Day 120: The Donut Thief!

July 5: Overnight, only five other hikers were at the hostel--four other guys and a girl. Little did I realize, however, that there must have been a huge bubble of people just behind me because starting early in the morning, a lot more hikers began to arrive. By the end of the day, I lost count of the hikers but every bed was full and a large chunk of hikers were directed into the overflow room where they could sleep on the floor. The place was absolutely packed to the gills! Glad I got a bed when it was available, next to a window overlooking the street too! =)

I liked the artwork on the book drop for the library!

For lunch, I headed out to Wendy's and spent three hours there on my laptop working on these blog posts. It was much quieter and with fewer distractions than the hostel!

I had no intention of getting back on the trail today--I had too many blog posts to catch up on for that--but I did intend to get back on the trail tomorrow and therefore needed to resupply. Late in the day, I headed into Price-Choppers to do the resupply run.

While wandering up and down the aisles, an announcement was made on the intercom saying that the bakery was cleaning out and that shoppers could get a bag of donuts and bagels for $1. Hey, awesome! I'll take that deal!

I filled up a bag, then figured maybe the other hikers at the hostel would like donuts too and filled up a second bag... then a third bag.... They wanted to get rid of these donuts, I'd be more than happy to help!

One of the other customers filling up a bag said that the deal might only apply to just one bag, though. One bag? Uhh..... I hadn't gotten that impression from the announcement. Maybe I should check on that?

So I went up to the bakery counter and asked about it, and he said it was one bag per person, although occasionally they've let people take two bags.

I sheepishly admitted that I filled up three so far.... how much would that third one be?

The guys eyes bugged out. Three? He quietly cursed to himself then said, "Okay, I shouldn't do this, but I'll let you have three bags."

He put stickers on all three bags that would scan for a dollar, then I went to the checkout line, paid for my "stolen" donuts and headed back to the hostel where I "pulled a Blueberry" by giving the donuts out to everyone. They were all envious that I nabbed so many donuts for just $3. Yeah, well... I wasn't supposed to!

Later that evening, I had to do some laundry but the machines at the hostel were busy all day long from all of the hikers who had just arrived. Somewhat frustrated at the wait, I decided just to take my clothes to the laundromat and do it there. I brought my laptop and continued working where while my laundry got washed and dried.

On the way back from the laundromat, I walked through a park which had a band playing in a gazebo and it seemed like half the town had come out to watch. I stopped to watch for a bit myself then eventually went back to the hostel for the rest of the evening. I thought about going to see a late movie--maybe Jurassic World? But by then, I was too tired and didn't think I'd be able to stay awake through the end. Nope, I was done for the day!

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This band was putting on a concert for the town!

And back at the Yellow Deli Hostel

Day 119: And Into Rutland, VT

July 4: I hit the trail relatively early, at about 6:00 in the morning. The trail climbed up and over Killington Peak--or at least close to the summit. I skipped the short side trail to the summit itself since I had done that a couple of years earlier already anyhow.

A few miles before the trail crosses Highway 4 into Rutland, there's a trail junction. To the left is the official Appalachian Trail and Long Trail routes, but to the right is the Sherburne Pass Trail. It's a blue-blazed trail and a bit of a shortcut since it's a couple of miles shorter, but the two trails rejoin each other on the other side of the Highway 4. Years and years ago, the Sherburne Pass Trail used to be the AT/LT, but it was rerouted to its current position onto public lands and avoided some private property. The trail is still open to the public, however, so a lot of people will take it.

I'm not usually big on "blue-blazing" (as we thru-hikers call it), but I decided to make an exception in this case because I've already walked the official AT/LT route not once but twice--once for my first AT thru-hike in 2003 then for my LT hike in 2013. I'd never seen this blue-blazed route, however, and liked the idea of seeing something different. So off I walked, leaving the official AT to follow the Sherburne Pass Trail.

In my professional assessment, I think this route was the more scenic of the two. It goes through a ski area on Pico Mountain allowing peeks of good views through the ski runs. Outside of that, however, it just goes through the trees and the two trails look more-or-less the same.

When I arrived at Sherburne Pass, it seemed like there were hundreds of people milling around! Bus loads of people in army fatigues were lining up, about to run up the trail. Training exercises?

But I soon found who I was looking for--my cousin, Chris and his SO, Drew. They were in Vermont for the weekend and we had planned to meet here at approximately this time of day. I wasn't sure if they'd arrived yet, but they had, although only about five minutes before I did. It was one of the phone calls I had made from the phone in the Bromley ski hut.

They drove me into Rutland where we first stopped at the Yellow Deli Hostel so I could check in. The door was locked when we arrived, but it had a phone number to call so I called it--but it went to voicemail so I left a message then waited a bit. Eventually, about 20 minutes later, I got in and got my space at the hostel.

Then we headed out for lunch at Roots, and went to the movies to see Inside Out. It was strange at the movie theater, looking at all of the movies that were playing. They had signs for the new Terminator movie and I didn't even know that there was a new Terminator movie. I didn't even know Pixar had a new movie and had never seen so much as a single preview for it. No idea what I'd be walking into! And Jurrasic World?! They made a sequel for that too?! I didn't recognize the name of a single movie that was currently playing--except for sequels and I had no idea that any of those were in the works either. I'd really unplugged from the world while on the trail!

The Inside Out movie was wonderful, but it was time for Chris and Drew to go. They hugged me despite my smell (I still hadn't showered or cleaned up since I got off the trail!) and drove off into the wild blue yonder.

I returned to the hostel where I finally took a shower and cleaned up. Having the foresight that I might arrive in Rutland on the 4th of July (a holiday) or a Sunday, I had my maildrops sent directly to the hostel rather than the post office and thus was able to pick up my laptop. The rest of the evening I spent catching up with emails and messages.

Got some nice views from the ski runs on Pico Mountain!

Must be some sort of training program going on....

The Inn at Long Trail

While waiting for someone to arrive to open the hostel, I took this selfie with cousin Chris (L) and Drew (R).

Day 118: The Hunt For the Secret Privy

July 3: The day was another beautiful, clear one, lasting throughout the day. The trail, for the most part, was fairly easy hiking as well. Still muddy at times, but not particularly strenuous.

Trail magic hit me twice during the day. The first time was an ice chest with juice, and the ice in it kept it cold. It must have just been filled that day! The second bout of trail magic were root beers in a creek.

When I hiked the Long Trail, I had heard about a rumored secret shelter. I didn't know exactly where it was located--my Internet sleuthing had turned up information about it being located between two other shelters, and with no other information than that, I managed to track down the secret shelter. I was as surprised as anyone else that I succeeded since I considered finding it a long shot!

But this time around, I knew exactly where it was. I did, however, Google for information about it to see if anything had showed up online in the last couple of years and I was surprised when I found a someone blogging about it which included a photo of a beautifully, hand-built privy--mostly because I had never seen the privy! The secret shelter had a secret privy?!

So that was my mission today: To find the secret privy! Of course, it helped that I already knew the location of the secret shelter. Presumably, the secret privy would be nearby. On the trail, I'd ask most people about it just to get a sense of how well known it was, and among AT thru-hikers, few people knew about and absolutely nobody I talked to knew exactly where it was. I did write teasing entries in the registers about being on the "hunt" for the secret shelter and it "smelled" close. Even took the time to draw an elaborate maze with my stamp at one end and the secret shelter at the exit asking to "help the Green Tortuga find the secret shelter!"

(After I passed it, I wrote about "finding" it and how wonderful the "hot hub" was, the amazing secret privy, etc. And later still when someone else caught up with me, they had said they were all reading my entries and hoped I wouldn't find it, and cursed me when they found out that I had succeeded. "Doah! He found it!" Seemed that there was some guessing going on whether I'd find it or not, but nobody had a clue that the game was fixed!)

I made it to the secret shelter and it was as beautiful as I remembered it. Being the 4th of July weekend, I figured shelters might be crowded with people using their extended holiday to backpack and what a perfect time to duck into the protective embrace of a secret shelter that nobody knew about. In fact, it might be one of only times I get a shelter completely to myself! It would only be the second time on my hike I'd have a shelter completely to myself.

When I arrived, not surprisingly, nobody was there. I dropped my pack and immediately went on the search for the privy. I tried looking behind the shelter and didn't find anything except a few houses up on a hill. It didn't seem like a good place to put a privy. Too many eyes nearby! Seems like a privy should be more secluded.

So I went left of the shelter and after about five minutes of poking around, I found the secret privy. It was very well hidden! No signs marked it's location and the trail leading up to it looked like it hadn't been used in years it was so overgrown. It could have been a game trail for all I know. It was also a lot further away from the shelter than I expected which is why I didn't notice it the first time I was here.

But what a privy! A beautiful, curved structure. I looked inside and it hadn't appeared to be used in years. No smell at all because there was nothing TO smell! Yeah, this was hands down, the very best privy of the entire trail. I'd definitely make use of that!

When I got back to the shelter, I was surprised to see an older gentleman who had recently arrived. He was 70 years old and introduced himself as Stork. Looks like I wouldn't be having the shelter all to myself tonight after all!

Out of curiosity, I asked him about how he had learned about the secret shelter. He had planned to stay at the previous shelter originally, but apparently some weekenders had been illegally riding around and making all sorts of noise and the ridgerunner there quietly told him about the secret shelter and how to find it saying it would likely be quieter. So having the shelter to myself was foiled by a ridgerunner.

I didn't mind, though. Stork was an interesting guy and being by yourself is kind of boring anyhow. Plus, when he sat down on the old, rotted picnic table, the bench snapped and he fell backwards onto his back. Which was funny--as long as he didn't get hurt, and he didn't. But he felt bad about breaking the bench.

The table was obviously rotted and old, though, and I told him it was just a matter of time. He kept wanting to leave a note apologizing for breaking the bench and I'd tell him that I didn't think it was necessary. It's not like he was deliberately trying to break the table or doing anything stupid on it. He just tried to sit down.

Stork and I had a good time chatting. He'd been hiking for awhile and I asked if he remembered meeting any of the Four Horsemen. Superman would have been the most obvious because of the Superman logo on his chest.

Oh, yes, he remembered him! He described a weird bird call they'd give each other every time one of them arrived at the shelter. I smiled. Yes, that was definitely them! "But they sounded more like goats and I said they should be called the Four Goatmen!" And apparently, they really liked that idea and started calling themselves the Goatmen. At least for the rest of the night. (I'd later find a register entry by them signed Supergoat, Heavygoat, Bluegoat and Ginger Goat, so I suspect that would have been the shelter where the incident took place. But I think "Goatberry" sounds better than "Bluegoat.")

Anyhow, we had a good time chatting the rest of the night away before heading off to sleep.

 

Just in case you want to "help the Tortuga find the secret shelter!" (If you click on the image, a higher resolution version should appear.)

View of the Rutland Airport

This was my chair to admire the view. It was a surprising place to find a chair because it wasn't particularly close to any trailheads. Someone went to a lot of effort to carry it up here! But I had to try it out! Just don't lean back because what's not obvious in this photo--there's probably a five foot drop all around the chair since it's perched at the top of a boulder.

While sitting in the chair, I saw this fellow slowly working its way up towards me.

Trail magic!

This was the one place on the trail today where it became especially rugged, but it didn't last long!

Trail magic! This bag of cans was left in a creek to keep the root beer cold.

 

Just 500 miles left to Katahdin. I'm practically done already!!!!!

The secret shelter--more formally known as the Sangsong Shelter--is still alive and well!

It has a nice decor that most shelters don't have.

And a button to start a hot tub! Unfortunately, the hot tub itself is still missing....

Looking out the shelter, you can see the old, rotted picnic table that broke when Stork sat down on it.

And THIS is the secret privy! I missed it my first time at the shelter, but I made a special effort to find it this time around. Even the few people who know about the secret shelter don't know about the secret privy!

Day 117: Cairns! Carins! Cairns!

July 2: We woke up to an absolutely beautiful morning and today would be the first time in days that it would be beautiful all day long! What a novelty!

The trail was still muddy and generally in bad condition from earlier weather, but I was just glad that that was the only issue for the day.

The bog bridges came this close to severe damage!

The highlight was passing through the Village of Cairns. I've posted about it before, both on my first AT thru-hike and during my Long Trail thru-hike two years earlier. I still love the place, though! The cairns seemed a bit more "run down" than in my earlier visits, but it was also much earlier in the year this time around. I suspect the winter snows destroy many of the cairns each year and it takes time for people to build it back up to the height of its glory.

So I spent about an hour working to add and fix cairns, particularly a line of rocks that looks like it is crawling up the side of a boulder.

I also stopped for a couple of hours at White Rock Cliffs which provides a magnificent view. I was also able to get an Internet connection on my smartphone there, so I caught up with email and messages. When I first arrived, I dropped a chuck of a Wheat Thin. It wasn't a whole Wheat Thin--it had cracked in half so it was more like half a Wheat Thin. I was going to pick it up before I left, but no rush to get it now.... right?

It wasn't there for five minutes when an ant came by and took an interest in it. He couldn't pick it up--it was a little too big for that--but he did start dragging it away and I watched with fascination. The Wheat Thin must have weighed a hundred times more than the ant did.

Over an hour later, the ant had moved the Wheat Thin about 4 feet. It was an industrious little thing, and occasionally another ant would visit it but it seemed like the original ant would tell it go away. "This is MY find!" I imagined it telling the other ants, "And I'm taking all of the credit for it!"

So he never got any help. It wasn't a flat piece of ground the ant was dragging this Wheat Thin over either. No, he carried it over rather rugged terrain. The ant would probably call them towering mountains. At one point, it lost its grip on the Wheat Thin and the Wheat Thin slid several inches down the mountain. Probably 15 minutes of work, lost in the blink of an eye. I kind of wanted to help the little fellow and move the Wheat Thin back to where it had slid down from.

Going down the other side of the mountain, the ant picked up speed--but mostly because he let gravity do most of the work of sliding the Wheat Thin downhill.

By the time I finally left, I didn't have the heart to take away the Wheat Thin from the ant. He'd put so much effort into moving that little piece of food. I know you aren't supposed to feed wild animals, but I let him have the Wheat Thin. He'd earned it.

Then I continued on, settling in for the night at the Greenwall Shelter. I was surprised to see four different water sources on the side trail to the shelter. During my Long Trail hike, there were none and people were reporting that the shelter had no water. I had manged to find some, hidden on a poorly defined and badly marked trail behind and to the side of the shelter, but there was definitely nothing ON the side trail to the shelter. Just goes to show how much more water is on the trail now than during my Long Trail thru-hike. I was stunned. FOUR water sources! Needless to say, I didn't bother to look for that fifth one hidden in the woods that almost nobody ever finds.

I shared the shelter with Bearfish, who was surprised to see that I arrived after he did. He thought I was ahead of him but he didn't know I'd walked off trail to the White Rock Cliffs where I hung out for an hour or two. Sunscreen and friends arrived as well.

A nice, pleasant day over all!

I like the artwork on the side of the shelter!

Easiest bridge you can build: Drop an I-beam across the creek and call it done!

Little Rock Pond

Part of the Village of Cairns

This is my favorite creation because I built it! =)

View from White Rock Cliffs

Greenwall Shelter