Last night, I spent a rainy evening in a Rutland, Vermont hiker hostel. As the day progressed, more and more hikers came off the trail, hitched the nine miles into town and checked in. In all, about 40 of us stayed, way too many to get a good night's sleep. But many familiar faces appeared, making it all well worth while. I had not seen Smurf and Smokey the Beard since Kent, CT. And others friends I lost touch with over three months ago, Sloth, Southbound, and Marathon, finally caught up after apparently having been on my heels for several weeks. It would be great to summit Mt. Katahdin with these folks in a few weeks, but it's tough to predict who will be there when that magical day arrives.
My best sleep happens in my tent in the still of the forest, and I love finding a secluded spot with a scenic overlook or a rushing brook nearby. A couple nights ago,I set up camp late near a stream and elected to keep my food bag in my tent. It was getting dark and I was feeling tired and lazy. I went right to sleep. An hour later, I awoke startled as something scurried across my face. I found my headlamp and shined it on a mouse running all about the inside of my tent in a panic. I unzipped the mesh opening and chased the critter out. Then I found the hole chewed through the mesh. As a light sleeper, I normally would have heard this going on, but the sound of the rushing water allowed the mouse to do its work without being noticed. I found the patch kit I'd bought for just this occasion and affixed the clear adhesive over the hole on the inside and outside and went back to sleep, no big deal.
My hiking experience, for the most part, is unplugged and disconnected, just me and the mountains. But many of the younger hikers like to listen to IPod tunes and even watch downloaded movies and programming on smart phones at camp. I have noticed that upon reaching a spot with a stunning view high on a mountain, some of us older coots just stop to take it all in, while the twenty-somethings check to see if they have a phone signal, 3G or 4G or whatever G. Such is the case with a young lady named Simba. She and Bluebird have been hiking together for a while now, and both have been in my "hiker bubble" since the Smokey Mountains. When I reached the summit of Killington Peak this week, Simba was fiddling around on her phone. I offered up, and she accepted, the "Simba No-Tech Challenge." For one week, she will put all of her gadgets away and hike like it's 1980. In exchange, if she succeeds, she wins a pizza party on her 20th birthday next week in Lincoln, NH. It will be fun to see how she deals with this and whether or not she can do it. I personally like it this way, but I am from a much different era.
With less than 500 miles remaining on this incredible journey, many of us are struggling with the reality that we will soon be thrown back into civilization. But there is still plenty of time for many more memories to be made, and the most amazing parts of the Appalchian Trail still await us.
Thanks again to everybody who has been following along. Your words of encouragement are much appreciated!
Happy Trails!
Fitty Shrimp
Beautiful pond by Mt. Greylock, MA
Loving Vermont!
Mosquito-chusetts
Hiker break
