[at-l] Ready's Hike August 15 TD 62

[kahley7@ptd.net (kahley)]

We were up early again today - 5 AM, and out by 6 AM.
We have in mind to hike 22 miles today.  Within a short time
we reach the Clarendon Shelter where we learned that Isis and
Jackrabbit had nighted here and had left only 15 minutes earlier.
We heard this from Fletcher and GreenSinger, 2 hikers we'd met
back in Harper's Ferry. GreenSinger is from Poughkeepsie,
where I'd lived just before moving to Atlanta.
We found some trail magic left by Gnome at a stream crossing
and point out to 3 section hikers who followed behind that they
were passing - not "litter" in the stream, but ice cold cans of soda! They 
immediately dropped their packs and grabbed one each.
GreenSinger downed his and took off ahead of us again. (We were
to leapfrog with him repeatedly over the day.)
We stopped at overview to talk and clear the air about the tense
  time we'd experienced the night before. These long days take their
toll on each of our nerves and understanding.
We agreed to be more loving and patient and to communicate better.
Spur and I are getting better and better at handling these sometimes
difficult times, it seems. At any rate, we seem to be growing closer
as a result of working through the rough times. We hike the rest of
the day like the happy newlyweds we are! :-)
We stopped for lunch at the Governor Clement shelter, very near a
roadway. This is a wonderful old stone shelter- built to last, with a
deeply recessed bedding platform. We chose a lunch spot under the
shade of a large tree near the road.
GreenSinger had already been there when we arrived. As we ate,
the 3 section hikers we'd met at the stream crossing showed up
for a break. A man on a Harley also pulled up, parked his bike at
the road, stopped to chat with us, then selected a rock behind the
shelter to enjoy his bag lunch. I guess even Hog riders enjoy a bit
of quietude in nature!  After eating, we hiked on again.
We walked through lengths of pine and hemlock forests and saw
all kinds of plants typical to the trail: Jack-in-
the-Pulpit, Jewelweed, clover, etc. We crossed many bridges and
had as our almost constant companion, the sound of cascading
water nearby. Really, really wonderful hiking!  Then we came to
"Beacon Hill." The climb up this hill was long and extremely tough
  for me. My thought were, "They have a lot of nerve calling this a 'hill!'"
We later hiked up Killington Mountain. Fortunately, it wasn't that tough.
Most of the trail in this section is relo - all the way to, and significantly
  past, the Inn at the Long Trail.  We opted to bypass a short walk up
to the summit and headed for Cooper Shelter, where we met the
caretaker, Daniella and her Giant Pyrennese, Clover.
We had been warned that the chipmunks here were "bold," and indeed
they were. They darted in and out of the shelter, all around the picnic
tables inside, as we chatted.
Daniella gives us details about the relo. This relo was made necessary
by the purchase of land and plans to build a resort in the immediate
area. The ATC wanted the trail away from the spoiled viewshed and
  all the construction that would be taking place near the trail.


We hiked on, mesmerized by all the ambitious trailwork in progress.
Our resentment at having to do the longer, more difficult miles dictated
  by the relo turned into awe as we witnessed the impressive stone work,
trail hardening, and drainage ditch work that was being done.
We met a group of (VYCC) Vermont Youth Conservation Corp volunteers
who were doing some of the work. They were working hard and, obviously
enjoying themselves. We stopped to chat with 2 of the leaders (sorry,
I didn't get their names) who told us that these 2 groups of 9 kids each
were aged 16 through 18 and that it was a training program in conservation.
One of them knew Tim Tierney, Director of the ADK Trails program that
I am active with! Seeing the work and talking with these folks made
me miss my past work projects and made me feel renewed disappointment
  that our project had been cancelled this year.
We came to the road that leads only 2 miles down to the Inn. Our plan
called for us to cross this road and hike the completion of the loop relo t
hat will take us around to the back of the Inn, where we'd hike in via a
connecting trail to the Inn.  At this juncture, Spur checked in with me to
ensure that hiking on is what we wanted to do. I saw a mountain in
front of us and I balked. I was so tired from all our climbing today, I
seriously doubted that I could climb another. Spur assured me that
we would not be climbing it but rather going around it. I was game
for continuing on along the trail instead of hitching to the Inn along
this road.   Almost immediately after crossing the road and entering a
meadow, the trail began to go up, up, up. I climbed and climbed. We
passed overgrown stinging nettle, sometimes well over my head, as we
walked. I dug in and refused to let this get me down. On the other hand,
  the experience reminded me of a story a friend of mine had told me.
  I amused myself by remembering how Tom had told it....
Tom, a high school friend of mine, is a minister. While living and working
  in Traverse City, Michigan, he had become friends with a man there.
Tomand his wife, Patty, are avid cross country skiers. Well, his friend,
[I'll call him] Joe, decided that he and *his* wife, [I'll call her Jane - 
I don't
recall their names] should take up the sport too. Apparently without
consulting his wife first, Joe went out and bought a ton of stuff - skis,
poles, bindings, ski shoes, after-ski shoes - you get the picture - the
whole shebang, at megabucks.
On their first weekend out, on their very first day, things seemed to
be going well, or so Joe thought. His understanding of the "real"
situation came when, out of the clear blue, Jane suddenly stopped
skiing, threw her poles down the hill, dropped to her knees and
bawled into her hands, "I'm the mother of two, and I just shouldn't
have to *do* this!!!" Needless to say, they never skied again and
Tom never did learn what Joe had done with all the expensive gear.
Well, Jane, as I climb yet another hill today, I must say, " I know
just how you feel!" ;-)


We finally reached the Inn around 7:30 PM. We saw Polarbear had
signed in too. We also saw that JackRabbit and Isis were here, but
we learned that they were not staying. They had hiked to the summit
  of Killington and ridden the gondola down, visited a bakery, and were
  waiting for a friend to come by to ferry them off to his home for the night.
We picked up our fooddrop package at the front desk, checked in,
found our room, then showered. We did our laundry while we ate
supper in the tavern on the first floor.
We found Polar Bear in the tavern. He was taking several days off
to nurse a cold. Iculus was there, too, although we didn't get a chance
to talk with him.  We learned from Polar Bear that Bill Bryson had
just been at the Inn. Apparently he's friends with Ian, the Scottish
soldier. Ian had conducted an interview with Bryson for his video documentary.
We met a couple from Texas who were planning a UK hike in a few
weeks. We shared stories from the trail and answered gear and
clothing questions for them. They planned to walk a section of the
AT tomorrow, just to say they'd hiked some of it.
There was a live band playing in the tavern, featuring a great female
  lead vocalist. We ate supper to the mellow acoustic sound, enjoying
cold "Long Trail Ales," and looking at a sample of wedding photos,
taken by a good friend of Spur's. We were delighted with them!
We checked our email and I found an email from Tierney's assistant
at the ADK Trails Program. We were being invited to join in with a
special trail project later this season. Spur and I will have to see if
we can fit this project into our hiking plans.
How exciting!
We left the tavern and returned to our room via the "living room" for the Inn.
This Inn is a fabulous structure. Rough hewn log furnishings,
boulders incorporated into the architecture, staircases built
with halved logs and beautifully carved tree limb railings make
this a truly unique, rustic paradise. It has a long history of
connection to trail community. Wow, what a treat to be here!
It was 9:30 PM. Spur took a seat near the open window and began
his journaling. I lay down on the bed to "close my eyes for a minute
or so," waking up to the sound of an alarm going off and morning
sunlight shining through the window. No journaling had been done
by me this night.


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