Rainforest Vermont Part 1: AT Flip Flop Days 63-67

Day 63

I happened to wake up at 5:30 and saw it was going to start raining in a half hour and not stop for a while. I quickly got some water and retrieved my food bag just in time before it started raining. I settled into my hammock for a relaxed morning. After the rain stopped around 8, I packed up my mostly wet gear and grudgingly put on my completely wet hiking clothes. 

The last few miles of Massachusetts were tough with a steep climb and rock scramble. The sign announcing the Vermont border was unnecessary; I knew I had crossed over, because there was a massive mud pit right on the border. (Vermont is known as Vermud to AT hikers.) The mud was relentless, as expected, but what I did not expect was how overgrown the trail was. Another AT hiker commented that it reminded him of the overgrown trail in New York.

The hiking was tough in the heat and humidity. I felt zapped by the conditions all day. My feet got wet early, so I stopped trying to avoid the mud and just walked through it. It started to pour rain as I was eating dinner at the shelter. Jingle and Subtitles got caught in the rain and didn’t make it to camp until 7, very late for our tramily.

The shelter area was full of hikers just starting the Vermont Long Trail, which shares about 100 miles with the AT. It was jarring to be surrounded by fresh, excited hikers begging their journey instead of the weary, weathered AT veterans. It also took some practice to start beginning conversations with, “are you hiking the AT or the Long Trail?”

When I took my wet shoes and socks off before bed, I discovered I had zombie feet. The skin on my feet was sloughing off. There wasn’t much I could do for them in the woods except to dry them out overnight. I hoped they would be ok. My feet needed a break soon, and so did the rest of my body and mind.

Day 64

I was slow to pack up my wet gear. This is always the case for me when everything is soaking wet. I was surprised to learn that Jingle was ready to quit after yesterday. We had always joked about it, especially after bad days, but she seemed serious this time. Luckily we were getting inside today and she could figure things out from there.

We walked quickly to the top of Harmon Hill, where we called the Catamount Motel to arrange our pickup. The descent down Harmon Hill is considered the worst on the AT in Vermont. The motel gets a lot of hikers, and they know how long it normally takes, so we didn’t have to wait long once we got down. 

We were too early to check in, so we picked up snacks for lunch at the gas station next door. After getting checked in, we set about showers, laundry, and drying our gear. We struggled to make a plan for tomorrow. I really wanted a zero, but Subtitles wanted to hike on while we had a good weather window. Jingle was still undecided about staying on trail. We ordered delivery for dinner and had some beers from the gas station. We still had no plan, and I was exhausted, but we got a ride to Walmart from a trail angel named Sir Stops A Lot. I just wanted to go to bed, but I would need to resupply at some point and didn’t want to pass up the ride. 

We still had no set plan. It was getting late. I was even more exhausted than earlier, but I still had a lot to do. I needed to repack all my now dry gear and pack my food bag with my fresh resupply.

I had forgotten to look for something for my feet while I was resupplying. Despite now being dry, I was still peeling a lot of skin. There were some sensitive areas in the new skin. I was worried about the pain and possibility of infection. I hoped for a zero to give them time to heal. In the meantime, I slathered them with Vaseline before putting my socks on each morning.

Day 65

I did not get nearly enough sleep last night. My hopes for a zero were dashed when I got a text that Jingle and Subtitles were going to hike out, since today was the only day in the forecast with no rain. Jingle decided to stay on trail. I begrudgingly joined them, not wanting to fall behind again and not wanting to spend the only decent weather day inside. 

There was a big climb to begin the day. The trail was mostly dry and not too difficult after the initial climb. There were no views today. I got dehydrated on a long waterless stretch, but when I finally got to water, it was the coldest and clearest water I’d had in weeks. I nearly made myself sick drinking it so fast. The last 4 miles to camp were hard. We summited Glastonbury Mountain, but there were no views, and the fire tower was closed because it was structurally unsound. 

We finally made a plan for the next few days to get to Manchester and stay out of the rain as much as possible. Unfortunately the plan includes a blue blaze that will cut off Stratton Mountain, but keeping safe, dry, and out of the coming storm were our priorities. 

Day 66

I didn’t sleep well last night. It was too quiet, and I heard some animal running around all night. There were also a swarm of massive moths flapping under my tarp. 

It was very humid today, and I was drenched in sweat pretty much right away. The miles felt slow, but I hiked quickly despite my lack of sleep. Having a goal helps me push through a tough day, and we wanted to get to the shelter by 2:00 to beat some forecasted rain. We again had no views.

We got to the forest service road where we began our alternate route to bypass Stratton. If we hadn’t taken the bypass, we would have been near the summit when the 2:00 storm was supposed to hit, so we felt it was a prudent choice. We were on the road for about half a mile to get to our blue blaze trail. We got to the trailhead at 1:00 and still had nearly 4 miles to go. I took off to hike it as quickly as I could. It was a mercifully flat and easy trail. I pushed myself as hard as I could and arrived at the shelter at 2:15.

Jingle and Subtitles didn’t show up for another almost hour. They had stopped to eat lunch, whereas I ate when I got to the shelter. There ended up not being any significant rain. After the hard push, I wasn’t upset that we were done hiking for the day so early. We made plans to get into Manchester the next day for 2 nights. I was finally going to have my zero day.

Day 67

I woke up early so that we could get an early start. The big storm that we had been hiking hard to get ahead of was forecast to hit us in the early afternoon. 

We cruised through some surprisingly easy trail. We took a break at Prospect Rock, our first really good, big view in Vermont. It sprinkled a little, but the rain held off. We decided to take another blue blaze from Prospect Rock to get to town more quickly.

The alternate was a steep forest service road. There was a beautiful waterfall on the side of the road. We made it to the highway and walked toward town. We stopped at Zoey’s Double Hex restaurant on the way into town for lunch and had the best food we’ve had on the entire trail. 

I wanted to try hitch hiking, but we ended up walking all the way into town. We checked out the outfitters in town and got a few things before setting off for the Aspen Motel. It was recently renovated and really nice. We all showered and watched a dumb funny movie to relax. We didn’t know what to do for dinner, so Jingle had her leftovers and Subtitles raided the breakfast bar. I had the last of my oatmeal and granola, because I didn’t want to walk back into town. I am so ready for my zero tomorrow. 

Lack-of-Shower Thoughts

Thru-hiking is way more mental than physical. The body responds and adapts to the physical challenge, as long as you give it food and sleep. Staying mentally sharp after days, weeks, and months of just walking all day, every day is much harder. I realized on day 66 that I wasn’t getting enough mental stimulation, and I was letting my physical discomfort get to me. Moving forward, I resolved to get my brain some exercise by listening to an audiobook when the hiking wasn’t too difficult. This addition, as well as an overdue zero, helped solve my ongoing negativity and keep me in higher spirits thru the next stretch (which you’ll read about in my next post).