Conjunction Junction
I woke up this morning (August 11) at the Comfort Inn for the final time before going back to the trail. Doug and I grabbed breakfast there, and then I packed up my backpack and sadly said farewell to the wonderful hotel room. It's just such a luxury to stay in a hotel when you otherwise spend so much of your time in a tent or at a hostel.
Doug and I started our hike yesterday on the peak of Killington and went south, and if I were going to pick up at the exact same spot today, I’d have to take the gondola back up to the peak of Killington and head north. But the length of trail between that spot and the next trailhead was only a couple of miles, so I opted to skip that part and not have to deal with the extra logistics or time of taking the gondola to the summit again — or with paying another $25.
It seemed sort of excessive for such a short section, so I figured I’d leave well enough alone and restart at the next trailhead on Route 4. I did grapple with the decision for a while, in large part because a gondola is one of my favorite forms of transportation. I should lobby someone to have the AT just be a really long series of gondola rides. I think that would be a lot more fun and relaxing. It would take away from the challenge aspect of finishing the trail, of course, but I think I'd be willing to accept that trade-off. I don't know if one of you guys wants to foot the bill on that one, but if so, I'd be forever grateful to you.
[Rob’s vision. Sunny, you’ve created an AI monster.]
Anyway, Doug dropped me off at the Route 4 trailhead, and while I was getting my pack on, I saw Highlighter and Steady coming down off the peak of Killington. We seem to be bumping into each other a lot these days. The two of them continued on down the trail, and after saying goodbye to Doug — it was really great seeing him again after so long — I followed a few minutes behind.
About two miles north of the trailhead where I started out this morning, the Long Trail and the Appalachian Trail separate. I think I explained this before, but they converge at the southern border of Vermont and are one and the same for about 100 miles. Where they split up is called the Maine Junction. And interestingly, the Long Trail continues to use white blazes all the way from there up to Canada. So it's blazed exactly the same way the AT is.
In addition, it's not totally obvious at the junction which direction you should go for the two different trails. So I can easily see some people making a mistake there and heading down the opposite path from the one they’d intended on taking. Fortunately, I knew which way to go and stayed on the AT. But that means I've hiked 100 miles of the Long Trail now — or I guess, 100 miles of it, minus those few coming off Killington — so that’s kind of cool.
Overall, today was a fairly uneventful hiking day. I caught up with Highlighter and Steady at Gifford Woods State Park, which the trail passes through. It’s a really nice state park, and people can drive in and car camp all that. The trail then goes alongside a lovely lake for a while and passes by Thundering Falls, which is also lovely. The area has some very nice paths for the tourists who come here, and as an AT thru-hiker, I always appreciate tourist areas like that, because the trail is always so nicely manicured.
Just past Thundering Falls, I came to a really nice boardwalk, but then I started up a very steep ascent. It was about 1,300 feet of elevation over the span of a little over a mile. So, very steep. But it actually wasn't too bad, and I made it in about 50 minutes. I don't really mind steep ascents that you can kind of get yourself mentally ready for and then just commit to and grind through. That seems to be more psychologically manageable. And I think I've mentioned this before, but when you have a series of ups and downs, it's just difficult to settle in and get into any kind of groove.
Unfortunately, this particular big climb didn’t offer any views once I got to the top. That's always kind of a bummer. You work hard but don't get the payoff. Not long after the peak, though, there was a clearing where some power lines went through, and I was able to look back and see Killington and the ski slopes, and that was really nice.
I eventually made my way down to the Stony Brook campsite, and while I was setting up my tent, Steady and Highlighter showed up, followed by Meow Mix and Paladin not long after. Paladin has taken to calling me Hotel Boy, because I stayed in a hotel in Bennington and then another one in Rutland, and I think he’s getting resentful, because he wants to stay in a hotel. I thought that was pretty funny.
I ate some dinner and got in my tent, and guess what? It started raining again. It’s been raining pretty hard for a while, and I think I’ll just go to bed soon. I covered about 16 trail miles today, and I’m getting closer to New Hampshire. Hoping to get there in the next couple days.
