An Irish ending.

Day 98 - 7/27/10
Didn't sleep too great even though it was a nice cool night. I kept
having to readjust my headrest, never getting it comfortable enough. I
woke up around 7, now my usual wake up time, and left a minute before
8. I started with a steep uphill, which changed to a gradual after a
while, then back down. There were a lot of road crossings early on,
not busy roads, but roads all the same. After crossing one I came upon
some cooler magic maybe 50 ft. into the woods. Ice cold Mt. Dew.
That's actually the perfect trail soda because it has the most sugar
and caffeine per can. The best part about that trail magic was that
whoever left it also provided a chair to enjoy it in. So I chugged my
Dew while sitting comfortably, then continued onward with a nice
caffeine buzz.

I made it to the first shelter, 5.8 miles away, around 10:30, and
iTrod was there. I only stopped long enough to eat a quick snack, then
left to tackle Killington. It actually was a very enjoyable climb, not
too steep, but enough to get your heart rate going. I was at the top
(well almost, the AT doesn't go over the summit) for lunch, so I
stopped to eat. The shelter up there is called Cooper Lodge, and man
was it cruddy. Glad I didn't stay there for a night. iTrod ended up
catching up while I ate, so we continued our movie convo a bit. He's a
real cool guy to talk to about that stuff, and I'm sure he and I could
have a discussion that would last hours. He had a lot of
recommendations for me that I'd never heard of, so I'll definitely be
checking those out when I'm done.

I left at 1:30, about 8.5 miles left to complete of the goal I had set
for the day. There was one more shelter I stopped at between then, but
only for a quick 10 minutes. From there to route 4 was mostly
downhill, but then from there to my destination felt like a horrendous
climb. The elevation profile in my guidebook didn't look too bad, but
I'd have to say it felt way off. The climb was steep and long, and
only after the AT & LT split apart did it get easier. It was 1.5 miles
from the split to the side trail that takes you down to the Inn at
Long Trail, so that felt pretty quick. I made it in at 5:30 or so and
went in to check the hiker rates. They actually weren't too bad, but I
decided to just tent nearby instead because my Mom and sister will be
meeting me in Hanover in only 3 days, and there I'll be able to shower
and have a nice bed.

So after I decided against that I went outside and made myself some
dinner, then set up my tent across the street in a free tenting area.
Then I went over to the Irish pub located inside the Inn to get myself
my first Guiness on tap. Watching him fill the glass was awesome, and
it took a good 5-10 minutes to do it because you have to wait for the
head to disappear. And he even put a clover in the head to top it off,
just like they do in Ireland, or so I've heard. That first sip was
amazing, and each one after that was even better. Guiness on tap
tastes completely different than a can or bottle, and is 1000 times
better. As you can see I really enjoyed it. I ended up meeting and
talking to another hiker for quite a while, Wildcat was his name.
Originally from Germany, he's doing a SOBO LT trip, then just
continuing south to Springer. Long ways to go, but he's hiked the AT
before so he knows what's in store. iTrod ended up coming into the pub
as well, and because he knew it was my b-day in a few days he bought
me a pint. I ended up having about 3-4 overall, plus a second dinner
(amazing Guiness beef stew) so needless to say I felt good leaving the
place.

It's getting late now, almost ten, so I should be getting to bed.
Hopefully I can get out of here at a decent time. Was looking at
something around 19 tomorrow. We'll see. Had a nice day, with an
awesome place to stop at the end. I hope I can come back here some day!

Total miles: 1693.1