With the leaves transitioning to brilliant reds, oranges and yellows, it seemed like a good time to hike one of the last AT sections I had left in Vermont. The weather was forecasted to be on the warm side (mid 70s in the day, high 50s at night), making it an excellent weekend for overnight camping. I left Elizabeth's house in Danby and drove south on US-7. I got breakfast at McDonalds in Manchester (0735) and stopped for a bathroom break at the Vermont Visitor Center near Bennington a bit later. I'd set up a shuttle ride with Vic (see MAY 2019 and JUL 2020) a week prior and we met up at the AT Trailhead on VT-9 at 0830. The place was packed! We then drove to the northeast (via VT-9, VT-100 and Stratton-Arlington Road). The parking lot at the base of Stratton Mountain was also packed and there were lots of people heading north on the AT. Fortunately, I was going in the opposite direction... My hike started from the AT crossing of USFS-71 and I was SOBO by 0930. The section essentially followed a long ridgeline for many miles. This didn’t mean the hike was flat - it was far from that. Still, starting from the north gave me the advantage of avoiding a long climb. As I walked, I probably passed 50 people (!), an assortment of weekend hikers and multi-day backpackers. As I suspected, though, the area didn’t have any Thru hikers... Two pairs of SOBO hikers blew by me - I was happy to let them. I stopped several times to discuss trail conditions and, as a result, my pace was slower than normal. Of course, my 30 pound backpack could have impacted the speed even more... After passing two shelters and transiting three or four “rollercoaster” hills, I found myself climbing up the north side of Glastenbury Mountain. I’d heard about a fire tower at the top and I was really looking forward to climbing it. When I arrived, though, I found an actual line of people waiting to go up! Decided to skip it and headed down to the nearby shelter. This was about the midpoint of the whole hike so I took a break with all the hikers who had already set up there for the evening. It was great to meet so many people and hear their interesting stories! After about a 30 minute break, I continued south. There were a few more roller coasters during the next few hours and it became clear that I’d have trouble getting many more miles in before it got dark. Fortunately, I had received a lot of good intel from the hikers and knew where to look for campsites. By 1700, I was tired enough (my shoulders, back and feet had also reached their limit) to pull off the trail for the day and stopped at a little spot near the summit of Little Pond Mountain (near the 14 mile mark for my day). It only took me about 30 minutes to set everything up and then I ate a light dinner. It got dark very quickly after that. As I was hanging my bear bag, I got quite a fright as a hiker passed close to me with no warning... By 2000, I was in my tent for good. During the day, I'd rarely had cell signal and had kept my phone in "airplane mode". Before bed, I realized that I had signal from my campsite - it was nice to see that both Mollie and Erin had texted me but I didn’t answer (to save my phone battery). It was pitch black outside - no moon was visible at all. There was a bit of a breeze, but I could still hear occasional sounds of animals. It felt great to be camping again! I spent the evening reading and soon decided to go to sleep (2200). Gonna finish the section in the morning!
