[at-l] Trip report Manchester Vt to Kinsman Notch - Part 1

[papa_bear_nyc@yahoo.com (Papa Bear)]

Hello all

This recent AT section hike just finished was 11 days long.  I have divided
this report into 3 sections: 4 days, 3 days and 4 days.  This divides along
the lines of the trail: the first 4 days we headed north through Vermont
along the Long Trail.  The next 3 we moved north-east across Vermont to New
Hampshire and the last 4 were in New Hampshire.

I have also tried to put the report on the web, along with the photos at the
same time these emails are sent, so you can choose to read the email or the
web
version, whichever you prefer.  This takes longer but this way I don't have
to send out things twice.

The Web account is at:
http://members.bellatlantic.net/~vze2h6gy/papabear/AT_section_3.html

The pictures are at : http://gallery.backcountry.net/papabear_section_3

In addition, there is an album of just (mostly) wild flowers at:
http://gallery.backcountry.net/papabear_flora

So skip to the web, or start reading here.

Herewith starts part 1 of the report:
===========================================================
Introduction

I retired a little over a year ago and one of the things I had "always"
wanted to do was hike the Appalachian Trail.  Last year I spent considerable
time training for a marathon, which I did last October in Dublin Ireland, so
this year I decided to devote my time to hiking.  I had hiked and backpacked
a considerable amount in the 60s and 70s, but since then I had done very
little.  I did some research, got some new gear and got myself into shape.
I decided a thru-hike was not for me, but I wanted an exhaustive, if not
continuous experience.  So I choose a 2 weeks on, 2 weeks off schedule.
This would keep the momentum going, allow me to stay pretty fit between
hikes, but allow me to participate a reasonable amount in "normal" life.

I found a hiking partner who was willing and able to follow much the same
schedule, so in April we did the first of our sections: from the Delaware
Water Gap to Kent Connecticut.  Part 2 followed in May where we made our way
from Kent to Manchester Vermont, and this third section took us to Kinsman
Notch, New Hampshire.  Ultimately we hope to reach Katahdin this September.
We seem to get a little better each time: a little fitter, a better senses
of what to bring (and what to leave home) and a more at-one-ness with the
trail.  It's working out rather well.

Folks ask me if I intend to do more next year and eventually hike the whole
trail?  The answer is "lets see how it goes".  So far this has been lots of
fun (except when it sucks) and I'll keep it that way, without (I hope)
becoming obsessive.  Although being a marathon runner, many people would
already say I'm obsessive.

################
Western Vermont: The Long Trail

The trail as it travels it's first hundred miles or so of Vermont is almost
straight north, along the route of Vermont's Long Trail.  The Long Trail is
the grandfather of long distance hiking trails and pre-dates the Appalachian
Trail by a decade or so.

This section of then route is largely through the Green Mountain National
Forest and is most "wild".  Yes it crosses Stratton, Bromley, Killington and
Pico Peak but those ski areas are mostly hidden from view.  And yes the
forest is used for logging, but the trail itself avoids any active logging
sites.  Still it is wild in the sense that you seldom see a town or a farm
unless you look carefully from the mountain tops into the valleys.

It is also very wet, especially at this time of year.  The trail maintenance
for this section must be a nightmare.  In the early Spring the trail turns
to mud and there is a constant battle to keep the treadway from eroding.
Maintenance and trail building is among the best I have seen and the local
volunteers have done an admirable job in fighting the battle with mud and
water.  Of course the real battle is with us, the hikers.  If we stayed off
the trail in this season it would survive much better, but I guess we all
insist on "loving it to death".  But by June, things had dried out
substantially, so it was the black flies and mosquitoes rather than the mud
we had to battle.


################
Day 1: June 4, 2002

Vermont Route 30 (Manchester) to Peru Peak Shelter
Weather: temperature in the 60s, humid.

The day actually started in New York City. I was to meet my partner Fresh
Air at the bus terminal and we would take the 7:00 AM Greyhound to
Manchester Vermont.  There were two mini-SNAFUs which luckily did not
portend any further problems.  First I almost forgot my lunch and Fresh
Air's trail guide pages which I had printed for him.  Since these were not
part of my gear, they were not on my comprehensive check list.  I was
actually in the cab, heading for the bus terminal when I remembered.
Luckily my wife saw the bag of stuff and brought it down to the street so
there was only a momentary delay.  Then when I got to the terminal, I went
straight to the gate since I had picked up my ticket the day before to save
time.  Unfortunately Fresh Air was waiting for me at the ticket counter and
if it weren't for a cell phone conservation we would have both missed the
bus.  But we got going just at 7:00 AM and that was the last of the SNAFUs.

We arrived on time in Manchester Vermont a few minutes past noon and I asked
the bus lady to call a taxi for us.  Taxis up here are few and far between,
but she managed to get Bill, who was actually on his way to Williamstown
Massachusetts to redeem a lottery ticket, on his cell phone.  We got a bite
to eat and Bill showed up about 20 minutes later.  He had an old wagon which
was falling apart.  The back door would only open from the outside, and the
windows would not work at all.  There were bits and pieces of assorted
mechanical equipment on the floor, trunk, etc.  Bill also matched the state
of his car, but he was quite talkative and said he took hikers up to the
trail all the time.  He got us there in about 15 minutes and after paying
him his modest fee we were ready to start our hike for real.  It was about
1:00 PM, just what we had hoped for.

Just as we started up the trail, I was startled by the sound of a bird
taking off right at my feet.  I saw the distinctive shape of a Woodcock fly
off to the right.  That was cool, since I don't see that species very often,
but just as we were about to go on, I noticed 2 little spots on the trail,
just where I was about to step.  There were two Woodcock chicks, motionless
and quiet right on the trail.  The oversized beak was evident even in these
miniature specimens.

The main job of the day was Mount Bromley.  The climb was pretty easy until
we got to where the trail actually follows a ski slope for about a half a
mile.  This was better than a road walk but esthetically it was not great.
We soon arrived at the summit and looked over the buildings and the top of
the ski lifts.  Bromley was the most "intrusive" of all the ski mountains we
went over where you can't avoid seeing and actually walking on the ski area.
The bugs were starting to get annoying, so we moved on.  The views and
esthetics improved as soon as we were off the summit and we started down to
Mad Tom Road.  A Forest service employee was painting a road sign there and
we chatted with her for a few minutes.  I tried out the big green water
pump: a trickle came out but it was hard to use it the way they had laid out
the pipes.

We passed several bogs, with bog-logs and several steep climbs before
arriving at Peru Peak.  In spite of the short mileage today, I was rather
tired when we got to the shelter.  At the shelter we met Roland, an amiable
fellow in his 60s who was from Bennington.  He was taking it easy and said
he was trying out an Esbit stove as something new to try.  We got in
relatively late (around 6:30 PM) so there was not a lot of time to read or
anything.  After we got off to bed, it rained, rather heavily at times.  We
hoped it would be over by morning.

Day 1 Trail Miles: 9.8

################
Day 2: June 5, 2002

Peru Peak Shelter to Minerva Hinchley Shelter
Weather: Temperature 60, Cloudy and Misty.

Today was to be our longest day ever - 19.4 miles.  We needed to get to the
Minerva Hinchley Shelter so we would be in a position to get to the Cooper
Lodge on Killington the next day.  We wanted to bypass the Governor Clement
Shelter which has a bad reputation of hikers being harassed by locals.

We got up and out early by 6:47 AM, a record for us.  The terrain started
out pretty level with lots of bogs with bog-logs (and some without).
Griffith Lake looked eerie in the morning mist.

Bakers Peak was a series of steep ridges.  The trail guide describes it as
the "final rocky scramble" to the top.  Rocky scramble it was, but also
rewarding.  We then decided to go down and look at the Lost Pond Shelter,
which had burned down last year.  It was a complete wreck.  I hope no one
was caught in that fire.  We took a break here and I explored the creek down
below which was rather lovely.

It continued to be pretty easy going and we soon came to the Big Branch
River, with the suspension bridge and cascades.  Beautiful.  The Big Branch
Shelter was right after the bridge.  Five or six hikers were still getting
going when we came by.  It was already 10:00 AM and some of these folks were
still in bed!  Well we chatted with a few of them.  One guy had gone ahead
with a dog as well as two Canadian women, and a young guy was getting going.
That left 3 others in one group and a lone fellow named Lion Heart.  He was
thru-hiking the IAT and had started in Key West the previous November 21st.
I asked him how it was going through the Smokeys in mid-winter, and he said
not too bad.  He knew the exact dates he had gone through them off the top
of his head.  Hell, I hardly know the date I went over Bromley (it was
yesterday).  He was taking a zero - he deserved the rest. He was the firest
thru-hiker of any sort we had encountered.

We moved on, since everyone seemed to be going to Minerva Shelter tonight
(our destination) and we wanted to beat the crown to get a good spot on the
floor.

We passed the lovely Little Rock Pond, but unfortunately couldn't dally due
to the bugs.  We then passed a group of about 10 high school kids moving
very slowly.  I asked them (apprehensively) where they were headed tonight
(please, please don't say Minerva!) and was relieved to find they were
headed for Greenwall Shelter, but  a few miles further.  In fact our long
day today would encompass the 3 days the kids would be doing while they were
out.

On the next climb we passed the two Canadian women we had been told had left
Big Branch earlier, and just then the young guy caught up with us as well.
But fast as he was he was more interested in hanging out with them then
moving on, since he never did go ahead of us.

We passed over a recent relocation and then climbed a very tough slope with
switchback after switchback up Bear Mountain. (No, not the New York Bear Mt,
not the Connecticut Bear Mt, this was the Vermont Bear Mt.).  The long
mileage of the day caught up with me and I truly struggled to get up this
slope.

Finally we made our way over and down to Minerva.  We were in fact the first
to arrive.  The guy with the dog had never stopped, but the young guy, then
the two women (Amber and Sarah), then the 3 others (Puddles, Eric and Matt)
trickled in and we had a full shelter for the night.  The Shelter was a nice
one with 2 levels (bunks) and anyway the Canadian women decided to tent out
so there was plenty of room after all.  We were told there was a nice diner
a few tenths of a mile on the road we would cross in the morning, so we
looked forward to a real breakfast and enjoyed the rest of the day.  It was
the longest day but rewarding nevertheless.

Day 2 Trail Miles: 19.4
Aggregate Trail Miles: 29.2

################
Day 3: June 6, 2002

Minerva Hinchley Shelter to Cooper Lodge (Killington)
Weather: 55 degrees, Rain ending around mid day.

Today we were to climb Killington, our first 4000 footer.  But first we were
going to breakfast at that diner, so we got up, packed up without cooking
breakfast and were off.  The rain dampened our spirits, but ever the
optimists, we hoped that it wouldn't last long.  We got going around 7:30
while the rest of the crew at Minerva slept on.

It continued to rain on down to the road.  We soon got to the awesome bridge
over Clarendon Gorge.  The gorge was high and the bridge was narrow and it
kind of swayed when you walked over it, so it was a bit scary.  At the far
end we noticed a plaque dedicating the bridge to some one who ha been "lost"
at this point some years ago.  This hint of danger made things all the more
scary, but we were across and we turned left and made our way to the diner.
A short walk in the rain brought us to a refurbished classic railroad
station.  The building was right off the tracks (still in use) and an old
sign said "West Clarendon".  Around front we saw that the place was called
the "Whistlestop Restaurant", and it was quite lovely inside.  It was
several cuts above your average diner.  The waitress assured us the weather
was supposed to clear later in the morning so we set down to a breakfast of
steak and eggs with home fries and life was indeed good (but still a little
wet).

After breakfast we walked back to the trail.  Although still misty, the
actual rain had abated so we felt good.  A tough climb of Beacon Hill was
followed by a crossing of Gould Brook.  The book labeled this as hazardous
in high water, and seeing no way to cross by rock hopping, I switched to my
camp shoes, hung my boots over my neck, and forded the stream.  This was not
bad, hardly hazardous, but I'm glad I didn't try to balance my way across on
half submerged rocks.  The forest was nice here, a sense of wildness
prevailed with all the water rushing down of Killington.

We got to Governor Clement Shelter and finally met up with the guy with the
dog.  I don't know the guy's name, but the dog was Sadie and she was a sweet
trail dog if ever there was one.  They had stayed the night at this shelter
(no locals problem: perhaps the rain helped) and they were just starting up
Killington, heading for Pico Camp.  We were aiming for Cooper Lodge, a few
miles closer, so we said so long to them.

We started up Killington and I mentioned to Fresh Air that I thought the
trail was rather boring.  He said wait a while, give it a chance.  Just then
we got to a much more interesting section, first moving along a ridge
through dense Balsam, and later through an area where there had been a
horrendous blowdown.  Surely a hurricane or tornado had been through here.
This section of the trail had been relocated (I think several times) in the
last 5 or 10 years so the trail cut looked "new".  We skirted around to the
west of the peak and eventually got to the side trail to the summit and to
Cooper Lodge.  It had been a fairly easy day after all.

We saw some packs there - evidently some others had dropped their packs and
gone to the summit.  So we dropped our packs in the lodge and proceeded up.
Immediately a large family (3 boys, a girl and the parents) came down off
the summit trail as we proceeded up.  Well, this was by far the steepest
trail we had hit anywhere from New Jersey north, it was hand over foot
climbing.  At least 45 degrees.  The climb was something like 500 ft. in .2
miles so you can figure that one.

The summit was just the ridge rocks.  Over to one side were some maintenance
buildings, but the ski trails and lifts were over on the east side so you
had to climb slightly over the top to see them.  They did not intrude on the
trail (which after all was far below). I understand the old trail went along
the east side of the mountain through the ski area, so it is now much
improved in my opinion.  This was our first 4000 footer so we were happy the
weather had behaved, but soon turned around to get back down to the shelter.

When we got back down to the trail, we introduced ourselves to the family we
had seen.  They had hiked up from Route 4 and had plenty of good camping
gear.  The mother and daughter were dressed in long skirts and it turns out
they were Mennonites from Lancaster Pennsylvania.  Since Fresh Air came from
a Mennonite background, it was a bit of a reunion.  It seems all Mennonites
know, or at least know the family names of, all other Mennonites.

The shelter appeared to be an old ski lodge of some sort.  It was a stone
building, rather dirty and the roof leaked.  Luckily it rained the night
before, but was not to rain tonight.  Much of my stuff was damp, but it
would be a cold night and not much would dry out.

Day 3 Trail Miles: 13.8, Extra miles: 1.4, Total: 15.2
Aggregate Trail Miles: 43.0, Aggregate Total: 44.4

################
Day 4: June 7, 2002

Cooper Lodge to Stony Brook Shelter
Weather: 42 degrees, thin  clouds.

Today was a pivotal day.  We would finish the part of the AT that follows
the Long Trail and turn east towards New Hampshire and Maine.  I expected
that the number of fellow hikers I would see would drop since most of those
we me lately had been LT thru- or section hikers.  Furthermore, I would be
on my own from here on.  Fresh Air had got a call last night and would have
to leave the trail at Route 4 to go home to attend a funeral of an elderly
aunt.  This year all of our hikes had been together, so it was a little bit
funny to think of hiking alone.  But soon the thought passed since the trail
was the trail and when you're walking it, you are basically alone anyway,
whoever else may be nearby.

The cold night had kept my damp things damp, so there was nothing to do but
put on the damp Smartwool socks and damp fleece shirt and get going.  I knew
I would quickly warm up anyway so I didn't delay.

The trail down was a beautiful walk through dense Balsam along the ridge
west of Pico Peak.  It soon became a Spruce and then a Birch forest with a
lovely understory of ferns.  Hiking was easy for this descent.  We soon met
a day hiker who said his name was "Geezer Hiker".  He was in his late 60s
and we had seen him yesterday on the other side of the mountain.  He said he
was gradually day hiking the entire trail, up and back every peak.  That way
he pointed out he actually did everything twice - both up and down
directions.  When we talked yesterday we were a little skeptical, but upon
seeing him again doing this side of Killington, we were convinced he really
was serious about doing it his way.

The sky had become completely blue and there was a cool breeze.  Great
hiking weather.   We reached Route 4 and it was time to say goodbye to Fresh
Air.  He would hitch to Rutland where he could get a bus down to NYC.  I
stood off in the woods (not to scare away the drivers) and he soon got his
ride.  I changed to lighter clothes and soon I was off - alone this time.

I passed through a beautiful green glade and soon came to Maine Junction.  A
recent relocation had moved the AT about a mile east, so the trail I now
entered was actually the old route before the relocation.  The tread on the
trail showed the difference in usage.  After moving away from the LT and the
rest of the relocation the trail passed through a campground in a state
park.  The trail was hardly blazed at all here, but by simply staying on the
road, I soon got to the next highway and was back in the woods.

The trail skirted Kent Pond and went through a lovely Pine forest.
Eventually we came out onto a dirt road which we actually followed for about
a mile.  This was hot and boring.  The map showed the trail would be
rerouted off of this road sometime soon - thank goodness.  We passed over
the Ottauquechee River, which I knew from the towns of Woodstock and
Queechy.  Here it was a languid stream through a large bog.  I was told
later that if I had gone down the slope off the road walk, I could have seen
some nice cascades slightly upstream.

I crossed River Road and then climbed the toughest climb of the day.  One of
those steep switchbacked dirt hills that wear you down.  Give me rocks
anytime.  I proceeded to climb no less than 3 unnamed 2600' hills.  Where I
come from, 2600 ft is a real mountain.  Up here they don't even give them
names!  I crossed a dirt road and chatted briefly with a guy on a 4 wheeler
ATV.  He said the next 15 miles was easy going.  Had he walked it or ridden
over it?  Well, I took his word for it anyway.  My right calf was bothering
me.  It was strained from the steep hill climbs and I knew I was tired from
the 19 miler and the Killington climb of the last two days.  I took it real
easy and favored the leg.  It seemed if I didn't flex my right ankle, it
would be less sore.

I arrived at the shelter and met a group of 5 guys: Rod, Jim, Ed, Scott and
Shawn.  The first 3 were in their 50s and were doing one of their twice
yearly long-weekend hikes.  They were nice guys with lots of good food which
you can take when you do short hikes.  Their rituals included cigars for the
campfire and as Gatorade bottle of very good scotch.  I passed when offered
to partake.  They were tired and complained about the hills, their packs,
all the usual stuff but you could see they enjoyed each other's company and
getting out there.

I had had a good workout the last few days.  I took some Vitamin I for my
right calf and hit the sack early.

Day 4 Trail Miles: 16.0, Extra miles: 0.2, Total: 16.2
Aggregate Trail Miles: 59.0, Aggregate Total: 60.6