Rain.
Is it effective if I write this in the style of Oregon Trail?
I woke up to rain on the roof of the shelter. I turned over and slept some more.

Eventually I got up. I headed out before Carpenter into the wet morning. The Firetower was first. I climbed it, because I could. I enjoyed the clouds.

I kept walking. There wasn’t much remarkable about the trail. It was nice, in a generic sort of way. It was green, the way all of the trail is right now. It was muddy and wet, the way Vermont is supposed to be, but really no more so than Tennessee or North Carolina right now.

That’s not to say that the mud didn’t get me. The mud certainly got me.

I hiked alone most of the day and enjoyed the time to think and reflect on life and friends and rocks and god knows what else. I met back up with Carpenter at lunch, where I enjoyed an absolutely delicious turkey and cheese sandwich. THAT will be a staple for my trips.

We were shooting for Stratton Pond shelter. We stopped at a Firetower just before there for a snack and while we were sitting, the caretaker came out. Hugh, as it turned out, had been the caretaker there for 48 years, off and on. He was the fire lookout back when they still had that, too. He was an absolute treasure. He told us that 14 people had gone missing in the Glastonbury wilderness, the area we’d just come through. The last one, in the 40s, I think, was the reason the Vermont state police were formed (I think I got that right!).

Anyways, we spent a good deal of time chatting with him. It’s not just the hikers that you meet; its people like Hugh who make the trail so interesting and incredible. He also said Benton MacKaye, who first came up with the idea for the AT, conceived it as a way to bring northerners and southerners together after the civil war.
I don’t know how effective that was, but I think it did work as a way to bring people from varied backgrounds together. Can you imagine me and Carpenter ever meeting? I mean, he lives in New Hampshire. Or me and Tinkerbell, who is such a treasure and inspiration to me.
Anyways, another thing to think about.

We hiked on to the shelter, but unfortunately it was beyond full. So we made a call to hike another 5 miles to a shelter .5 off the trail, hoping most people would be too lazy to go there.

We were…sort of correct. It was full, but there was room on the floor. So I’m on the floor about to pass out.
Miles: 25

MVP: dry clothes

LVP: so hungry