Sunday, August 2, 2009

Manchester, VT















I left off in CT and two weeks later I've made it through MA and am part way through VT. Last weekend I met up with some past hiking partners, Bonesey, Daddy Long Legs and Wheeler. After taking a few unplanned zero days at Bonesey's house in CT, we decided to rent an Enterprise cargo van, fill it with 15 thru hikers and drive 3 hours to a hiker bash (put on by Rainman and Ahab) in VT for 3 days. It was great! Tons of food, cliff jumping in the quarry and ALOT (63) of stinky hikers all in Rainman's parents home.















We finally got out of VT and back to CT to continue hiking and made decent time, despite the relentless rain and diminishing trail conditions. I try not to complain while I'm out here but this is my blog so I'm going to rant for a minute about the rain. The past week has been full of torrential down pours which have flooded the trail and made walking a nightmare. The trail is literally a flowing stream in many sections of MA and VT (and probably NH and ME) and when its not raining the trail is a mud bog. Waterproofing does nothing for rain of this magnitude. The water seeps through your pack and soaks most of your gear. We've done a pretty good job drying our gear out but lately everything is either soaking wet or damp. The good news is that we're managing to keep high spirits. I think most people realize that they are out here by choice and with several great hostels in the northeast its not hard to get out of the weather. Currently I'm at one of those great hostels, The Green Mountain House, and it is by far my favorite so far on the trail. Imagine a fully stocked home with all the amenities and a bunch of hikers and that's The Green Mountain House Hostel. We'll be back on trail tomorrow and plan to be in Rutland, VT by Wednesday and then Hanover, NH by next Monday. Only 538 miles to go! Pray for nice weather in the NE! Take it easy.

Rocket

2 comments:

  1. That beard is looking awfully big and out of control...

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  2. Agree with Nicole, but like it.. I want to see you keep that mustach.... I am thinking handle bars. proud of you man

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