Tuesday, August 27, 2019
The penultimate day. Or at least that's the plan. I had to hike about 18 miles to the Congdon Shelter to make it work.
I got up at 4:30 a.m. after one of the coldest nights so far. The temperature was in the mid-40s. Brrrrrr. It was a clear morning and I saw the most glorious sunrise of the entire hike. Simply stunning.
I started hiking at 6:30 am. and made it up Mt. Glastenberry around 8:30 a.m. Like Mt. Stratton, it had a fire tower so of course I climbed it. The morning was clear so I could see for miles and miles, but boy, was it windy and chilly!
Around noon I ran into Zach and Francesca yet again. They were having some lunch with Zach's parents at an overlook. His parents had hiked in to meet them at the Goddard Shelter the day before (which was the shelter I wanted to get to but ran out of gas). They generously shared some food with me and we chatted for a while.
After they continued on, I was able to get some cell service from this spot and made arrangements with my dad to pick me up in Williamstown the next day. Given that I'd have nearly a full day of hiking, we decided to get a couple of hotel rooms and leave the following morning.
With that settled, I soldiered on to finish the 18-mile day. The only tough part of the day's hike was the gap that Rt. 9 ran through. It was another example of why I hate gaps. It was a brutal, steep descent and a brutal, steep ascent on the other side of the highway. Yes, I was ready to be done after that. At my age, it takes a lot out of me. Nevertheless, like Liz Warren, I persisted and got into the Congdon campsite around 4:45 p.m. I procrastinated no longer and had the big mileage day I needed. Just one more day with a very reasonable 13.8 miles to hike. I was tired but pleased.
My last night on trail was a cool one at Congdon Shelter. Probably my favorite. Zach and Francesca were there. I had hiked around them for the past several days and enjoyed their company. They were headed to Slovenia to hike the Slovenian National Trail in mid-September. There were a handful of Appalachian Trail thru-hikers there, including three young women in their early twenties. They started in May, likely after graduating college, and were a hoot to listen to with their tales from the trail.
The woman with the little dog was there too. I learned that night that her trail name was "Fun Size" and that she was a Triple Crowner. That's big shit in the long-distance hiking community. It means she hiked all three major long-distance trails in the U.S. She did the 2,650-mile Pacific Crest Trail in 2016 (the one featured in the book and movie "Wild"), the 3,100-mile Continental Divide Trail in 2017, and the 2,190-mile Appalachian Trail in 2018. Impressive stuff. Like me, she would be completing the Long Trail tomorrow. A shorter adventure but a super cool trail to check off the bucket list.
Finally, there was a prototypical AT thru-hiker at the campsite with the beard and ponytail and guitar strapped to his back. We had a campfire going and sat around it while he played us some tunes. He was a legit player and a pleasure to listen to.
An enjoyable night all around and a great way to end my last night out in the woods.
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