Day 124: A Two-Part Adventure – Part I: Rain Delay

Vroom, BRAHKKKKK, Vroom

Truck traffic started zooming up VT103 about 4:30 a.m., underscoring the difference between trailhead boondocking on remote forest roads and camping in mountain highway parking lots. One hundred air brakes later, I gave up pretending to sleep and looked out the window at the first hints of a blue-sky day.

Perfect. I’d finally catch a Vermont summit with a view.

Finally, A Sunny Day in Vermont

But you knew that’s not how this day would go, didn’t you? Vermont would not be that kind to me.

As soon as I climbed out of the van to go find a hole in the woods, I glanced west. A bank of dark grey clouds already covered the valley below us and advanced steadily toward our mountain. The rain held off just long enough for me to finish my woodsy business, letting loose seconds after I got back to the van.

Walking Wet. Again.

A quick check of the local forecast indicated steady rain most of the morning, with a slight lessening around 11:00 a.m., and clearing up by late afternoon. I’d be walking wet all day.

I’ve walked wet plenty of times on the AT. I’ve been rained on every day in Vermont. I could endure one more day of rain. But that doesn’t mean I have to like it.

A Revelation

Or, I realized, that I have to hike at all.

I’d never delayed my start before. I’d always marched out into the weather to take my beating and soldier on in the elements. Hikers hike, after all, or so say the hard-core types.

But I don’t report to a trail boss. No one besides you and me tracks my progress, and you won’t know what I’ve done for several days. I can do whatever I want.

I wanted to go back to bed. So I did.

Back to Bed

Northstar made space for me, reluctantly giving back the warm spot she’d appropriated. Gus opened a lazy eye, misquoted something about mad dogs and Englishman, climbed up on my lap (is there such a thing as a lying down lap?), and went back to sleep.

I’d either wait out the rain and get a late start, hoping to catch Killington as the skies cleared this afternoon, or take an unplanned zero or nero. I have options. I am not a slave to my itinerary.

Another Revelation

As it turns out, I’m not that good at napping by a noisy highway with a dog on top of me. I’m also bad at sitting around doing nothing. So, I got up, made a pot of double spice chai, and enjoyed taking my time as I wrote my blog and leisurely sipped through several mugs of tea.

I like listening to the rain on the roof. I like writing in the morning when my brain is brimming with ideas. I always have. Lo and behold, I even like being flexible with my hiking schedule. This could be the start of something new and wonderful.

The rain agreed, tapping out its approval on the van roof while I kept time tapping my keyboard.

Life is good.

Daily Stats:

• Start: (VT 103, Mile 1,691.4)
• End: (VT 103, Mile 1,691.4)
• Weather: Pre-dawn clear skies, then rain and more rain.
• Earworm: None. Could have been the Carpenters, but no.
• Meditation: Jn 1:1-5
• Plant of the Day: Me
• Best Thing: Looking out at the rain.
• Worst Thing: Seeing motorcycle feral Santa under his plastic sheet.