Another day, another non-restful night of sleep. I don’t know what’s been going on recently. Well, I kind of do, it’s definitely just the humidity kicking my ass. That and the constant need to wake up at 5 every day. I don’t know what’s happened, but I always need to wake up to pee, like I’m someone 40 years older than I actually am. In the woods, it’s not too bad. I usually crawl out of the tent about five feet, and can pee wherever. But the hassle of going to the bathroom (which… in most hostels… is down a set of stairs. My knees!), and then getting back into bed makes it worse in hostels for some reason. I can’t really explain it.
Anyways, someone’s probably not happy that half the time, all I do in these blog posts is potty talk. But it’s a huge part of the trail :).
Today, I also got woken up at 5 by a Southbounder asking where the coffee was. Ha… ha… ow my head. Being woken up early doesn’t help much more. But it was good to get up early anyways. The shuttle back to the trailhead’s at 7:45, and I still need to make my own breakfast.
That’s my one (small) complaint about Wise Pines, for a hostel that’s so far out of town, it’s hard to actually make sure you have enough food for your stay here. And while there is a small farmstand with bagels and stuff (which I greatly appreciated!), I felt between having to pack my pack in the pack shed, and cooking/asking trail angels for help yesterday, and then cooking this morning, I barely had time to get ready. Though, that’s partially my own fault. I could just be more prepared! Otherwise, I had a great night. The space itself was super comfortable, and Chelsea was a great host.
I ate some berries and drank coffee on our way back to the trailhead, where I asked Chelsea a bit about her hike. When she did it in ’17, she did it with a tramily of 12, and sometimes a baker’s dozen! I think about that when I contrast it with my own hike, where I think I’ve slept alone more often than not from Pennsylvania onwards. She actually said if she did it again though, she’d also be in a smaller group. It made me miss having a consistent hiking partner. More on that in a bit.
I have a theory that no one, not even the good ol’ Green Mountain Club, gives a s@#$ about the AT section that doesn’t coincide with the Long Trail. This could be because of conditions, but it felt like the hiking today was terrible, and not because of elevation gain, or mountains, or anything of the sort. No, it was just because I had to wrestle with suboptimal trail conditions for a lot of the day. Tall grass, unmarked paths, no views, and a sweltering heat. Electrolytes and water only did so much to cut through the rapid dehydration I was always experiencing, and just… the feeling of being wet. This is my last day in Vermont, and the only thing I can really say is I think this state actually might rate near the bottom half of my list when all is said and done.
There’s also just infinite bugs everywhere in Vermont. Even with DEET and a headnet, I still feel like I’m constantly swatting at bugs, and feeling phantom “pricks” all over my body. Every break where I try to eat feels like I’m the meal, not the sandwich I have. My feet are also just giving out. This late in the game, I don’t think most human bodies were meant to do this much. With adequate rest, I think that this amount of exercise could actually be good. But even now, if I took zeroes every other day, I don’t think the training I did before this (which would’ve been the last four months of hiking…) would actually be that productive, given how little rest I’ve had on the way through.
There were a few good things today, there were tons of raspberries on the trail! If I was a week behind, I think I’d be having a veritable feast, but I was still having a great time picking berries everywhere and enjoying them. I also checked FarOut to another pleasant surprise… I saw some comments from Stevie Wonder! Stevie’s another blogger I met at Wood’s Hole who’s doing the ECT this year. He was way far ahead of me until he needed to take 2 weeks off trail, but I’m happy to see him back on and out here again.
After a bunch of ups and downs, I started the long road walk into West Hartford, a town with… basically nothing in it. There’s nowhere to stay, other than tenting at trail angels, and there’s a library… and that’s about it. There’s also a bridge that people love jumping off of, but to be honest, I’m not a big fan of jumping from bridges. Call me a wuss or something, but I’ve had enough of that in my life.
While here, I ran back into Cosmo and Tallboy, who I met in Duncannon, and Warwick. You might ask “if you keep seeing them, why not hike with them?” Well, they’re doing a much different hike than I am. While they tell people of what they’ve hiked, the honest truth is a tale of yellow blazing. For those unfamiliar with the “coloured” blaze system, we all know that there are White and Blue blazes on the AT. White means you’re on the trail proper, blue means you’re following some sort of side path, usually water. Yellow blazing in this case is either roadwalking, or just straight up hitchhiking/shuttling ahead, while claiming those miles. For me personally, that doesn’t fly. I signed up to hike in the Appalachian MOUNTAINS, not the Appalachian roadways. You could even call me a “purist,” though there was one blue blaze I took for fun instead of the “regular” path (way back in Shenandoah). I don’t mind the yellow blazing too much… but the part I do mind is the constriction of resources for hikers. Those who can skip miles or guarantee where they’re going to be a week ahead can nab hostel/trail angel spots much earlier than I can. This actually will bite me in the butt later today, unfortunately.
The other part I just mind is lying about the mileage, or what you’ve done. But that’s for a different day. I just wish that if people were going to skip, they’d skip ahead of me haha. Like Leo did.
Then again, Hike Your Own Hike. Maybe I judge too deeply. We’re doing different things. But I’m no saint, and if you’re reading this, well, you’re looking for insights into my thoughts. So there they are :).
Anyways, the library was a nice reprieve in Air Conditioning. I stocked up on some nice ice cold water, and then hiked up back into the mountains in some sweltering heat. During this, I ran back into Away! I met him at Duncannon when he was taking a zero, and he’s relatively pure. I think as I took time off with friends and family, he’s caught up, but he’s not in the best way either. He was limping around, trying to combat his own fatigue. Apparently, he thinks he’s come down with a case of Lyme Disease. Which… also made me start worrying, maybe I have it too? I’m a bit of a hypochondriac to be honest, and so suddenly I was thinking back. Am I fatigued because it’s hot… or because I have Lyme? Should my knees hurt this much? Who knows…
I rolled into town decently late, just given how my body’s been failing me again. Near the end of long days, no matter how much I eat, I need to take constant sit breaks to feel ok to walk again. No matter how hard I try, every step feels heavy. It just feels like I can’t control my body. So at 7, I rolled up to the St. Barnabas Church in Norwich, VT. In Norwich and Hanover, there aren’t any hostels. It’d be too expensive to operate them in the area. Instead, there’s a network of trail angels that allow people into their houses. I actually contacted all of them, but all of them were booked for the night! So instead, I slept in the church basement, and while it was great (they have blueberry bushes outside!), it didn’t feature a shower. And I was SWEATY. Ew.
if you did drum corps with me… well, this feels triggering
At the very least, I was able to order some pizza, and wash up my legs in the bathroom sink, though my body was sore the whole time trying to navigate up to the bathroom, and then out to get some pizza. I ate as much as I could, but also felt sick while doing it. I just don’t do well with eating lots. Mentally, that is.
I’m starting to get scared that my body’s not going to hold up for this journey more than anything. And that’s the last thing I expected. I’m hoping New Hampshire, of all things, saves me.
(also, to assuage the fears of readers who think that my body won’t hold… I’m in Maine now! So clearly I’ve done something right since then…)
(title lyrics from: Road to Hell II, Hadestown)
