[at-l] Trip report Manchester Vt to Kinsman Notch - Part 2

[papa_bear_nyc@yahoo.com (Papa Bear)]

This is the second part of my trip report for my recent section hike.  The
first part which I sent out in an earlier email and put on the web was for
the first 4 days.  This is for the next 3 days (June 8, 9 and 10) and covers
the hike to just past Hanover NH.  In this section of the hike I met up with
Mrs. Gorp, and met Sassafras and Turbo (with Turbo's dog Bruno) who were the
first thru-hikers to pass me.  Some of you know some of these folks.

The text here has been added to the web page (which of course contains the
first part already written), and the pictures for this section have been
added to the album on the gallery.

If you prefer the web based account here it is:
http://members.bellatlantic.net/~vze2h6gy/papabear/AT_section_3.html

The pictures are at :
http://gallery.backcountry.net/papabear_section_3
The new pictures for this part of the hike start on page 10 of the album.  I
put in a link in the caption under the very first picture so you can just
click on that to skip ahead.

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

So click on the web url or read on.

========================================
Eastern Vermont: past Maine Junction

When the AT turns east at Maine Junction, leaving the Long Trail and wending
it's way over towards New Hampshire, it's character changes quite
noticeably.  Whereas I would call the first section as "wild" I would say
this section is "pastoral".

The mountains are lower (although still steep here and there) and in place
of the unbroken forests of the Green Mountains there are many farms and
meadows.  Some abandoned, and yes some still active.  If you leaf through
the pictures in the gallery for this hike you will see shot after shot of
open meadows, pastures, farm houses etc. which were largely absent in the
first part of the Vermont AT.

I consider this the "picture-postcard" Vermont, and I love it's beauty.
Alas, the day may come when these old farms and small towns are turned into
new developments, and that will be a shame.  But for now, this is the
Vermont I have known and loved for years.  So get up here, look around and
enjoy the trail.  The countryside  is probably much as it was in the late
19th and early 20th century (actually there were likely more active farms
then but the character was much the same).

========================================
Day 5: June 8, 2002
Stony Brook Shelter to Wintturi Shelter
Weather: 50 degrees, sun.

I saw the sunrise from the shelter.  It was a nice morning.  My leg wasn't
hurting so I'm hoping my "favoring" of it and the Advil I took, had done the
trick.  I was dreading waking up to a stiff sore calf muscle.  This was to
be a short day - just under 10 miles, so that boded well for my rest and
recovery.  My shelter-mates were on the same schedule as I, but I was first
to get off, around 7:30 AM.

I started over a beautiful little knoll.  I startled a Ruffed Grouse -
perhaps the trail was near her nest.  First she fanned her tail and hissed,
then she limped away in another direction with a little cry, evidently
trying to lead me away from her nest.  My camera alas was not ready to get a
shot of her.

I climbed a hill to a hemlock covered ridge.  So far my right calf was
acting OK, but the day was young.  Jim caught up with me while I was taking
a break and moved ahead for a while.  He said he had to get a head start
since his friends would eventually overtake him.  His feet were bothering
him yesterday, but he said they were better today.  My own pack, which I had
adjusted the other day, seemed to stay in better balance today.

Scott and Shawn, the two younger guys from the group, also passed by.  I
would pass and be passed several times but these 3.  It was nice hiking with
lots of small ups and downs. After passing a road I entered a beautiful
White Birch stand.  White Birch was relatively unusual - Yellow Birch was
much more common in these uplands.  I stopped briefly at the Lakota Lake
Lookout, but it was too buggy to stay.  So I pressed on and a couple of
miles later I followed the short side trail to The Lookout.  This was great.
An enclosed cabin with a lookout platform on the roof.  And the sign "Hikers
Welcome" on the door.  I had a bit to eat and chatted with 3 college age
girls who had 3 dogs.  They said they had hiked up here in 15 minutes from
somewhere.  And to think I've been hiking over 400 miles to this place!  I
got a picture of myself with their puppy and eventually got back down to the
trail.

There were numerous others moving the other way that I passed.  One was a
fellow who introduced himself as Dick Adams who said he was a SOBO
thru-hiker, but he had to skip some of Maine and the Whites due to deep
snow.  Not sure when he started but I guess it was too early.

There were several more bumps and a long descent to the Shelter. I had time
to rinse some of my clothes before the others trickled in and by 4:00 they
had all arrived. Ed decided to tent out - in spite of the threat of rain.
Then another couple, Ed and Shelly, showed up around 6:00 and they too
intended to tent. They were new to backpacking and she had a 50 lb. pack and
said his was heavier! Yikes!  So there were 8 of us in or around the shelter
and we got a fire going which needed to be continually fed.  I'm no big fan
of fires, with the smoke and constant maintenance needed, but they have
their good points on a cold night.  As usual the guys had their scotch and
cigars, and we all turned in.


Day 5 Trail Miles: 9.6, Extra miles: 0.3, Total: 9.9
Aggregate Trail Miles: 68.6, Aggregate Total: 70.5
========================================
Day 6: June 9, 2002
Wintturi Shelter to Thistle Hill Shelter
Weather: 60 degrees, sprinkles

The guys were joking that it always had to rain on one of their camping
trips, so on cue, we had some morning sprinkles.  Luckily these did not last
too long.  I said goodbye to the gang (who would finish off today) and got
an early start at 7:15.

The trail was pretty in this section, a few ups and downs, a vista and
Hemlocks, Ferns, Pine and Maple to go through.  It was sunny but a bit
humid.  My right leg was still OK, so I could almost consider that
recovered.

After passing a road, the trail went through open meadows and pastures
interspersed with stands of Hemlock.  A couple of the ups were steep - I was
breathless.  The weather had turned cloudy with some sprinkles.  I took a
break at Route 12 and then up and over Dana Hill, which again had me
breathless.  I've said before and I'll say again, these steep dirt hills are
worse than rock climbs up real mountains!  Dana Hill had nice woods on top.
The Fern under the Pine was unusually beautiful.  It was quiet and I was
alone.  A nice contemplative lace.  The sun was out again.  It was playing
hide and seek with the sprinkles.

I took another break at Stage Road.  There was a bridge over a stream here.
It was funny, as I came out to this road I looked at my Trail Guide page,
and a couple of men came across the road from the other direction.  I said
out loud, "I'm trying to figure out what road this is".  They said "It's
Stage Road, we just figured that out ourselves".  So this was a bit of
helpful information from the only souls I had seen all morning on the trail.
I ate the apple Rod had given me (love those weekenders with their food!)
and noticed the temperature was up in the upper 70s and it was humid.  It
was getting to be uncomfortable hiking, especially with all the open meadows
and pastures we were passing through.  I loved it when we would get back
into the woods - especially Hemlock - a welcome coolness!

I met a woman moving south up from Rt. 38.  She introduced herself as Mrs.
Gorp.  I said "I know who you are, you resupplied Flyin' Brian last year
when Greyhound lost his pack".  She said "Yes, that's me, in fact these are
the trekking poles he used".  She wanted to know if there was any water at
The Lookout (no), and we chatted about various things.  She had been hiking
in the south this year but had to break it off and now she was just getting
out there.  It was nice to meet someone I only knew from reading stuff on
the internet.

Down through more lovely (but hot) fields, I crossed Pomfret Road and then
started a long ascent.  My right calf suddenly hurt again from the constant
steep climbing.  This would be big trouble if it kept up or got worse.  I
made a new concerted effort to go slow and to favor it and seemed to get by
alright. I worked my way over an unnamed hill (I hate that! Especially when
they are so steep!), past Cloudland Road and finally Thistle Hill.  The leg
was OK - sort of.  The sign indicated Cloudland Shelter, which was not in
the Databook.  I later heard this had been closed due to nearby logging but
was now open again.  I rested at this road (hopefully my last rest stop) and
luckily there was a warm breeze which helped ameliorate the humid afternoon.
I finally arrived at Thistle Hill Shelter at 3:15.

The water was a good ways distant.  First you pass a dry stream and you
think "Oh sh*t, there's no water", then you go another 50 yards or so and
there is a wet stream which is OK.  But it was buggy pumping the filter.  It
was pump - pump - smack.  I'm sure I killed 45 mosquitoes while pumping 3
liters.  My right calf was not good, but it was not worse.  I rinsed a few
things and hung them out to dry and took a little time to relax.  I also
separated out some stuff I could send back when I got to Hanover tomorrow
afternoon.  The tent, some extra clothes, various other stuff.  I wanted to
make my load as light as possible for the last trek through New Hampshire.
My right calf (and my back!) would be thankful.

At this point two women and a dog arrived.  They introduced themselves as
Sassafras (who was just out of high school) and Turbo (30 something) and her
trail dog Bruno. Bruno was one of the sweetest, best behaved dogs I have
encountered.  They were thru-hikers who had started in early March from
Georgia and were doing 20 miles a day.  They were overflowing with
conversation and were cursing the steep Vermont hills, much as I had been
doing the last few days.  Like myself, they agreed they would prefer rocks
to these steep hills any day.  They were the first thru-hikers to catch up
with me.  They had also talked to Mrs. Gorp earlier in the day. Sassafras
had hiked with her a while in the south earlier this year.  They would also
get to Hanover tomorrow so our schedules would correspond for at least these
two days.

It was a warm buggy night,  I would put the bug net over my head, but the
mosquitoes would still do their annoying buzz.  Then I would put in my ear
plugs so I wouldn't hear the buzz.  Then it would be too hot and
claustrophobic, so off would come the net and out would come the earplugs.
So went the night.  It was actually my worst bug night yet, and the girls
said the same thing.

Day 6 Trail Miles: 11.5, Extra miles: 0.4, Total: 11.9
Aggregate Trail Miles: 80.1, Aggregate Total: 82.4
========================================
Day 7: June 10, 2002
Thistle Hill Shelter to Velvet Rocks Shelter
Weather: 55 degrees, mixture of sun and clouds.

Both myself and the 2 girls were headed to Hanover today.  I hoped to find
someplace cheap there to stay and they did also.  I always look forward to a
night off the trail with a real bed and dinner in a real restaurant.  But
the rumor was that there were no more active hiker hostels in town.  The
college wanted to avoid legal responsibility and the town had become too
upscale.  The Hanover Inn was reputed to be $240 per night.

The terrain was getting more rural, less forests and more open space as I
approached the Connecticut Valley.  The ups and downs were not bad and to be
honest the meadows and pastures we went through were actually quite lovely.
My leg was OK as I was favoring it strongly and really trying to relieve any
excess stress on it.

I passed a Red Pine plantation and came out to a meadow with a view to the
south-east of the Connecticut River, about 8 or 10 miles away.  This was a
great morale booster since crossing this river was my goal for today.

In the morning I passed over the White River and through the lovely town of
West Hartford.  I stopped for coffee and a snack at the country store.  The
man said the two woman hikers had just left. That would be Turbo and
Sassafras.

Some clouds appeared by 11:00, but I was making good time.  I took the side
trail to the Happy Hill Shelter for lunch.  This was a beautiful little
stone structure, but it was buggy there.  I met two southbound section
hikers (Plato and The Dutchman) as I was moving down the hills towards
Norwich Vermont.

Unfortunately I didn't realize the extent of the road walks at this point.
It seemed to be at least a mile in Norwich on the Vermont side and probably
at least as much in Hanover on the New Hampshire side.  Ironically, although
the roads are esthetically unpleasant , and hard on your feet, you actually
make better time along them.

So I passed over the bridge and into Hanover at 2:15.  New Hampshire! - this
was my 6th state since my first section hike in New Jersey in April.  I
headed to the Dartmouth Outing Club in one of the college buildings.  This
proved to be a major disappointment.  There was no information about any
hiker services and the staff there was almost afraid to tell me anything.
The college must have said something like "We Shall Help No Hikers!"  Bah!.
At least the Pizza place would help me.

I went to the Post Office, picked up my food for the next 4 days, mailed
back my excess stuff and headed out to eat.  I had a very nice couple of
slices and a couple of pints in the Brick and Brew and then headed up to
Velvet Rocks Shelter.  Like it says in the Gospel "And in those towns where
you are not welcome, shake the dust off your sandals and leave", or
something like that.

I passed through the outskirts of Hanover and found the trail which climbed
a steep but short trail to the shelter.  It seemed to be graduation weekend
(it was actually a Monday) and all sorts of young and old college types were
hiking up the trail.  There is a nice rocky ridge with good views near the
shelter and we saw probably 8 or 10 hikers going by - first up and then
back.

I got to the shelter and there was Turbo and Sassafras (and of course
Bruno).  They had come to the same conclusion as I did and decided the trail
and the shelter was a better place to spend the night.  I cooked supper
(didn't I just have pizza and beer and hour or two ago?) and got my stuff
into the shelter.  It was VERY small.  It was supposed to sleep 4, but the 3
of us practically filled it to capacity.

Day 7 Trail Miles: 16.1, Extra miles: 2.0, Total: 18.1
Aggregate Trail Miles: 96.2, Aggregate Total: 100.6