Days 6-11 The rain has pushed me to mid-VT!

Over the last 5 days I've really made progress! I always have to say that on Day 10 it's like my hiker legs arrive in my sleep. For those of you who don't do long distance hiking, hiker legs are unbelievably important. It basically means that you don't feel like you're going to die carrying your backpack going uphill on a little bit of water. One of the worst things about not through-hiking is that you have to build them up every time you start.

There are a few people on the Appalachian Trail who open up their homes and property so that through hikers and section hikers have a place to take a rest. This is the Cookie Lady's house.

Her real name is Marilyn Wiley and she opens her grounds, front porch, and heart to through hikers. She publishes her name and address in the hiker manual so that if you want to send a re-supply box she'll accept it. She's only 100 yds. off the trail, but most people wouldn't take on this responsibility.

I'm actually lucky that I got to meet her. I scared her as she got into her car on the way to a meeting. But true to fashion she ran back inside and got me some of her homemade chocolate chip cookies. You never know what's gonna make your day on the trail, but I have to say that she made mine. Not that most of you are ever likely to meet her but I would also like to note that sadly her husband Roy died this year and I hope that she's able to continue her amazing AT trail comfort on her own.

Next I rolled in to Dalton, Massachusetts. I was very lucky and got a hitch into the Walmart which is actually in the next town over. Then I got doubly lucky and got a hitch back to Dalton.

It is here that I stayed at Mr. Tom Lavardi's. He's an amazing guy who allows hikers to sleep in his backyard as long as you follow his very reasonable rules. Tom has been doing this for 40 years so as a hiker you feel very obligated to listen and obey so you're not the hiker who ruins this free camping for everyone.

One of the best parts about staying there is that I got to meet his newly tame Robin. I named it Cleo and spent the better part of the afternoon hanging out with this adorable bird.

In the 2 videos above you can see this adorable animal hanging out with the hikers. You can't see him, but sitting straight across from me is Naughty Eyes. He's from California and almost a triple-crowner. This means that he will have hiked the Pacific Crest Trail, the Continental Divide Trail, and the Appalachian Trail. Someday I hope to be in the same position... just 2 States away from completing three long trails...sigh... one can hope.

This is the Massachusetts War Memorial. It is on Mount Greylock which is 1069 meters high making it the highest point in the state of Massachusetts.

In this video you can see what I saw as I came down from the tower. The beautiful Bascom Lodge is a great example of CCC architecture. Sometimes when I'm on the trail I can't help being thankful that we had the great Depression because if not so many of the shelters and other structures that I get to stay in and around would never have been constructed.

I know that Bascom Lodge looks grand but it really houses mostly bunk rooms where you can rent a bed and a shower for $40. I think the reason I have such fond memories of this place is not just the view but also because it had stormed all day and when I finally arrived I jumped into the shower with all my clothes on because I couldn't get any wetter and at least I could rinse the mud off them🤣 In my bunk room there were 3 other hikers from Alaska. They were kind enough to invite me to have dinner with them and so I obliged. Glad I did because the food was fabulous and we got to see the double rainbow you see above.

I had no idea what I was in for but it was a treat. They do a prix fixe meal for around $40. I had the pasta with vegetables, then Salmon Puttanesca and finally lemon sorbet and hot chocolate. This may be the only restaurant-prepared meal that I have on the trip and I couldn't have picked a better place to do it.

In the morning I had to drag myself out of bed because I got to bed way past hiker midnight. But I was rewarded with my first sunrise of the trip.

Somewhere today I crossed over into Vermont and realized that the Appalachian Trail and the Vermont Long Trail move along together for 105 miles. This of course got me thinking; if I manage to make it to Katahdin with some time to spare, who's to say I couldn't whip around back to Vermont and finish the top of this Long Trail to… We'll see, but coming back to the Vermont/Canadian border to do less than 200 miles is something that may never happen so I'd better find a way to make it work.

I know that I keep saying it's raining on the trail but I try to keep positive. Here is a lovely example of how wet the trail can be but how beautiful the sunlight coming through the trees can make it look. Perhaps one of these days I'll take a picture of one of the enormous mud pits that I walk around about 100 of a day, but for now this will do.

I know that I've posted many photographs of the beautiful Orange salamander but I found out something really interesting in my AT guide. The two salamanders that you see above are actually 2 stages of the same salamander! They start out as a tadpole then they turn into the Orange red salamander on top for 2 years, eventually morphing into the green Brown salamander you see at the bottom. I was really lucky to catch a photograph of the green brown one as they return to the water and match the bottom perfectly.

I met Steve today just before the Long Trail connected with the AT. We had a lot in common, both being teachers,and it was very nice to have someone to take a picture of me. This was taken after a hellacious climb down into Vermont Route 9 near Bennington VT. Amazingly there was trail magic in the parking lot and the people who were providing it had driven all the way from upstate New York to their least favorite climb down and up on the entire Appalachian Trail to bring the hikers some watermelon. It was a wonderful break from the trail and both Steve and I enjoyed it together.

I wanted to include this because it is the house of the namesake of our blog. This is one of the best examples of how beavers change rivers into beaver ponds. Too bad that none of the beavers showed themselves but I still got an incredible photograph of their home.

This panoramic photograph was taken on Mount Stratton. Its elevation is 1312 meters and it was here in 1909 that James Taylor came up with the idea for the Vermont Long Trail. Then in 1921, Benton MacKaye came here to see work on the Long Trail and first conceived of making a trail up the backbone of the east from Georgia to Maine. We of course know it as the white-blazed Appalachian Trail.

The building that you can see in this closer-up photo is the caretakers' lodge. It's actually the caretaker of the Vermont Long Trail, but because this section runs concurrent with the AT I guess they're the caretaker of both. Unfortunately they weren't in residence today so I didn't get to meet them.

When I was almost to my shelter for the evening, July 29th, I came upon this beautiful view. It is out over Manchester Center which is a town where my parents stayed several times when they visited Vermont. Sad that I didn't get to go down and see it as they always spoke so highly of it but at least I did get to look down upon it.

Most of the major trail crossings and shelters all have journals that you can write your trail name and message in. I usually have a pretty standard message but once I left Steve behind a couple of days ago I wanted him to know how far ahead I was on the trail so that he could maybe catch up. To my surprise he walked into Spruce Peak Shelter tonight, June 29th, while I was making dinner. I insisted that we have a photograph because you never know when you're going to get another chance. We've promised to hike tomorrow and if we do this will be the longest trail walking partnership I've ever engaged in.