Hello from Rutland, VT. We are getting ready to return to the trail tomorrow after a few days of vacation at my uncle and aunt's cottage. We got picked up on Friday afternoon by my mother and step father and headed to lake Winnipesaukee NH for a family reunion of sorts on Saturday. We have had three zero mileage days and plenty of good food. I think we should be good and rested for our last leg of the trip.
The day after our last update we crossed the MA/VT state line. The state line is also the southern terminus of the VT Long Trail which runs about 275 mi to the Canadian border. The AT runs with it for about 100 mi before making a fairly sharp right turn towards NH. We noticed a couple of things right after we crossed into VT. The temperature got cooler, and the trail got muddier. Our first day there we got poured on right before we got to the shelter, and we figured we would stop there. The rain ended up stopping after a short time and we heard that there wasn't suppose to be anymore from several people so we pushed on a couple of more miles. We found a nice spot to set the tent up at the top of a mountain a couple of miles away so we set up camp and began to cook dinner. I soon noticed a wall of thunderheads coming toward us and we started to speed up our chores. Before we had even finished eating a severe storm was upon us. Lightning was striking literally every 2 seconds and there was very high wind and heavy rain. We felt very uncomfortable being on top of the mountain. After it passed we thought we were in the clear, but to our dismay two more waves of severe thunderstorms came through and we rode them out in terror. I don't think that either of us have been more scared on the trail than we were that night. It's not that likely that you will get struck, but when you put yourself in situations like that you are in much greater danger. We both agreed that we will pay more attention to the weather before we set up camp on a high peak .
We woke up surrounded by clouds the next day, but fortunately they broke by late morning and we had a very pleasant second day in the state. It was a little bit slower going trying to pick the best path through all of the mud holes, but the forest was beautiful. The Green Mountain Club was celebrating their 100th anniversary with a month long relay of day hikes to complete the long trail. The people were nice, but it made for very crowded trail. We ended up seeing the groups for the next few days. So far we have gotten rained on every day but one. It hasn't been that bad coming from such horrible heat and bugs though. We have been hoping to see a moose on the trail, but so far we haven't really seen any wildlife. It's pretty disappointing because we perceived New England as the "wonderful wild north". I'm sure we will have plenty of sightings by the end of our hike.
We only have 3-4 days left in the state and then we will be heading to the Whites. Unfortunately we will need to pick up our winter sleeping bags and our jackets to prepare for potentially much colder temperatures. This will add bulk and weight back to our packs, but I think it will be worth our safety and comfort. My stepfather looked at the weather report for Mt. Washington in NH this morning and it was 37 degrees with a wind chill of 21. It was a good reminder that we are heading to much higher elevations and harsher conditions. The views will be well worth it though. It is sort of what we have been waiting for the entire trip. Hanover, NH will be our first town stop in the state and we may be able to update there. If not we will do our best to post as soon as possible. Robin got the most recent pictures onto facebook if you haven't already seen them. If you don't have an account all you have to do is create a blank one and you can view them on her page. Until next time take care and we are thinking of you all.
exciting note: We got to visit the Long Trail brewery today! Oh yeah and we saw 3 bald eagles
The day after our last update we crossed the MA/VT state line. The state line is also the southern terminus of the VT Long Trail which runs about 275 mi to the Canadian border. The AT runs with it for about 100 mi before making a fairly sharp right turn towards NH. We noticed a couple of things right after we crossed into VT. The temperature got cooler, and the trail got muddier. Our first day there we got poured on right before we got to the shelter, and we figured we would stop there. The rain ended up stopping after a short time and we heard that there wasn't suppose to be anymore from several people so we pushed on a couple of more miles. We found a nice spot to set the tent up at the top of a mountain a couple of miles away so we set up camp and began to cook dinner. I soon noticed a wall of thunderheads coming toward us and we started to speed up our chores. Before we had even finished eating a severe storm was upon us. Lightning was striking literally every 2 seconds and there was very high wind and heavy rain. We felt very uncomfortable being on top of the mountain. After it passed we thought we were in the clear, but to our dismay two more waves of severe thunderstorms came through and we rode them out in terror. I don't think that either of us have been more scared on the trail than we were that night. It's not that likely that you will get struck, but when you put yourself in situations like that you are in much greater danger. We both agreed that we will pay more attention to the weather before we set up camp on a high peak .
We woke up surrounded by clouds the next day, but fortunately they broke by late morning and we had a very pleasant second day in the state. It was a little bit slower going trying to pick the best path through all of the mud holes, but the forest was beautiful. The Green Mountain Club was celebrating their 100th anniversary with a month long relay of day hikes to complete the long trail. The people were nice, but it made for very crowded trail. We ended up seeing the groups for the next few days. So far we have gotten rained on every day but one. It hasn't been that bad coming from such horrible heat and bugs though. We have been hoping to see a moose on the trail, but so far we haven't really seen any wildlife. It's pretty disappointing because we perceived New England as the "wonderful wild north". I'm sure we will have plenty of sightings by the end of our hike.
We only have 3-4 days left in the state and then we will be heading to the Whites. Unfortunately we will need to pick up our winter sleeping bags and our jackets to prepare for potentially much colder temperatures. This will add bulk and weight back to our packs, but I think it will be worth our safety and comfort. My stepfather looked at the weather report for Mt. Washington in NH this morning and it was 37 degrees with a wind chill of 21. It was a good reminder that we are heading to much higher elevations and harsher conditions. The views will be well worth it though. It is sort of what we have been waiting for the entire trip. Hanover, NH will be our first town stop in the state and we may be able to update there. If not we will do our best to post as soon as possible. Robin got the most recent pictures onto facebook if you haven't already seen them. If you don't have an account all you have to do is create a blank one and you can view them on her page. Until next time take care and we are thinking of you all.
exciting note: We got to visit the Long Trail brewery today! Oh yeah and we saw 3 bald eagles
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