Styles Peak, Sept 24

Styles Peak, VT
The trail is better in some places than others. If it's not like this, you can cruise for 15 or 20 miles in a day. And most of the trail through the Green Mtns has been pretty accommodating for at least 15 a Day. It all depends on where you are at 2 pm because that's too early to stop. Hiking right up to 6 or 7:00 is doable I just have to get past the uncertainty of getting into a camp site with day light to do camp chores: Get water, set up hammock rinse off, if there's water ( it is so nice to rinse all that sweat off), get into my longies ,cook supper.🔠🐘wow lol at me go with these pictures. I'm heading into Manchester Center and the red sled to pick up a box I mailed myself from Norwich . There's a diner within walking distance so I spend the night and get real home made hash with my eggs in the morning🐼
52° Clear
National Forest District 58, Londonderry, VT, United States

Sept 25 "lies and stories"

Somebody got wicked hungry. Met Grey Jay and Wicked Whina on their way to the long distance hikers meeting . It's sete around the second week in October in one of the towns the trail goes through in MA. I'm learning about all these long trails all over. The long trail goes from the VT/MA border thru to Canada . The southern half coincides with the AT but the northern half is supposed to be very different. The part north of the Maine Junction in Killington and the long trail inn. There's also the Coos trail in NH. And more. Stayed at StrAtton pond shelter. All the local green mountain club caretakers were here. James was here. They are trying to fix up a trail that goes around the pond and is flooded by a beaver dam. All of them seem to have college degrees and spend the season here doing care taker trail maintenance work for what I suspect is less than minimum wage. Had a long chat with one of the fellows about making hard cider, mead and brewing beer from toxins other than a kit. I gotta try some of this. Had a nice campfire lots of good stories and someone passed around a couple cups of spiked cider. Nice stuff.
It was a really good group of youngish people. We told lies and stories and wondered how the AMC became known as the Appalachan Money Club. The green mountain club seems much more laid back. Course their mountains are much more laid back and they only half to deal with a fraction of the people and way fewer New Yorkers….
58° Overcast
Bondville, VT, United States

What a marble coincidence?!

While Judd is posting about marble, I'm at a happy China hour with neighbors, discussing marble and Judd.

Baker Mt. VT
Vermont marble is supposed to be famous. It is greasy stuff to hike on.

60° Mostly Cloudy
Danby, VT, United States

Sept 23 - undies/compression thingies

Woke up at little rock pond shelter it was dang cold and windy. There's a. Are taker here and he comes around in the afternoon with a lot of perked coffee chats and asks for 5$. It's really not a bad arrangement. The shelter is clean and the campsites are well defined. James claims to have tried to fish out front all summer with no luck. Seems hard to believe it's a pretty little pond. There's a couple here renting with a package of bratwurst and they offer me one warmed up hot dog style on a stick. They try to go out in the leaky canoe but the wind is blowing too hard. Did I say it was cold? My hammock works well but only because I have a good insulated blow up mattress that slides into a sleeve on the hammock. If I happen to get too far to one side , off the pad, that side gets durn cold. Also with that good pad I can sleep on the ground or in the shelter with some comfort. Other hammocks fix the cold from below problem with under quilts. Down quilts that hang under the hammock. It might keep you warm but won't give any padding if it's raining and you want to set up in a shelter😁, oohhhh look what I found- emoticons!
43.399° N, 72.955° W

So I woke up in the morning about 7 am and there were about 16 Ross all within 30 ft of shore. James was not really trying. (See the rise in the picture?). He has gone off to another caretakers site apparently to work on a trail that has been flooded by beaver. I've got the system of transitioning from long underwear in my sleeping bag to vertical and hiking. I put my socks on first. Usually everything is still damp and on these morning cold. I let them warm up inside for a bit. Then pull off my bottom longies and get my undies/compression thingies on and my long pants. Then gaters and boots. Then my longies top comes off and the damp stinky yellow hiking shirt goes on and then my red insulated a little rain coat. It's chilly for a bit and sometimes rather than take the towns to heat water for bfast I'll pack up quick and start walking. The warmest 😗🎅 place to be hiking on the trail. The good thing about my pants is that I can zip off the legs and change into gym shorts when I get warmed up. I like hiking in shorts my legs don't feel clammy and sticky. So far I usually end up i yellow hiking shirt and shorts and the yellow hiking shirt gets sweat soaked and did I say that it stinks?
43.399° N, 72.955° W

"A funny little garden" (Sept, 21/22)

"From Sept 21" (arrived today)

Mailed
Microburst really did a number on the trail

62° Partly Cloudy
43.7368° N, 73.0237° W

Ever since Killington I have been hiking on the AT and the southern

 half of the LT. I hear the northern half of the LT is much more difficult. 

This section is pretty doable

54° Partly Cloudy
1601–2099 Spring Lake Rd, North Clarendon, VT, United States

From: <jmthompson79@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, Sep 30, 2014 at 11:37 AM
Subject: Entry: Sep 22, 2014
To: Melanie Thompson <melaniemay.thompson@gmail.com>

White rocks cliff trail. Blue blaze
A funny little garden of sorts that people have made. Maybe if I go on this white rock side hike
I can discover my own white rock to add to the art. Clearly these rocks were stacked wedged
and leaned here by hikers
2805 VT Route 140, East Wallingford, VT, United States

all I got (13 hours ago) from Instagram

"Gttttgg Good dog Alice!"

Gttttgg
Good dog Alice!
I check into the Inn at Long Trail. I get the last room available , in town I think, and pay a premium for it. It's a hundred year old institution apparently ,and the LT used to pass right through it on its way north. It has a very nice Irish pub downstairs. I had a boiled for supper with a cup of beef stew made with business of course. They have a room temperature Guinness draft which involves a three our process. You pour and let it sit, pour and let it sit then pour again, and in the foam on top you make a picture of a harp with the last bit of the last pour. I'm told there was live music but I was long abed. Oh the reason the place was so busy was that they were having the Spartan games . Sort of like a tough kidder except the contestants don't know what bazaar tests of endurance and strength they will be asked to do. Apparently they were up and down Mt. Killington and Mt. Pico all weekend.
50° Overcast
291 Thundering Brook Rd, Killington, VT, United States