Summary
July 25th
NOBO mile # 1704.8
Tolmann’s daily mileage 4
Tolmann’s total mileage 681.1
What can I say? The rosy glow of camping outdoors has faded somewhat. I was talking to a thru-hiker who has decided to end his attempt for this year: he said, “If I could spend every night at home, I’d gladly keep walking every day!” He plans on coming back, but wants to start in Georgia, rather than what he did this year: start in Harper’s Ferry (which is what I did). But, I agreed with him about being home every evening.
Being home for two and a half weeks didn’t help.
Bottom line is, I’m under a roof again tonight. Clean and dry.
When I got up this morning at the Inn at Long Trail, it was still raining. When I checked the weather, it appeared that it would start drying out around 11:00, which coincidently, was check-out time from my room. So I planned on getting a late start.
I went down a little early to get my complimentary breakfast; they had coffee out in the common room, so I grabbed a cup and sat with three other hikers. I ended up talking with Sunshine, a section hiker who is committed to completing the whole trail by her 45th birthday. She is a teacher, so she has some time during the summer to spend a number of weeks at a time. This year she is SOBOing from Maine, having started at the base of Katahdin, and finishing around Bennington, if I remember correctly. She’s saving the summit of Katahdin for her last hike.
Anyway, when the dining room opened, we sat and ate together. It was a short time, because she had arranged an early shuttle to the trail. It turned out that she is having the same issues with camping as I, and is actually paying for shuttles to get her indoors almost every night. She even arranged to hike the Whites by going AMC hut to AMC hut, which is expensive proposition!
It seems as though the trail amplifies one’s thoughts and desires and mirrors them back at one. I’ve been continuing to read A Walk In The Woods, and came across this passage today:
“And so I proceeded across Vermont in a series of pleasant day hikes, without anything electronic but with some very nice packed lunches that my wife made for me each night before retiring and left on the top shelf in the fridge. Despite my earlier vow not to hike with the car, I found it rather suited me here—indeed, completely suited me. I could hike all day and be home for dinner. I could sleep in my own bed and each day set off in clean, dry clothes and with a fresh packed lunch. It was nearly perfect.”
What is it with this book?
After breakfast, I dawdled through my packing up, and managed to procrastinate until about 10:30, when I gathered my things and went down to the lobby. There I met Flying Eagle, an older gentleman thru-hiking from Georgia. Talking with him got me a few minutes closer to 11am. He was going to stay and get lunch at the pub, which opened at 11:30; I which was tempted, but I knew I needed to get out of there.
Having studied the guidebook the night before, I had three options for a goal today, Mountain Meadows Lodge, at 4 miles; Stony Brook Shelter, at 10 miles; and The Outlook cabin, at 18.1. The last was probably not realistic, given my late start and my short miles while wearing my heavy pack. Stony Brook seemed the most logical choice, but the Guthook app, which shows users’ comments, told of an aggressive bear there as recently as a few days ago. Mountain Meadows Lodge was a room, although ridiculously short miles. I was leaning that way…
The hike was very pleasant passing through Gifford Woods State Park, and then along Kent Pond.
It was only about an hour’s walk to Mountain Meadows. I booked a room. They had no other folks staying there, so I kind of had the run of the place.
Mountain Meadow Lodge is not a hostel or a inn, it’s a wedding and event venue. I would highly recommend it to anyone wanting to bring a group on retreat or for a workshop, and it’s a beautiful spot for a wedding! They have a common room, a TV room, a music room, a sauna, a jacuzzi, and a game room. Pretty cool!
A 10 minute walk up a path from the Lodge led me to RT 4 and another short road walk to the Killington Deli, where I got a couple of sandwiches, and a drink which shall remain nameless. It was drizzling again when I came out of the Deli. As I walked back to the path, I saw my trail angel friend, Tom, picking someone up at the Outfitters. I yelled out a greeting to him, amazed at the coincidence of seeing him there. He asked where I was staying, and then told me to hop in and he’d drive me back. So I was saved a ten minute walk in the drizzle, and my dry clothes stayed dry. I can’t explain the feeling of having trail magic suddenly and inexplicably appearing.
So the afternoon was spent playing the Lodge’s guitar, reading, and napping. Around dinner time, a second hiker showed up to spend the night and we chatted for a while.
I know I have to get a few nights on the trail, and I know the logistics and finances of hostel/motel stays can’t be sustained. The next two nights are most certainly going to find me in my hammock. I’m going to try to make up some miles; it would be great to get to NH on Friday.
We’ll see…
Tom Maynard 
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