AT Days 110 to 119 - From Stratton Pond to New Hampshire: A Muddy March Through Vermont’s Green Mountains

Day 110

When I awoke in the morning, I noticed that someone else had come into the shelter at some point in the night, so for the first time in days, we shared a shelter with someone. We weren’t the only crazy people out in this weather! As usual, Instigator and I packed up at a fairly reasonable time and hit the trail. We were extra excited today because we were heading to Manchester. The first part of the day was incredibly foggy, so we were once again robbed of views. The going was pretty slow, but thankfully, it wasn’t raining. The bugs turned out to be horrendous, though, and the local flies continued to draw blood from my legs, despite my liberal coating of picaridin. Eventually, we made it to Stratton Pond, where we were finally rewarded with a view. If we hadn’t been in a rush or worried about rain, I think it would have been an excellent spot for a swim! We stopped in at the nearby Stratton Pond Shelter for a brief lunch and foot drying/taping session, before motoring onward. The rest of our hike was fairly uneventful as we listened to podcasts/audiobooks until we made it down to the road crossing. Notably, I had my first clear Vermont view from Prospect Rock, which looked out over Manchester! Not long after walking on the road, we quickly got a hitch into town, and our driver even stopped and treated us to Starbucks! At the local outfitter, The Mountain Goat, the owner changed out my broken trekking pole tips, I swapped out a hole-filled pair of Darn Tough socks, and I finally purchased a dry bag pack liner because my trash bags kept getting torn. From there, we enjoyed burgers with beer and cider, sampled some of the local bourbon, and resupplied before heading back to the road. Again, almost as soon as we walked out onto the road, someone stopped and offered a ride to the Pinnacle Ski Lodge, where we had reserved a room for the night. After showering and doing laundry, we hooked up the Chromecast and fell asleep early (and dry!) watching the movie Hook. I cannot describe how wonderful it feels to be dry right now!

Day 111

Tucked comfortably into our lodge room, we ended up sleeping in as we were bone tired from the days of slogging in the mud. We knew we were burning a low rain day, but we honestly needed the rest. We checked out at 11 am, and on our way to the trail, someone pulled over and asked if we needed a ride anywhere. Vermonters really are the best! Back on trail, it was still muddy, but mercifully, it wasn’t flooded or washed out. We immediately hit the climb up to Bromley Mountain, and after not too much fuss, made it to the top. Once again, we didn’t have much of a view due to the weather, but we were able to stop and have lunch while sitting in a stopped chairlift, which was pretty cool. Because it was clearcut for skiing, we also had a wonderful cool breeze, which felt incredible after the muggy climb. From there, we bushwhacked down and up an overgrown valley to reach Styles Peak, which also did not have a view. Inevitably, we hit some more deep mud the last few miles, which slowed us down considerably. We ended up calling it a day at the Peru Peak Shelter as it was already past 6 pm. The shelter was situated next to a swiftly flowing river, which was a wonderful soundtrack to lie next to. The bugs were pretty bad, ruining the ambiance, and we once again had the shelter to ourselves. Fingers crossed the weather holds for another day or so!

Day 112

At some point in the night, the bugs finally abated, so we awoke refreshed to the wonderful white noise of the nearby river. No one else had arrived in the shelter overnight, continuing our trend of being solo in Vermont. After a brief breakfast, we hit the trail and immediately took to puddle/mud hopping as we had been doing the past few days. Thankfully, the trail wasn’t flooded, so it was more manageable. This was pretty much the status quo until we crossed the Big Branch River on a wonderful suspension bridge. Talk about trail infrastructure! During this time, the sun also came out for the first time in clear skies across all of Vermont. After we crossed Big Branch, we encountered stretches of more manicured trail, as we were apparently in a more popular stretch. We also noticed that on the other side of the river, there were tons of butterflies! We continued until we reached Little Rock Pond, where we stopped for lunch and took in the excellent views around it. This was also where we encountered the most people (mainly day and weekend hikers, as it was a Friday) that we had seen in days. After lunch, we trudged on through more slick rocks and mud puddles until we made it uphill to the Rock Garden/White Rocks junction. There was a stand of gorgeous pines, and the trail suddenly just became dry, at long last! This only persisted briefly, though, until we made it down to the VT Route 140 parking area, where we encountered trail magic. We were treated to donuts, chips, and ice-cold drinks from two local hikers who regularly hosted magic at the crossing. We had been flagging from the hills and puddle hopping, so we were delighted to see them. Fueled by sugar and carbs, it was one more slog up and over Bear Mountain (yes, yet another Bear Mountain), and we arrived at our destination, the Minerva Hinchey Shelter. There were 3 other people there, one of whom Instigator had met way back at the NOC. Because the soil was finally dry, we pitched the tent for the first time in days and called it an early night. We were beat, but incredibly happy to finally have a sunny day and a bit of drier trail.

Day 113

We awoke early after a muggy but peaceful night in the tent, and immediately set off as we had a big day ahead of us. The day started with quite a bit of climbing before arriving at the awesome Clarendon Gorge. Because of the recent rainfall, the flowing water was up and quite spectacular! We continued and had a few partial views of the Rutland Airport, but it was largely obscured by the heavy wildfire smoke from Canada. After getting our morning climbing out of the way, we side-quested down a road to Stone’s Throw Farmstead, which was a little local farm stand operating out of the side of a family’s house! There, we enjoyed fresh local cheese, bread, and ice cream, all while watching their sheep and alpacas frolic about. Loaded up on calories, we headed out to Governor Clement Shelter, one of the oldest on the AT, where we stocked up on water and slammed yet more calories before beginning the long climb up Mt. Killington. The climb turned out to be easy (due to the gentle grade), but quite long. The smoke made it difficult to breathe for the more strenuous patches, but it was nice to get back up to elevation. Once on top, we were disappointed to find the view to be nonexistent due to the smoke. To make matters worse, the peak lodge was apparently no longer open in summer, contrary to what we had been told. We did, however, get to photobomb a wedding! Because of the sudden drop in temperature, impending weather, and the shelter being full of biting insects, we made the call to book it a few more hours down to the Inn at The Long Trail, where we grabbed a cheap, but cute room, a few cold pints, hot meals, and some live Irish folk music! A long day, but an excellent day. Unfortunately, it looks like we will be back to slogging tomorrow.

Day 114

As expected, we awoke this morning to the sound of heavy rain outside our windows. Our room at the Inn was very cozy, making it even harder to brave the foul weather. After we enjoyed our hotel breakfast, we took a nap (utilizing our whole hotel purchase) before heading out into the rain. We quickly made a detour to the Killington Deli and Marketplace for hot drinks and a light resupply to get us through the next day. From there, we slogged onward, getting a decent, but misty view of Kent Pond and Thundering Falls. Immediately after the falls, we had a very steep, slippery series of climbs where biting insects annihilated us. Because we had gotten a slow start and were having a hell of a time with the weather, poor trail conditions, and insects, we made the call to stop early at Stony Brook Shelter. Even though it is supposedly going to pour tonight, we decided to tent to avoid the insects and to get some quiet from the snoring weekenders staying in the shelter. Hopefully, we stay dry and easily make it to our meet-up point with my friend Landry tomorrow for our 4th of July plans!

Day 115

In keeping with the classic Vermont theme, it did end up pouring practically all night. Because we had stopped early yesterday, we were able to pick out the perfect tent site and, as a result, stayed dry. Everyone at the shelter left fairly late, so even though we departed around 7:30 am, we were still the first ones out. Immediately, we hit heavy mud, and it poured on and off again on our heads. A little way into our hike, we detoured to check out the super cool privately owned shelter called “The Lookout,” and man, I wish we could have stayed in there last night. It’s essentially a cabin on top of a hill with a giant crow’s nest. It would have been a great place to get away from the ever-present rain and biting insects! Because of the shin-deep mud, our pace for the first half of the day was terrible, so we hopped on some backroads that paralleled the trail and saw a bit more of Vermont. This turned out to be an awesome idea, as we passed numerous gorgeous farms tucked away in the woods. At one point, we rounded a corner and came face to face with at least a hundred chickens just hanging out with some little kids! It was around this time that the weather began to improve, which was a much-needed morale booster. Our detour took us to Abracadabra Coffee, which was closed for the day, but we were still able to use their spigot and enjoy the tables for our lunch. Hilariously, while Instigator was using the porta-potty, the truck arrived to service it, which gave us both quite a laugh. By this point, we realized there was no way we’d make it to our meet-up point, so I relayed to Landry where we were at, and we agreed on the Pomfret trailhead. Knowing we had just a bit more to go, we powered up and over the last few hills, and then carefully waded across the swollen Pomfret “Brook” with the aid of the steel cable. Right as we were climbing out on the other side, Landry whipped up and gave both of us hugs despite our smell, dampness, and mud. I attempted to rinse my legs off in the creek, and then we enjoyed the ride into Norwich. Hilariously, Landry lived right on the AT and he didn’t even realize it! We then got cleaned up, picked up some food for the 4th, and I loaded up on ice cream, happy to be out of the rain.

Day 116

Since we were both so shot, Instigator and I slept in fairly late and then devoured a mountain of breakfast that Landry and his roommate had graciously provided! After breakfast, we grabbed some stuff to go swimming (which meant Instigator and I’s normal clothes), hit up a gas station for drinks, and then went to a local watering hole that Landry had scoped out to chill for the day. The water was much colder than we expected, but it was perfect for our sore legs. Some rapids fed down into a pool with a rocky bank, so we were able to set up fold-out chairs with our drinks and snacks. Landry showed off a bit of his climbing prowess by going up the rapids/waterfall, but we otherwise just hung out. He’s a friend of mine from a camping club we helped start in undergrad at UT Austin (shoutout to the Longhorn Outdoors Club!), and I had not seen him since 2018, when I graduated. It was great to catch up, reminisce on old stories, and learn about how each other’s lives have changed since then. He’s in Norwich because he’s working on a PhD at Dartmouth, and when he learned that I was hiking the AT this year, he told me to reach out when I was nearby. And now here we are! We had been enjoying ourselves for a while when, in classic New England fashion, the sky turned dark, and we heard the first rumbles of thunder. Without the sun, the water was freezing, so we packed up and headed back to his house. 

Back at the house, we set up the grill under an overhang, and I got to cooking our 4th of July feast. We had wanted to hang out outside and swim some more in the nearby Bloody Brook, but the weather was just too crummy. Resigned to our fate and with the news that the local fireworks show had been scrapped due to the weather, we moved everything inside and watched Will Smith and Jeff Goldblum save the world in Independence Day. It was an awesome 4th of July, all thanks to the generosity of Landry and his roommates!

Day 117

The next morning, we arose bright and early because Landry needed to be at the university all day, so he needed to drop us off early. It had rained most of the night, so we were honestly not excited to get back on the trail but thus is life. After he graciously dropped us off back at Pomfret Road, as expected, the trail was muddy, buggy, and fairly overgrown. It was incredibly humid, so I was thankful that we had left early to try to beat some of the heat. The first half of the day was a bit of a blur as we slogged along as the temperature continued to climb. Eventually, though, we hopped onto the road into West Hartford where we were greeted by trail magic in the form of some local kids standing in their driveway, handing out cold drinks! It is amazing how much generosity there is in this state! Not wanting to chug our drinks, we decided to walk slowly through the town and took the time to check out the White River and some of the local old buildings. Because of the heat though, we couldn’t find anywhere cool and shady to sit, so we did not stop until we were back under tree cover. Once stopped, we took a look at the map, and realized that there wasn’t really anywhere good to stop until we were well out of Hanover, and Hanover was already going to make it into an over 20mi day. I shot Landry a quick text, and he graciously offered to let us stay at this place again. Armed with this knowledge, we slogged on through the humidity and bugs until we arrived back at his place. Trying to make the most of our time, we decided to resupply early in Norwich so that we could avoid our next planned stop. We then enjoyed the leftovers we had cooked the previous night for the 4th. We had hoped to go further, but I am so thankful that Landry is here and that we could crash for another night indoors. Vermont has crushed us. I’m hopeful that New Hampshire will have better weather due to the mountains and it getting later into summer.

Day 118

Because the heat had drained me the previous day, I ended up sleeping in again and greatly enjoyed the air conditioning. Eventually, I found the courage to get up, and we set off. After a quick stroll through Norwich, we crossed the Connecticut River bridge into Hanover, New Hampshire! There we were treated to a misty view of the Dartmouth campus and the small town. We ended up stopping for a wonderful breakfast at a local restaurant (after we had already picked up free thru-hiker donuts), before continuing with our hike. We started with a small climb before entering yet another muddy/buggy area. Thankfully, we made decent time through this first section, so we took a break at the base of our first climb to have lunch and cool off. Once again, it hit 90°F, and I was dying from the heat. Slowly, we chugged our way up to the top of Moose Mountain, where we were rewarded with a wonderful, but smoky view. After I caught my breath, we powered through the downhill and then pushed through a very overgrown and buggy beaver bog. After the bog, we reached our last climb, which turned out to be a trudge straight up the side of an unnamed mountain. Because there were no switchbacks, it was tough, but we made decent time despite our worn-out state. Along our hike up the side, we saw a bear scurry across the trail ahead of us!  At the top, we were rewarded with our first views of the mountains we would be climbing in the coming days. Wanting to make it to camp at a good time, we didn’t linger and headed down to Trapper John Shelter. The shelter was weird with remnants of an old fireplace, an overly full privy, and a leaky roof. To avoid the bugs and potential rain, we played it safe and pitched the tent. Once we were all set up and cooking dinner, I spotted our 4th bear of the whole trip! Hopefully, it doesn’t come to investigate our tent tonight!

Day 119

Due to the campsite's sloped mandatory tent pads and the hot, humid weather, we had a lousy night of sleep. No worries though, because with the upcoming weather and Mt. Moosilauke impending up ahead, we had planned on today being easy. We started off heading down the ridge line that Trapper John Shelter had been on. We then had a fairly short, flat, buggy, overgrown hike before the climb up to Smarts Mountain. Immediately on the climb, we saw a younger-looking bear on the trail. It froze for a second before scampering off into the woods, afraid of us. Two bears in two days! The climb itself turned out to be steep, but a ton of fun! Notably, we saw some snake sheds, quartzite, various fungi, and some fun rebar steps hammered into the granite. The heat and humidity made it incredibly sweaty and the smoke made breathing a challenge, but it was still an enjoyable section! At the top, the tower had an incredible view with a wonderful breeze, so we stopped for lunch. Afterward, we cruised down the side of Smart Mountain and then up to Hexacuba Shelter. We considered going further, but as we climbed, a thunderstorm rolled in and started dropping hail, so we called it early. We are expecting a similar weather pattern tomorrow, so it should be pretty easy to arrive at Jeffers Brook Shelter before the next storms roll in.