Day 153
Start: Rutland, VT
End: Stony Brook Shelter
Miles Hiked: 10.0
Miles on AT: 1718.2
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After a wonderful night’s sleep, the first item on my agenda after packing up was breakfast. The community members made breakfast for us thru hikers in the deli even though it was closed for renovations. The decor and woodwork was so cool; I had never seen anything like it.
I spent breakfast chatting with one woman and learning about her journey to the community, her life within it, and how she’s built and raised her family. She seemed to be in search of an authentic-feeling, self-sufficient community, and that’s what she found. She spoke openly about her struggles with adapting to the difference in lifestyle, but ultimately it seemed to work for her and her family.
After breakfast and packing up my last minute items, I said goodbye to everyone and headed out to catch the bus. A lot of the other hikers were going to work on the community’s farm the next day, so they weren’t quite ready to leave yet. The bus ride back to trail was quick and easy, and before I knew it, I was back on trail.
The trail was nice and easy in this section. For some reason there was a group of 20 or 30 highschool-aged children out for some kind of activity. There were also a number of day hikers out even though it wasn’t a weekend. I passed through Gifford Woods State Park, which seemed like it would have been a great place to camp except that it was a little too early for me to stop. Instead, I had lunch down by Kent Pond and watched the water while I ate my salami and cheese sandwich.
As I continued on, I passed a waterfall and at least 5 SOBOs. Where were they all coming from?? I stopped and chatted with a few of them, asking about the Whites and what to expect. The Whites are talked about so much on the AT that it’s hard to not be a little apprehensive about what those mountains might bring. My way of dealing with nervousness is to gather as much information as possible, which can be good or bad, depending on the situation.
Next, I had to tackle a 1300-foot climb that got a liiittle steep in some areas, but, of course, I did it. To reward myself for all my hard work, I took a good, long break in the sun, soaking in the warm rays and staying a little longer than I had planned.
When I finally got up, I decided I was only going to make it to the next shelter. And I’m glad I did. There was a good group of hikers there, mostly SOBOs, but also one section hiker. It was good to have company, so I decided to start a campfire to round out the atmosphere. It took me a minute and a lot of false starts, but eventually I got one going.
As night fell, only another SOBOer and I remained seated around the fire. We chatted for a good while, about a bunch of topics, including trail, career, and life in general. But, soon, it got a bit late for us and we turned in. It was a little chilly tonight, but I was nice and cozy in my tent and quilt went it was time to go to sleep.
And that’s day 153.
A version of this post originally appeared on TheTrek.co.