Rain was forecasted all over New England today so I almost stayed home. I started the stay with Mass (0800) at Sacred Heart in Lebanon. I ended up helping Father Charles afterwards (moving items between buildings near the church. While doing this, I determined that the weather was not going to develop as expected. Fortunately, I'd packed up my car for this situation and was able to leave Lebanon at 0900. I drove north on I-89 (there were some sprinkles but nothing major) and stopped in Randolph to try to try use my McDonald's gift card. The lobby was closed, though, and the drive through line was very long. Deciding I could use my time more productively, I continued north on I-89 and got off at VT-66. From there, I drove east to VT-14 continued into Barre. I tried getting food at Hannaford's but found it too busy - they also had no sushi for some reason... The McDonalds line next door was too long and there appeared to be major delays in getting food (people were yelling at the staff). Once again, I continued north. I switched to US-302 and found another McDonalds. This time, I was easily able to get food (1050). After eating, I drove north towards Montpelier. I thought I'd have to drive through the middle of the State Capital but the road I was on avoided the east side of the river. After that, I got back on I-89 and drove to the Waterbury exit. I got off the Interstate and onto US-2 there and then continued west . At 1155, I arrived at the Long Trail parking lot (located where it crosses US-2) but skipped it because I'd already hiked the section nearby. Instead, I drove up Bolton Notch Road, looking for another parking spot. Despite passing lots of "no parking" signs on the road, I eventually found another hiker's car parked near where the Duck Brook Trail crossed the gravel. It still wasn’t raining so I decided to do a loop hike. I later learned that this "spur trail" was apparently the old Long Trail route. It ended up being just under a mile and required me to slog (uphill) through lots of mud to reach the ridgeline above both the Duck Brook and Bolton Valleys. The whole area showed signs of flood damage from July. Once I was on the Long Trail, I headed SOBO. It was misty, foggy and humid and I didn’t get any views. The general grade was downhill but I still had to endure the typical AT/LT PUDs. I could never figure out the name of the big hill I was on but the terrain map showed that I was passing around the western side of Stimson Mountain (2K’). About a mile into my section, I met a lady (Heather) who was close to tears. She explained that she’d started her Thru Hike of the 273 Long Trail from the Massachusetts border on August 31 and had made good time as she hiked north towards Canada. Unfortunately, she had also experienced nearly continuous rain, muddy conditions and (most recently) loneliness. The last challenge had the added component of a growing fear that something bad would happen to her and no one would know. Just before I’d arrived, she’d made the difficult decision to turn around and exit the Thru hike - she missed her husband and children and wanted some peace of mind. I told her I definitely understood how the drive to keep going often conflicts with the desire to leave the trail and tried to reassure her that it was OK to stop hiking if she felt like it wasn’t fun. This seemed to cheer her up and she accompanied me as I continued south towards I-89/US-2. For the rest of the downhill portion of my own hike, Heather told me about her work as a Doctor in a hospital ER, her parents’ vacation home in South America, her wonderful children and spouse, and some hiking adventures she’d had in the US Southwest (where she lives). She also mentioned her deep desire to celebrate Rosh Hoshanna with her family - this last item would require her to rearrange her itinerary quickly but she seemed confident that she could make it happen. Before we reached Bolton Notch Road again, we passed a rock-wall (climbing area) where young people were practicing their ascents. After that, we abruptly found pavement - the only other indication that the section was over was increasing traffic noise in the Winooski River Valley below. I said goodbye to Heather and proceeded to hike via the Bolton Notch Road (paved, then gravel). It was quite steep at times and my bursitis started acting up on the way. Fortunately, the road walk was only about three miles. I passed lots of pretty vacation homes and marveled at the fact it still wasn’t raining. Making good time, I reached Nessie just after 1615 - I’d hiked about 8.5 miles in just over four hours. It felt great to squeeze in this section, despite the “weather guessers” trying to dissuade me... After getting done, I changed and caught up on texts and social media. I left the trailhead by 1645 and drove back to I-89 via US-2. Once on Interstate, able to make great time towards New Hampshire. Passing Randolph in the southbound lanes, I noticed some Whale Tail artwork that looked like something I'd seen near Burlington (when I researched later, I found it it was done by the same artist). Right about that time, it started to rain pretty hard - by the time I crossed the Connecticut River, it was raining continuously. I had to slow way down. After carefully navigating the wet roads, I arrived home (1800) and unloaded car in the rain. Warm and dry inside, I felt quite glad I was able to log some miles on the Long Trail (for the 9th Summer out of the last 10) before the hiking season ended. No hurry and no need to finish the whole thing but there are plenty of good sections and people to meet out there! LT Today = 4.6 miles / Grand Total LT = 125.9 miles
