Reoccurring Themes

September 29
Jonesville to Highway 103

I panted and sweated, hoofing my way steadily up the final stretch to the summit of Camel’s Hump. This is the final peak above 4000 feet officially on the Long Trail. At the top I was greeted by day hikers. I sat in a wind sheltered nook reaching my shaking cold hand into a bag of corn chips.
“Ooo, can I have some?” A woman asked.
“Um... I kinda need these to get to Killington. I’m not day hiking”
“Your walking to Killington?”
“Well the Long Trail, but yeah”
“How many miles is that, where do you sleep?”
All the typical questions were asked. I answered, happy to educate someone about what we do out here! I have been answering such questions since my first days on the Pacific Crest Trail.

I would happily give somebody food while hiking, but for a day hiker to ask a thru hiker for food is... bizarre. “Sure you can have some corn chips. They are stale and are covered with hiker germs. There might be giardia, e coli, staff... Go ahead, reach on in there. I haven’t showered in a week!” I felt like saying. I feel bad denying someone food, but in this case I think my decision was smart.

From Camel’s hump, the terrain started to mellow The big climbs were done. Now it was just short steep sections such as the ups and downs of Mount Lincoln. I stayed in the Stark’s Nest ski warming hut, warm and dry, out of the elements. The next morning was foggy and drippy. I caught up with another hiker named E-Z, a hiker who I met on the AT near Erwin, Tennessee.

The weather improved as I approached Killington. So did the color. Leaves changed more rapidly as the days passed. I caught another southbounder named Jim, a man from Long Island with a replaced knee. It makes any complaining I have done in the past about my knees seem silly. I commend anyone for taking a hike, and for someone with surgically replaced knees to hike the steepest of long hikes takes some serious guts. I always tell people that anyone, physically, can hike. The mental game is the most important, and most difficult attribute to conquer. Jim had that part dialed.

As I sat on a curb in Killington, chatting on the phone, a car slowed, the passenger leaning out the window yelling, “Hiker trash!” A a friendly greeting between hikers. “San Gabriel?” The guy asked shocked.
“Buhne?” I asked similarly amazed. We had hiked in reasonably close proximity in Maine, and had also met in Virginia. He was finishing a section from Vermont, south the the Delaware Water Gap. We hiked together to Cooper Lodge near the top of Mount Killington, another 4000 footer, but one that the trail does not officially summit. I passed on a second summit of this peak as I had already been here on the AT and summited on a brilliant day.

With a chance for torrential rain, Buhne and I got a ride to Hanover where he had family, and I had friends. I have now hiked every inch of the Long Trail. The southern section shares tread with the AT. I could pretty easily head home with a successful summer of backpacking under my belt.

If the rain lets up, I will get back on in a couple days.