7/31/01
The coolness of the morning wore off quickly and it was obvious by the time we left the shelter that we were in for a hot day. Finn took the early lead while Redneck and I hiked together during the morning with Phantom lagging behind. The general trend all morning was up but there were lots of PUDs in the way of the destination for lunch. Finally we reached a private cabin on a mountain summit with an observation deck built up top. Phantom soon caught up and the "fab four" as I have by now dubbed us, had lunch at the cabin lookout. From the observation deck we could look back on Killington and Pico Peaks and also view New Hampshire to the east. Clouds were building as we ate, so we were fairly confident that some thundershowers would be scattered about during the afternoon. I had realized last night that I had made a maildrop mistake when planning back in the spring. Originally I had listed Woodstock, VT as a food pickup, then later planned to change the location to South Pomfret, VT. Since the PO was only a mile off the trail instead of 4.5 miles, it made sense to go to S. Pomfret. Apparently when I was making the change in the Excel spreadsheet I left the town name of Woodstock on the spreadsheet, but changed the zip code to South Pomfret's zip. I wasn't sure which town had my food, but I was hoping that the zip code number would prevail. From the top of the observation deck I anxiously called the South Pomfret post office in hopes that my food would be there. The postmaster left me on hold for a minute, then told me that my box was there. Thank goodness! It was 1:30 p.m. and we were 7.9 miles from the road crossing to South Pomfret. I wanted that package so I kicked into cruise mode to make the 4:45 deadline. The guys followed me down the trail and we stopped briefly at the Wintturi shelter for water before resuming the afternoon hike.
Vermont's trail planners didn't make the trail very conducive to quick miles, but I did my best to move as quickly as possible. By 3:00 p.m. I reached VT 12, the road to Woodstock, but still faced a 1000' steep climb up and over one more mountain to the next road 1.5 miles away. Redneck and Finn stopped just short of crossing the road with me as they sidetracked to a nearby barn to check out the free accommodations. Phantom was somewhere behind us, but I had no time to lose waiting for my fellow thru-hikers to follow me up the mountain. I crossed the VT 12 road alone and was greeted pleasantly by ice cold sodas in a cooler on the other side. The timing of the trail magic was perfect in the afternoon heat, so I stopped for a moment to suck a cold coke back and put the cover on my pack as it was beginning to rain. With a quick sugar burst of energy inside me, I quickly climbed up and over the mountain and wasted no time hiking the mile down the road to South Pomfret. I retrieved my food box at 4:20 p.m., then rushed outside to a picnic table across the street to sort out everything. I mailed the box back home at 4:43 p.m., with only two minutes to spare before I would have otherwise been stuck with extra weight in my pack for several more miles. As a thunderstorm passed nearby, I ate a pint of Ben and Jerry's and polished off a liter of Pepsi at the Teago general store in S. Pomfret before returning to the trail.
When I reached the trail crossing of the road I met Finn and Redneck pumping water in the stream next to the road. They were unsure of Phantoms whereabouts, so the three of us began the late afternoon hike northward. More tough terrain made the hiking difficult as we attempted another seven miles before dark. Fortunately there was a shelter two miles short of our Thistle Hill shelter destination because we never would have made it there before dark. The Cloudland shelter was an unadvertised shelter a half mile off the trail on the private Cloudland Farm. Upon learning that it was available, we changed plans and reached the empty shelter by 7:30 p.m. in a rain shower. We quickly pumped water and ate dinner before total darkness set in. It was a long tough hiking day and I was worn out. I set up my tent inside the shelter to avoid getting any wetter than I already was and got inside to dry out. I was too tired to journal, so I listened to the radio while Finn read a book and Redneck slept beside me. I wondered where Phantom was, not knowing whether he stopped for the night behind or in front of us. Vermont has given me all I can take and I will be happy to see the New Hampshire state line. Today's stats: low 70, high 88. Sunny to cloudy with p.m. thunderstorms. Today's mileage: 19.4; cumulative mileage: 1711.5.
