Green Mountain House, has more than meets the eye! Route 11, Vermont. (You'd get this if you're from Maine)

Day 95 - 7/23/10
I guess I'm a hypocrite because I used an alarm last night, but I'm glad I did because it allowed me to get into town early enough to do all the things I needed to. When it went off at 5:30 I groaned, laid there about ten minutes, then started breaking down camp and having breakfast. I was up and out by 6:30, very groggy and with a headache, but I wad moving.

Those first few hours were not all that fun, but by 8:00 I had made close to 4 miles and was feeling better. I went up and summitted Stratton Mountain at 9:30, an elevation of 3936 ft. and the biggest peak the AT crosses in Vermont. It's awesome to be hitting big mountains again, and there was a fire tower atop this one that had great views all around. Wind was fierce up there though, and frigid, so I didn't hang around too long. From there on out the rest of the day was rainy. The good thing was that it wasn't torrential, just soft constant rain. I'm now completely comfortable with walking in the stuff, it doesn't faze me.

One thing I thought about today was the mud. With all the rain we had it got real squishy, and my boots were squelching through it. That's legit, they really made a squelch sound. And with each sinking step all I could think about was that scene in Jurassic Park when the T-Rex first shows up and you see its giant foot submerge in the mud. I'm beginning to think they shot those scenes in VT. Anyway I hiked from Stratton all the way to two shelters away without breaking. In between that distance I met Dewlap's mom who was planning on meeting her and Rainer on the trail. She was nice and I talked with her a bit, but not too long because if you sit still in the rain you get chilly. When I made it to that shelter I didn't go down to it because it was .5 off the trail, so I just ate a quick snack at the trailhead. Had a cold ramen, which I haven't done in some time. Today would have been a good day to have it hot though, but again I didn't want to sit in the rain too long.

I stopped at the next shelter real quick to check the register, then pushed the last 2.8 miles to route 11 so I could get into Manchester. I was there probably around 3:30, which put me at 21.2 miles for the day. I think I could have managed a 30-miler if I wasn't going into town for resupply and it hadn't been raining. I was just feeling it. I was afraid it'd be a tough hitch into town because for one it was an extremely fast road with no real place to pull over, and two it was raining hard at that point and no one wants to pick up a wet person, especially if that person is also a smelly hiker. Fortunately a guy and two ladies pulled into the parking lot nearby, so I shamelessly went up to them and asked for a ride. They said sure, and the ride down was interesting. They weren't driving bad by any means, but I think because it's been so long since I've driven and it was rainy, wet roads, I was semi-freaking out in my head. The road was windy and I thought for sure we were going to crash. We did not, we made it safe into town, and they kindly dropped me off at the grocery store, which is actually right next to an outfitter. First I bought some new socks, then resupplied at the grocers, then went to McDonalds and relived my Big Mac craving a second time. After all that I met up with some other hikers who were also going to the Green Mountain House hostel. We called up Jeff, the guy who runs it, and he came and picked us up. Real nice guy, and right off the bat super friendly and accommodating. Plus this is an awesome house with a shower, bed, kitchen use, a pint of B & J's included, and for one night only an amazing trail magic dinner of steak, potatoes, corn, salad, bread, beans, sodas, eclairs for dessert, and probably 2 or 3 other things I've forgotten. All of it provided by some 2009 hikers who just wanted to pay it back. It was amazing. After getting sufficiently stuffed I went on the comp and added a new album of pictures to the blog, so check 'em out! It concludes Jerz and goes right up to today, and even has the pics of the firetower I climbed earlier today.

Tomorrow I'll probably zero in town with Rainer and Dewlap for free, courtesy of Rainer's dad. I guess he paid for a hotel room in town for two nights and I can't pass up a free stay, plus this is a nice town. And I overpurchased so I'll be eating down my rations all day tomorrow. 'Twas a fine day all 'round.

Total miles: 1641.4