Week 16

7/27 Williamstown 1596, Visited family, felt sick later and got a lyme test

7/28 Williamstown 1596, first full zero since Pearisburg, VA.

7/29 Congdon shelter 1610, Vermont crossing, beginning of the Green Mountains, 1600 miles

7/30 Kid Gore shelter 1628, drizzly day and cold night in my summer gear (37°f), full shelter

7/31 Spruce Peak shelter 1651, three quarters mark!, Stratton Mtn., 

8/1 Near-o into Manchester 1654, 

8/2 Little Rock Pond shelter 1674, ski slope trail section on Bromley

8/3 Gov. Clement shelter 1694, rock garden, trail magic, watched an airplane take off, 500 miles to go

After getting into Williamstown, and getting to spend some wonderful time with family, I had a fever and felt sick. I ended up needing to take a zero to just rest in bed, and sleep. I did get a negative test for covid, and a tick-bourne illness test as well. I don't know of any tick bites, but I started taking an antibiotic in case it was Lyme. I delayed posting this to see if I would get results back, but they haven't gotten in yet. I've been feeling much better, and back to my regular hiking pace. I'll give an update next week.

After the much needed zero day, I once again joined a new bubble of hikers, this time heavily supplemented by a number of people hiking the Vermont Long Trail. It was refreshing to see a bunch of entheusiastic new hikers on trail. A group of them were even singing at camp. More and more of the AT hikers are getting jaded and openly complaining about being on the AT. I don't feel that way, but a lot of people already see themselves in the final grind, while there's 500 miles yet to go. I hope they don't burn themselves out. I've said it a few times, so I'll write it here; If I finish the AT and still feel like hiking, I'll just hop on another trail. If I don't want to hike anymore, I'll stop.

Ver-Mud has been a trying at times, though. This summer has been the rainiest Vermont has seen in some years, and the ground has been completely saturated with water. I've hiked every day in wet shoes and socks, stopping to dry my feet at breaks. I start each day trying to hop on rocks, or branches to avoid getting cold water in my shoes. It never lasts long, and I have a higher chance of slipping while on those slippery surfaces. If not muddy, water will simply stream right down the trail as it looks for any outlet it can get. Digging ditches doesn't help, as the water comes right back. Stepping around just widens the mud pools, and its common to see some get 10 feet wide, and wider. The GMC has planks for some of it, but there's only so much they can do.

Despite that, I've been really enjoying Vermont, and the return to higher elevation mountains. The whole section from the shanendoahs in VA until northern MA barely broke 2000 feet of elevation, and kind of felt like filler. It was nice, but hills instead of mountains. Getting into the green mountains here in VT reminded me about what drew me to the trail in the first place. The views, climbs, ponds, and beautiful forests have been amazing, and almost make me forget about the mud. Another change has been that the trail is getting more remote. There are hostels again, less cell service, and fewer town encounters. Most of the towns are smaller and more trail focused (and probably ski focused in winter). It even passed through a designated "wilderness" area for the first time in the north. 

Here's to New Hampshire!