afternoon drive, heading still further north, to Newport and Lake Memphremagog, which forms part of the US/Canada border. The town is small, but has some neat shops, very Vermont themed. I sampled some maple rum and ice cider that I saved the info for – the shop ships. Imagine that!

Dinner was easily the best meatloaf I have ever had. I want the recipe! I got my pack fully packed up after, and had a great time talking with the nuns in their parlor area, explaining about hiking in general, pulling out equipment to show them, and answering their questions. We even ran over a bit, losing track of time, they had to hurry to keep their scheduled evening prayer, but I think we all enjoyed it! They have the blog URL now, as well.

Today I admit I reinstalled the Candy crush app on my phone and played a bit, but I will delete it tomorrow before heading out. I think I have gotten a bit soft and lazy over the 6 days I was off trail, but that ends tomorrow! I do not plan on another zero day until I clear the Whites, or until it is my birthday, whichever comes first. I need to get cracking.

My feet still swell,  yes, and my sister said to be sure to mention that my head fell off yesterday as well, but all’s good. Time to turn in. I will elevate the feet.

I hike on.

Driving in Vermont can be quite hazardous to your wallet, particularly when the road runs through Waterbury Center… The town has the Ben & Jerry’s factory, Cabot Cheese annex store, the Cold Hollow Cider Mill, a Lake Champlain Chocolate store, a winery, and a distillery. Probably more that I missed. Money kept escaping from my wallet, despite everything I could do.

Finally, I made it up to my sister’s convent, near the Canadian border – they have a nice guesthouse for visitors, with separate rooms. Privacy is a nice perk for a hiker! They kindly offered to do my laundry when they first heard I was coming, which is very much appreciated after yesterday’s drowno! I am currently creaming the Meg at Scrabble; halfway through a game that will be continued tomorrow.

Tomorrow I will also get some unofficial hiking in – not the AT, but perhaps Long Trail. Or just hiking around their property, they have about 320 acres plus there are public lands, too. But I am restless, and I think my feet are finally starting to recover. I know, I know, I’m talking about my feet too much again. I was originally thinking of staying until Thursday, but I think I will head back on Wednesday instead. I really do want to get back on trail.

Oh, and I’m hungry.

I intermission.

Ziptie is mentally screaming that she wants to get back on the trail, and she’s not listening to Betsy trying to be the voice of reason!

*tears hair out*

I admit it. The trail beat me today. Today was a drowno.

I had planned to be on the 7:15 bus out to the Rt. 4 trailhead, and be hiking by 7:45, but I overslept. 😦 Using an alarm in a room full of bunked, sleeping hikers is – well, you don’t do that. I caught the 8:15 bus instead, leaving me about 12 hours to do 17 miles.

I probably could have still pulled it off, but the “occasional showers” the weatherman promised almost immediately morphed into “someone opened the foundations of the deep”. Morning Song will remember that one time in New York where it deluged us atop a mountain, and the path became one big puddle. Well, it being Vermont, water here is much more energetic and doesn’t passively lie around. The path became many fast-flowing streams instead. My waterproof boots were unequal to keeping out THAT much water, and the rain jacket quickly was overwhelmed as well. I was grateful to be carrying just a borrowed daypack, I don’t know how well my backpack rain cover could have protected everything.

While I was working to get up the mountain, I started running into people along the path; the first two women asked me if there were any big puddles along the path behind me. Puzzled by their utter enthusiasm for the wet day, I replied in the affirmative. The next woman said nothing to me… But was carrying two pickaxes, one over each shoulder. I was really beginning to wonder just what the heck was going on!

Then, a small group of pickaxe-carrying men and women, and the mystery was explained – trail maintainers, looking for the spots where water collects on the trail, so they can dig side-channels to make it run off. And, of course, they can only find these spots under extremely wet conditions. I salute and thank them for their efforts!

They were enthusiastic; I was not. In fact, I was pretty wet and miserable, and then I started getting cold. Not a good combination. The trail conditions were slowing me down; there was no chance of making 17 miles before dark, and there were two extremely steep rock scrambles downwards toward the end that would have been downright dangerous under wet conditions. I needed to get off the trail and warm up.

I asked the next group of trail maintainers if there were any closer road crossings. A gravel road or two, about 10 miles away, was the only option for that, then one of them told me that if I took the blueblazed Sherburne Pass trail, it would be a 3 mile walk to the Inn at the Long Trail on Rt. 4, where I could catch the bus back. The trail junction was only a mile and a half further; it seemed the best option.

Actually, this blueblazed trail used to be the official AT, until the trail was rerouted, and it still had a shelter on it. I stopped there for about 15 minutes to have a drink and eat a snack, but I should have kept moving instead – I got even colder very quickly, though this shelter was an actual building, with 4 walls and a door. I got mad at myself, and hurried on. Rocks, roots, rain, rivulets. All very wet and slippery. My boots were squirting water.

I covered the last 2.7 miles as fast as was safely possible, and stumbled into the Inn as a half-drowned Ziptie. They are well used to hikers,and very hospitable!

Plus, they have an Irish pub on site. Heaven. Irish coffee first. Then, yes, I will try a cup of the Guinness beef stew. Ooooh, that was so good, please get me a bowl of it! And a Guinness on tap, please… I could have stayed there eating and drinking until the money ran out, it was just the kind of fare someone hovering at the edge of hypothermia needed! (Well, the stew anyway.)

The bus back to Rutland came by at 20 minutes after the hour, no trouble catching it, and it deposits you right behind the hiker hostel. Literally. 10 minutes later, I was savoring an extremely hot shower, it felt so good.

Okay, so now I have completely messed up the flow of the hike. North from VT 103 to Rt. 4 is 17 miles of official AT; today I hiked the 4 miles closest to Rt. 4, which leaves a 13 mile gap in between. When I return from Meg’s, I will just hike the whole section, including the part I have already done, just to get back on track. It’s the simplest solution.

Tonight, though… Well, tonight my toes are very wrinkled. Trying to get everything to dry, the insoles are out of the boots and spread out. I am very grateful to be indoors. There is a hot Monopoly game going on in the lounge among other hikers who had better sense than I had!

You can say that I wimped out, or that I was sensible. I think a case could be made for either angle. I know I’ll spend a lot of time fruitlessly second-guessing myself. But then, I always do. 🙂

Tomorrow I intermission.

Zerozerozerozero… Though can it really be counted as a zero if you drive over a hundred miles? Why, yes, it can…

The word of the day today is ‘serendipity’!

The day started early; I was planning to be on the road by 7, but happily postponed my departure an hour in order to have breakfast with my sister Mary at the diner across the street from the motel. The pancakes they served were so huge, even I couldn’t finish two! The coffee was great, the food was great, and it was great to catch up with Mary as well. (Did I great enough, or what?)

I was, however, on the road by 8; I had to return the rental car by 11, and it was a 2.5 hour drive normally. What with getting gas, and stopping for a pit stop or two, I got to the rental place about 11:10. No problem; car returned, all was well.

And here’s where the day turned serendipitous. The rental shop shuttler dropped me back off at the library near the hostel, at my request. Now, it was pouring in the mountains around Rutland, and looked like it was going to continue for a while; also, it barely broke 60, so it was both cool and rainy, with T-storms forecast, so I was already of two minds about hiking. I looked up some things at the library, then left about noon, to go check out the bus schedules for the ride out to the trailhead.

Down the street I went, toward the hostel and the bus stop, and, behold! An optician shop! I could get my primary pair of glasses repaired! Except… it was closed – sadness. Except… the owner was out front moving something! He asked me what I needed, I explained about the missing nose piece, and within five minutes, he’d kindly fixed it for me. People can be so kind!

Down the street I continued, toward the hostel and the bus stop, and, behold! A sea of tents in front of the Wal-Mart… I did not have the willpower, as a hiker, to resist a Vermont farmers’ market full of fresh veggies, cheeses, cider, liquor samples, different ethnic foods. Few hikers would have had that kind of willpower! I sampled a lot, and bought a half gallon of cider to share with other hikers.

And then it started pouring again. The 11 mile hike washed away in the rain; but tomorrow I will slackpack 17 miles, regardless of weather, and get that section done anyway. Someday, I will /finally/ leave Rutland. I promise.

Having resolved on staying at the hostel again, I dumped the pack, claimed a bunk, and went back to the library to read a while. During the course of reading, it sink in that today was Saturday. So I checked for Catholic churches nearby – bingo! .2 miles away, and Saturday vigil Mass at 4:30 pm. Serendipity!

The Twelve Tribes group that runs the hostel invited all the hikers staying to their Sabbath celebration and supper afterwards. I have to admit, I was quite curious (and yes, okay, quite hungry, too), so I attended. They sang a lot of praise songs, and danced in a circle as they sang; though it seemed unusual to me, I have no doubt they would find a Catholic Mass just as unusual to them! They then had a sort of testimony time, not sure that’s the right word? Speaking as they were moved to? Something like that. The dinner was very good – a dark sort of rice for a base, with turkey and squash and cucumbers mixed in, and a green salad. Still crave my greens!

After dinner, I went over to the Wal-Mart to resupply on food, I’d used up almost everything. The small pack I will use to slackpack tomorrow is almost all ready to go; I will likely take the bus out to the Rt. 4 trailhead tomorrow and walk south, back to VT 103. The trail terrain doesn’t look too bad – just one big mountain, Mt. Killington. I really do want to get this section done, at least!

It is getting late. My hiking routine will get back to normal after I return from visiting Meg.

I hike on.

Ah. Yes. I feel like the Count on Sesame Street tonight!

Heh, heh, heh! ONE father, ONE aunt, ONE sister in law, TWO brothers, TWO brothers in law, THREE cousins, FOUR nephews, FOUR nieces, FOUR sisters…

You could, I think, safely conclude that a huge chunk of the family attended my brother’s retirement ceremony. And it was a truly fun event, with being proud of him, and seeing family I have not seen in years! His CO mentioned my hike during her acknowledgments of friends and family, which was unexpected and ego-boosting, and a lot of people had questions later. I promise, no swelled head. 🙂

My cousin Jean wants to hike the second half of the trail with me, which would be great… He has much longer legs, I suspect it won’t take long before I am struggling to keep up with HIM. 🙂

Very itchy tonight on the arms, not sure why; very annoying. Tomorrow I drive back to Rutland, turn in the rental car, and hopefully cover another 11 miles or so of trail. The AT actually crosses two roads, VT 103 and Rt. 4, about 17 miles apart, that both lead into Rutland, so I will hike that section over Saturday and Sunday, setting me up to rent a car again Monday to visit my little sister up north. (may be repeating myself, my apologies)

It was a truly great day, and I enjoyed singing loudly off-key with the radio on the drive to and from Amherst from Chicopee. I kinda missed my loud offkey singing.

But now I have to sleep.

I hike on.