Day 135
Location: VT Route 9
Miles hiked today: 11.5
Miles from Springer: 1,598.3
Miles to Katahdin: 577.9
Elevation: 1,360′
It poured buckets last night, and as always the water came right through my tent. I have actually just ordered a new tent, for this and a few other reasons. It just seems that a tent should maybe be waterproof, but I am not an expert on this so maybe there is a hidden benefit to having the water leak straight through the fabric.
I had set out some socks to dry last night, which were now soaking wet. It took me a little while to get everything together and be on my way.
Seeing Vermont for the first time in the daylight, (at least on the A.T.), I was struck by how beautiful it was. It was not drastically different from Massachusetts, but subtly so. I went through a forest of silver birches, and saw my first set of moose tracks and droppings for the A.T.
I came to a set of power lines, which offered sun and a view to the west because the trees are cleared for the power lines. There was a stiff breeze, so I set up my tent to dry it in the sun, and sat down for lunch. Soon enough I had company, because several people I had just passed stopped for lunch too. There are lots of people just starting out on the Long Trail, as well as some A.T. thru-hikers. It was a very nice stop.
Vermont is beautiful, but I found myself unable to look around and enjoy it because the trail is in such a horrible condition. The mud was deep and unavoidable in places, which made progress really difficult. Again, it seems that some simple trail work techniques would help a lot.
When I got to the Congdon Shelter, I began thinking that I should go into town at the upcoming road because I needed to make a phone call. As I was hanging out at the shelter, a day hiker arrived, who happened to be from D.C. A little bit later Goose arrived, who I had just met this morning. I was talking to Goose about going into town when Ron, the day hiker offered to take me. His car was just at the bottom of the gap, where the highway is. Excited about my luck, I threw my stuff together and Ron and I were soon on our way off the mountain.
Ron is my age and he’s been a teacher for some time, so he had a lot of good career advice for me. When we got to his car, we decided to go into Bennington for a burger, and he knew of a hostel where he could drop me off at.
Bennington is one of the places where Ethan Allen lived for a time, as well as the home of many of the Green Mountain Boys. The Green Mountain Boys were a rough militia group who were notoriously undisciplined, tough, hard drinking and served their own interests. Yet under the leadership of Ethan Allen, they were extremely effective against the British and obtained a key victory at Ticonderoga, capturing the fort and its arsenal of canon. These were later hauled to Boston by Henry Knox. I was very excited that the trail goes near Bennington, as I was hoping to visit the battlefield there (called the Battle of Bennington). However, I was very disappointed to learn that the Battle of Bennington was not fought in Bennington at all, or even in Vermont. It was actually fought across the border in New York. However, the objective of the British Commander, John Burgoyne was the arsenal at Bennington. So, no battlefield in Bennington, which was really too bad. But it was still cool just to be in Ethan Allen’s home town.
After some high calorie food at the Irish Pub, Ron drove me back near the trail and dropped me off at a hostel. It was really nice to get into town and back out again, and be near the trail for the morning.
Walken' 