A ship is safe in harbor, but that’s not what ships are built for.
~John G. Shed
July 31, 2022
AT miles: 20.0
Ascent: 4989’
Descent: 3157’
Weather: Absolutely perfect— sunny and 70’s
Sightings: lots of hikers
High points: Successfully navigating the crazy descent into Rt 9, and now having less than 1000 miles left to go on the AT!
I’m back on the AT, trying to complete the state of Vermont by doing a 4-day hike from MA Rt 2 to Manchester, VT. (I did the AT southbound from Hanover, NH, to Manchester, VT, last July.)
I spent last night at the Green Mountain Hostel in Manchester, a really great and clean place.
I took a shuttle down to North Adams, MA, and got on the AT, heading north. The trail
followed a road for a while and then went down someone’s driveway!
And then the trail climbed up and up and up! After the rocks of Pennsylvania, the trail seemed pretty easy. It has not rained much here, so Ver-mud nearly didn’t live up to its name!
I walked by a beautiful beaver pond.
And the one benefit of high power lines crossing the trail is that they do provide great views!
I was expecting to hike about 14 miles today, but I reached that shelter around 2 pm so I decided to go the extra 6 miles to the next shelter. This was a good decision UNTIL I came to the long steep challenging descent to Rt 9 in Bennington. That section was HARD! Thankfully at the bottom there was an ex-hiker with a pickup truck who was doing trail magic. After an electrolyte drink and a banana and a hard-boiled egg I felt much better!
Given how hard the descent was, I was nervous about the ascent from Rt 9 to the shelter. Thankfully the climb was quite manageable. The shelter area is crowded with hikers. The Long Trail and the Appalachian Trail are coincident for the southern part of Vermont, so there are both LT hikers and northbound AT thru hikers!
The funny thing is that the AT hikers have done over 1600 miles, so they really know what they are doing. The LT hikers are mostly newbies, having started 20 miles ago. The AT hikers are often doing 20+ miles in a day; the LT crowd is doing 8-10.
Mountains hiked today— Consultation Peak (2840’) and Harmon Hill (2325’).
Today is a great day for a long walk in the woods!
Nice that you’re finally having good weather in the Green Mountain State!