Where Man’s Glory Begins and Ends
My friend Jim Coutre came to visit me while I was in Bennington, Vermont, so I’m going to cover both those days in one post. I woke up on August 3 at the Catamount Motel. I’d gone into Bennington a day earlier than I’d originally intended because of the weather and the subpar campsite option, and it turned out to be a good thing. The hotel gave me a good deal, so I went ahead and just booked two more nights.
Jim was supposed to show up a little bit before noon. He had been in New Hampshire the night before, car camping at the Chris Stapleton concert with his wife and son, who were going to head back to Boston separately with all their car camping gear while he drove down to Bennington to meet up with me. That morning, I decided to hustle up and get my laundry done, so he didn't have to sit and wait for me to do my laundry like all my other friends who’ve visited had to do.
So thank you, other friends who put up with me doing my laundry! I was able to get that done, and Jim got to the motel at around 11:30. We caught up for a few minutes in the room but then, naturally, started making our way downtown. It was a little bit rainy here and there, but we caught a break in the weather and took the opportunity to walk into town for lunch.
Sandwiched between Harvest Brewing and the Madison Brewing Company was a place called Union South Bar and Provisions, which seemed like a good place to stop for lunch, so we did. Unfortunately, the food was fairly terrible. I got the fish tacos, and they just didn't have any flavor. Jim got a chicken sandwich that wasn't particularly good.
After that, we went to Harvest Brewing. It had been my favorite stop the day before. And it's amazing how long you can spend sitting in a bar when you're hanging out with a great friend. We were there for hours, just talking and catching up.
Eventually, we determined that we needed more food, so we went to the Madison Brewing Company to have some dinner and another beer. By the time we were done with that, it was time to walk back to the motel — stopping for another pint of Ben & Jerry’s — and get a good night's sleep. So, not an overly exciting or active day, I guess, but it was really great to have all that time to catch up with Jim.
On Sunday morning, we went to the Sunny Side Diner for breakfast, and it was just your classic New England breakfast place. I had raspberry pancakes, because that's apparently what they're known for, and they were delicious.
Since Jim had a car, I made sure to take full advantage of that. I needed to get some groceries, and also I wanted to get a new water filter and the bag that goes with it. I’d been using the same water filter bag for the entire hike, and it was pretty brown and funky. We found a place in Manchester, Vermont, that sold the brand that I wanted, so we headed to Manchester.
Manchester is an interesting place, because it's really this quaint little New England town, but somehow, the outlet stores caught on that it’s popular with tourists or something, because there's a whole section of Manchester that is just outlet stores. And they seem really out of place. But luckily for me, mixed in among them was an outdoor store called the Mountain Goat. It’s been there for a long time, and it’s known for catering to hikers.
They had the exact filter system I wanted, which was just great. And in case you don't know how all that works, I use the Katadyn Be Free. And what you do is you go to a stream or some other kind of water source, and you fill the bag with water — I have a three-liter bag, though you can get a smaller one — and then you screw the filter onto the bag, turn it upside down, and squeeze the water through the filter into your water bottles. I was able to get a whole new setup, which I’m pretty psyched about.
After that, we went to the grocery store for a bit of a resupply, and as we were heading back to Bennington, we were driving among all the outlets and saw a place called Smugglers’ Notch Distillery, which had a tasting room. So of course, we had to stop. We went in for a tasting, and they were just these tiny little portions. So don't worry, we weren’t tossing back all sorts of spirits and then driving around New England. They make a gin with hops in it, which I thought was very interesting.
Not surprisingly, they make bourbon that has maple syrup in it, which was pretty good. Obviously, I didn't purchase anything, because carrying around a bottle of spirits in a backpack isn't a great idea when you’re trying to reduce every possible ounce. But it was a nice experience.
We went back to the motel, and I was able to organize my food bag and that sort of thing. Then we decided we wanted to get some lunch-slash-early dinner. Jim found a place that was just over the border in New York, in North Hoosick, called Brown's Brewing Company. It's in an old mill, right on the river, and it's a really lovely setting. I ordered a barbecue quesadilla that was huge and kind of amazed myself by eating the whole thing. I guess hiker hunger will do that to you.
We headed back to the motel and sat outside for a while at a little picnic table. The person who shuttled me into town hiked the AT last year, and right now, she’s working at the Catamount Hotel. Her name's Reset, and she kind of follows the hiker bubble, doing various jobs in different locations along the way. She started in the South, and once the bubble passes through here, she'll head further north and find another job. I hope I’ll get to see her again at a hostel up in Maine.
She's a really, really nice person who is really knowledgeable about the trail, so we had a good conversation about that. And I also learned that her husband, whose name is Rale Barfield Sidebottom — sounds a little crazy, but apparently, that last name is pretty common in England — wrote a book called Ridiculous and Ill-Advised, and he's in the process of working with an agent, because a couple of companies in Hollywood are interested in optioning it for a movie. So, best of luck to them, and hopefully, that'll work out. Keep an eye out for that.
Jim had brought a bunch of beers from the Treehouse Brewery in Massachusetts, which are very difficult to find anywhere else, so we were sampling some of their New England IPAs while we were talking. There’s a gas station next door, and while we were hanging out at the picnic table, some guy was having a problem with his tire. Jim happened to have an air compressor with him, so he was able to help the guy pump up his tire. While he did, I took the chance to step away and have a quick call with S.
All in all, it was a great visit with Jim. I really was happy to see him. I've now seen my four closest friends from college in person on the trail, which has been extremely gratifying, and I'm just so honored that they all took time out of their lives to come and meet me at various places.
Rob met me in Hot Springs, North Carolina. Scott came to meet me outside of Port Clinton in Pennsylvania. Jon met me in New York, and we hiked a big portion of Connecticut together. And Jim came to meet me here in Vermont. What a lucky person I am. I'm extremely grateful and just lucky to have them as friends.
So, it’s back to the trail tomorrow. I have a bruising climb ahead of me in the morning, and I'm nervous about it. I wonder if I'll ever stop feeling nervous the day before a big hike.
