August 9, 2012

Start: MA 2, North Adams, MA

Why is leaving town at a reasonable time always so difficult??? We were excited to get on the trail but we still got off to a late start. After we packed up and ate breakfast, we stopped at Subway to get sandwiches to pack out. Brian and I met up with No Whistle and EMT and stuck out our thumbs. With 4 of us, we thought it might be difficult to get a ride so Brian and I walked a little bit down the road to hitch separately, but just after we separated, a nice guy on his way to work pulled over for all 4 of us! We started the day with a 1500 foot climb over 2.7 miles. The last part of the climb was up a steep boulder "wall." After that climb, the trail continued on the ridge for about 4 miles, during which we crossed the border into Vermont! Our 8TH state! We stopped at Seth Warner Shelter for about 30 minutes and ate our subs. Packing out Subway was a great idea! There was a 700 foot climb from the shelter and then a few bumps with a small descent to another ridge. We reached Congdon Shelter at 6:30 pm, took a short 20 minute snack break and continued on. We had 4.2 miles to VT 9 and planned to stay in Bennington. We knew it would get dark so we got our head lamps ready. The first 3.2 miles included 3 small elevation ups and downs. As the sun set, we turned our head lamps on and all of my senses seemed to be heightened. Night hiking is an exciting adventure. By the time we reached the 700 foot steep descent over 0.8 miles, it was DARK out. We took the descent slowly and were happy to see it was made up mostly of rock steps. There was a large tree that had fallen across the trail, which added some extra excitement to the evening. My knee began to ache on the way down and at one point, I came down on my right leg just to have it give out completely. I fell, but landed very gracefully in a seated position on a rock step. First full fall of the hike. Once we finally reached the road, I called a taxi. We thought that was a better idea than trying to hitch 6 miles in the dark. Once again I was able to use my skills to get the taxi driver to make a stop at McDonalds before taking us to the hotel. We ended the night with yummy food, a shower, and a bed. Tomorrow, Brian's parents will be visiting us and we will enjoy a double zero relaxing with them. Overall, today was a great 18.4 mile day!

End: VT 9, Bennington, VT - Best Western

Peace Be The Journey
~Flicka