With heavy rain expected in the afternoon, I thought I had enough time to squeeze in a hike. Got on the road by 0715 and headed west into Vermont. After picking up some breakfast, I drove north along the White River (VT-14) until I arrived at the AT Trailhead in West Hartford (0815). It was sunny and in the 60s - seemed like a perfect day to hike! Walked west on Quechee-West Hartford Road until I found the AT - this was actually SOBO (towards Georgia) but everything was oriented to the north. Found myself in a thick forest almost immediately and it was soon difficult to hear the traffic on I-89. Passed four old guys with backpacks and beards - they told me they’d camped out overnight in the section. In preparation for an upcoming backpacking weekend of my own, I looked at the springs/creeks all day and found (like the last few hikes) that they were dry. Looks like I’ll have to carry a lot of water if I’m going to stay out for a few days... While planning this particular hike, I’d seen the terrain in my “AWOL” AT Guide and thought “that’s generally uphill with some flat spots.” But the real world trail did fit that description - in fact, it was anything but that. Instead, I found myself constantly climbing and descending, as well as backtracking across small ridges - the experience was frustrating and I couldn’t help but feel that the Master Trail Designer was laughing at me all morning. Added to the “pain” of feeling like someone’s plaything: extremely high humidity. I was drenched, head to toe, within an hour - I didn’t have one dry thing on me and I kept thinking how rain wouldn’t actually make any difference. Meanwhile, though, I was getting worn out and started to wonder if I should turn around. Several times, just when my spirits were at their lowest, I’d come out into a huge field with amazing views. But those times would also be when the sun would glare down on me. I’d hurry back into the trees and hit a downhill - soon I’d convinced myself to continue. I passed several areas with trees that had clear tubing connected to and looped around them - I assumed those were dormant Maple Syrup producers... As I walked, I passed four backpackers and a trail running couple with their dog, “Lulu” (they did an out/in and passed me twice). I learned later that the last three solo guy hikers (all had great beards) had stayed out on the AT ever since they started (i.e., right through the Coronavirus)! When I wasn’t passing cheerful kindred spirits, I continued in my Sisyphean task. The section was difficult because of an absolute lack of any signage in the forest - I had no idea how far I’d come or how much was left. I had to rely on the pedometer on my phone (which I didn’t want to take out of my soaked pocket), advice from hikers (I got varying levels of help there) and the time (“roughly two miles an hour means I’ll be there in 45 minutes”). I was initially excited when I crossed a gravel road (maybe an alternate way out!) but some people in a car that drove by at that exact moment told me it didn’t go anywhere near West Hartford... So I slogged on. I was so unsure about when I’d get to my turnaround point (Thistle Hill Shelter) that I almost missed the sign for it! Fortunately, I saw a hiker coming up the access trail and then moved my weary head a bit to notice the milestone. From there, the backtrack was a blur - I was so tired that I was really just going through the motions. I had previously noted major climbs I expected and counted them down, only to find I had counted wrong. I didn’t see anyone for hours and the forest was very quiet. At one point (about halfway back), I was on one of the big open balds when I felt sprinkles of light rain. I didn’t even try to avoid the impending deluge but I ended up under the canopy when it hit in force. Twenty minutes later, the “whooshing” sound was over and I eventually realized I wasn’t going to be treated to cooling showers - instead, the sun came out again. A bit later, I encountered a local man and his dog (this was a clue that I was close to the end of my hike). When I finally hit pavement again, I was quite relieved... Found three of the Thru Hikers at the bridge over the White River - they were jumping off the top! We chatted for a little bit and then I finished walking to my car (1245). The sun had come out and temps had reached 85 degrees (glad I was done). When trying to figure out how many miles I’d hiked, I encountered a problem. According to the Guide, the section should have been 9.6 miles - but my pedometer said 10.6. So I’m actually in the dark on my distance today (will trust the Guide, I guess)... I discovered that I’d drunk almost every bit of my three liters of water (glad I didn’t run out). What a challenging section! At least it’s done... I immediately drove back to Hanover and arrived just as the black clouds above opened up - thunder and lighting (“very, very frightening”). Feeling good about my hikes this week but my body is glad that tomorrow is a work day... AT Today = 4.80 miles / G.T. AT = 1592.36 miles
