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WEEK 14 - June 22 to June 28, 1981 |
June 22, 1981
< The following paragraph requires an explanation. The "Famous Houston Brothers" had suggested the trail name "Moses" for me because of the large walking stick that I carried. I did not immediately adopt it but many of the other hikers referred to me as "Moses" so I began signing the trail registers with it. So the walking stick had become my symbol. > Alas! Alas! A great misfortune has befallen Moses as he travels forth through the land of the AT. For what power has Moses without his great staff? Yes, that powerful instrument has been severely damaged - broken in a fierce battle with the tribe of the Porkies at October shelter. The evil Porkies were vanquished but the staff lay broken. Moses gathered together the pieces and carried them upon his back over the mountains and through a bleak storm to the village of Cheshire where was obtained the healant "Elmer’s Glue-All". The potion was liberally applied. There are mountains yet to be parted!!! Indeed, the porkies showed up last night and I broke my walking stick beating one off. It didn’t seem to hurt him but he ran off and did not return. A tremendous thunderstorm capped the last three days of rain. It grew so dark at mid-day that the blazes were barely visible. I pulled out my tube tent, pulled it over me and my gear, and rode out the storm. The sky cleared completely soon after. I stopped in Cheshire and had a fig newton and orange juice party with Jenny. Heard a white throat for the first time in a while. Sometime today I passed the 600-miles-to-go point.
June 23, 1981
I’m still nursing my walking stick, hoping to make it last to Katahdin. I don’t know what the problem is but it doesn’t seem to stay together. Today was a high point of the hike. I met the first for-sure southbound end-to-enders, Frank Chambless and Eustice Conway. I met them at a very nice place too, a viewpoint on a ridge of Mt. Prospect. We sat and chatted for some time. And today is the first day in the Green Mountains of Vermont. Both events were like meeting old friends. I have sent my camera home to reduce weight - perhaps a mistake. I definitely bought too much food again. Partially, this is because I am unsure of the time required to get to Hanover. If nothing else I will eat well over the next few days.
June 25, 1981
No journal entry yesterday because the Glastenbury shelter was crowded and it was getting dark by the time room was made for me and I got settled. Two of the hikers there are bound for Katahdin, the third year on the trail for them. The Green Mountains are as beautiful as I remember them. The trail seems not too soggy (like the last time) but apparently there has been a dry spell. This would also explain the relative lack of insects. There was definitely some sogginess today, though. A thunderstorm struck about noon as I was approaching Stratton Pond. The trail between the road and Stratton Pond is relatively flat and the heavy rain collected to make the trail an almost continuous pool except where the trail was built up or where there were bog bridges. I had intended to take a full day off here at Stratton Pond and I probably will - by taking this afternoon and tomorrow morning. The AT shelter has been relocated away from the Bourne Pond area. Included in that relocation is the fact that the trail no longer goes near Stratton View shelter and it is apparently no longer maintained. The roof has large holes and leaks just about everywhere except where I am sitting. For these reasons it is not much used and offers some isolation - nice for days off. The shelter has several resident chipmunks who have been showing a strong interest in my empty peanut butter bag. In the past two days I have met three more southbound hikers from Katahdin.
June 26, 1981
Used the afternoon and a little of the morning to travel here to the relocated Mad Tom shelter. Two GMC members were here making shelter and water signs and shared their wine with me. It was overcast and cold the entire day and now it is windy and raining into the shelter. I have made conditions bearable by using my tube tent as a windbreak. What happened to summer? Passed the 3/4 way to Katahdin point today. Should get to less than 500 miles to go sometime tomorrow. I can never remember the "backwards veery" < olive-backed thrush >. There are lots in this area.
June 27, 1981
Everybody must be waiting for the Fourth of July weekend. There were a few more hikers than usual on the trail today but not many and I am alone at Greenwall shelter. The caretakers at Little Rock Pond and Griffith Lake claim traffic is light. A number of people did walk in just from the road to camp at those spots, though. I did a little "sightseeing" today. I did the Old Job trail, which looked like it might be pretty. I was rewarded with a beautiful walk down the outlet stream from Griffith and along Big Branch. I stopped for lunch at Old Job shelter before returning to the AT. I shared thoughts and some beer there with three fishermen - all brothers. I have seriously been considering completing the Long Trail before I continue on the AT. < The Long Trail runs the length of Vermont. It coincides with the AT in the southern half of the state. > I even bought a LT guide and have been checking the maps to see if it is feasible. It’s an additional 200 miles - two weeks maximum and has two advantages. It gives Connie a chance to catch up and I miss the Fourth of July crowd in the White Mountains.
June 28, 1981
Finally, after a half a dozen tries, the Elmer’s has done the trick. The hiking stick got a good workout today and stayed together. Still, I took the precaution of reinforcing it this evening. The Long Trail schedule does not work out. I hit the touristy part of the LT on July 4th!! Well, I guess I will just grit my teeth and go on through the Whites. Have met some more Becket people who are end-to-ending the Long Trail. They started at Clarendon shelter today and two of them came here to Pico shelter for the evening. I saw a large group of hikers from some outfitter (I think) - eighteen in all. They were impressed that I was the first through hiker that they had seen this year and several of them took my picture. Tom, Dave, etc., are apparently all off trail now. One of them told me to say "hello" from Ralph to "Dr." Don Hungry, hutmaster at the Madison Hut and a former AT through hiker.