Mad Tom Notch 1660.7 to USFS 10 1672.9 (12.2 miles, 647.5 total miles)
Although I felt very strong yesterday hiking the 25 miles, in the evening I did have some soreness and tiredness. I realized it was actually 27 miles if I wanted to catch up to the rest of the Cult today, but I wasn’t sure if I’d be up for it.
In the morning, when my alarm went off at six I definitely snoozed it a couple times, before going to hang out in the living room with Tater. I had to organize all my stuff for the day, put away my laundry, and put away my sleep stuff, so it was a little bit before we got in the car to drive to the trail head.
We stopped at Starbucks, which I hadn’t been to in ages, and found out I even had $10 on my app, so I only paid a couple dollars for a bacon egg and cheese sandwich and a latte.
By 8:30 we were at the trail head, and that was when I started to look in the car for my shoes. I had debated the evening before about leaving them in the car, and thought I had, but I realized I’d actually brought them into Timelord‘s. All I had were my crocs, and that wasn’t going to work.
By that point I had already decided to hike just 21 miles to Route 140, but now we were going to have to backtrack to get my shoes. All I could do was laugh at myself, it wasn’t worth getting upset over. And as I’ve noticed before, when I start to make little mistakes it means I’m extra tired from hiking and need to slow down a little.
Tater had to pick up Lucky at 11:30 to bring him into town, and as we drove there I decided I was just going to hike the 12 miles to the first road for the day. That would have me 15 miles behind the rest of the Cult, but we could still drive into Rutland for the evening and spend time with everyone.
Lucky was in good spirits when we saw him, and we drove him to the VFW, where a couple of his hiking friends were. I saw Shadow for the first time since Connecticut, and it was nice to see him and say hi. We grabbed my shoes from Timelord‘s, and headed back out.
It was now 10:00 when we got back to the trail head parking lot. We saw a young couple who were hiking the Long Trail, and then I saw Moped and a woman hiking with him as well. Moped seemed happy to see me, and like he’d been having a really good hike so far.
I had a 1.6 mile climb up to Styles Peak, and I could feel right away that my body was just tired. It was another beautiful, cool, sunny, and breezy day and it was nice to know I only had 12 miles to do.
There was a tiny little view up at the peak, then a few ups and downs along the ridge, followed by a descent that was a little steep at first down to Peru shelter, which was 4.6 miles into the day.
I didn’t realize I was quite exhausted, which seems to happen the next day after I hike fast all day. At the shelter, which I had all to myself for lunch, I breaked from 12:15 to 12:45. I ate the other half of my chicken Parmesan grinder from the day before, and read and signed the logbook while I was there.
A few minutes before I was going to leave, Moped and the woman he was hiking with walked up. I found out her name is Lady Pants, and they had both thru hiked the Appalachian Trail before, him in 2010, her in 2011. They were now knocking out the Long Trail. I hadn’t had time to chat with Moped the other day, so it was nice to have some conversation with them.
I was definitely dragging as I continued on, and I begin to notice it was starting to feel quite humid, and the bugs were definitely out in full force. I was drained, but I kept on hiking, and I was glad it was a short day. I saw a few day hikers here and there, before I made it up to Baker Peak, which had a very lovely view after quite a bit of hiking up slanted rocks.
I saw a family of four who departed shortly after I got there, and I sat for a few minutes finally having enough cell service for the first time all day since the parking lot to get and send texts.
I filtered my spare liter of water, and tried to drink as much as I could. I told Baked Potato I was real tired today, and he said he he would send me some good hiking vibes. I had another half mile climb to go, then it was all downhill and flat for the rest of the day. I was figuring I would probably get to the parking lot right around 4pm.
Maybe Tater’s hiking vibes worked, because the half mile climb wasn’t too bad, and the descent was going pretty well too. I passed Lost Pond Shelter without stopping, and from there I only had 3 miles left. It seems like there were shelters every few miles in Vermont, which I really loved, and must be to stagger the AT and LT hikers when they all concentrate in the area around this time of the year.
I put on some good music, but tried to be careful when singing out loud because there were gnats flying all around my face, barely held at bay by my sunglasses, ready to fly in my mouth at a moment’s notice.
When I was .3 from the road I saw Tater hiking in, and we walked the last bit to his car. I was exhausted, and so glad the day was done. We drove the half hour to Rutland, and I checked in at the Yellow Deli Hostel, which is run by a religious group in the area. On the way in, we saw QT and Platinum having a date at the restaurant next door and said hi as we drove by.
I’d been to the hostel before, so it was all familiar to me. Tater and I unpacked my stuff from his bag to mine, ending my slackpacking adventure. I saw Pinata, Riveter, and Speedgoat, since the rooms are separated between men and women at the hostel.
I caught up with Riveter while we unpacked and packed bags in the common area, then all the girls moved our stuff up one floor to another level of the hostel that was a little newer and nicer. We then headed to the Hop’n Moose, the restaurant and bar right next door.
I said hi to Jedi, and we all sat and ate food and had a couple drinks. My friend/trail fam from the AT in 2015 and 2016, Spider, was working at the restaurant, so I went inside to say hi to him. After a big hug we chatted for 10 minutes or so, and knew I’d see him tomorrow at some trail magic he was going to have set up, which I was excited for.
Tater and I headed to Walmart to resupply a few items for me, and I tried to come up with an itinerary for the next few days. I knew I was 15 miles behind the others currently, and by the 3rd would probably be 23 behind. I could cut into the 3rd and hike all day, but with my energy levels figured it would be more fun just to enjoy the time with them over the 4th and go from there.
I was kind of sad that I was missing so much, and also that I was ahead of the other hikers I knew, but behind my friends. So I was basically an island, and I wouldn’t see Baked Potato for a few days, either, till we drove to Platinum’s for the 4th.
All I’d really seen on the trail were LT hikers the past few days, and expected more of the same coming up. They made me feel fast, which was nice, but it felt lonely at the same time.
I remember my reluctance to join a trail family because of what happened last time as a flip flopper. I couldn’t keep up, and started yellow blazing to follow the guy I was seeing on trail. It sucked, and it slowed him down majorly and ruined my chance of thru hiking.
It’s lonely doing a flip flop in a lot of ways, I feel. The Cult is awesome and really makes me feel accepted and cared about. They even made a trail marker for me the other day signifying the amount of miles they thought I’d hiked, since the ones set up for NOBOs don’t apply to me.
It’s very hard to keep up with people who have already hiked 1600 miles and have a deadline of August 7th, due to QT’s sister’s graduation and Piñata’s college starting in September. They also have a ton of memories and experiences from the very beginning of the trail together that I will never be a part of.
I’m happy flip flopping exists as a concept because it makes the trail accessible to those who might not be able to give it a try due to timing factors. It really comes with some unique challenges though, and it’s hard not to wonder “what if”.
I’m here now, however, and the experiences I am having, both the enjoyable and the not so enjoyable ones, are the lessons I need to learn I’m sure. I can’t change the past, I can only make the best out of what is in front of me.
Maybe there’s a deeper reason to my trail name other than I just happened to look like Amelia Earhart when I hiked in 2015. She was the first solo female to fly around the world, and she excelled in a field where she was largely an outsider, too. Maybe I’m just meant to have a more solo adventure, and be a little different. Every hike is different, and I am the only one who can decide what this one will be.