Saturday, August 24, 2019
The folks from the hostel provide rides back to the trailhead in the morning so I scheduled my ride for 8:00 a.m. This would mean a later start but the pressure was off. The hostel has a kitchen stocked with eggs, English muffins, and pancake mix for hikers to make their own breakfast and I took advantage of it. It comes with the package.
After I ate and cleaned up my dishes, Duffy dropped me off so I could get back to work. Hiking was now my "day job." I have to admit that the last week was not as much fun as the first couple (and even those first two weeks were a lot of work). But I came this far and needed to finish this thing.
I wanted to finish the last 54.3 miles of the Long Trail plus the 4-mile approach trail to Williamstown, MA in four days. That meant I had to average around 15 miles a day. The shelters don't line up perfectly every 15 miles so one of the days was going to be a longer one.
I tried to make this day the big mileage one but I didn't have it in me. My legs felt tired and I hiked slow. Plus there was a lot of mud on the trail. The Long Trail is famous for its mud. Not sure why there is so much of it but half the day I was trying to avoid it. Very annoying. I've hiked with mud-filled shoes and some say it's the way to go but it's not pleasant.
I sat by a fast-moving stream for lunch and was soon joined by an Appalachian Trail thru-hiker. He just plopped down near me and started to make his lunch. We talked for a while. He started the AT back in April and was having a good time. Apparently, like most AT hikers, he hated Pennsylvania but loved Massachusetts and Vermont (even with its mud).
I carried on after lunch and made it to Stratton Pond and its shelter around 3:00 p.m. I only did 11 miles but there was no more hike in The Mike. That meant an even bigger day in the next three days to make my goal of finishing in four (now three) days. But I'd deal with that later. Even on the trail I procrastinate!
This shelter is a popular spot because of the pond. Lots of college orientation groups, Boy Scout troops, and day hikers use it because it has a side trail that provides relatively easy access to it. Combined with it being a Saturday night, there were lots of people there. A dad and two sons, a father and daughter, a single overnight guy who hiked the AT in 1990, a late-twenty-something woman with a dog hiking the Long Trail southbound like me (more on her in a later post), a woman in her fifties doing a section of the trail solo, a couple in their sixties also doing a section of the trail, and an AT hiker. There were no tent sites on this side of the pond so we all had to sleep in the shelter. Luckily, it is a really large one and I was able to secure a decent bunk.
Near the end of the day someone built a campfire and we had some good conversation. Darkness came around 8:00 p.m. and we all retired for the evening. With ear plugs blocking out any noisy sleepers, I got a good night's rest.
Will tomorrow be my "big mileage" day to hit my goal? Let's see what the trail provides.
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