Friday, May 26, 2017
The Lookout to Thistle Hill Shelter
14.1 Miles
7:00 to 5:00
Billy Goat got out before we did this morning but we were close behind him and got on the trail at 7:00. I perused the profile before leaving the shelter and saw several steep little climbs ahead of us. The two fellows commented that it would be a much easier day today though, so I was hoping. We found that they were pretty steep but luckily, not too tall.
It was a long, hard day. No place to sit and rest, when we stop we get cold. I’m so wet, when I put my arms down water runs down my sleeve and drips off, when I put my arms up on my trekking poles water runs backward into my sleeve. Dang rain gear is not worth anything. Pack cover is not keeping our pack dry either—if not for the garbage bag we have inside, everything would be wet by now.
When we reached the Pomfret Brook, I really could not believe my eyes. In front of us was a rushing brook at least knee high in places with a cable stretched across it. They really expected us to wade across that thing! We searched for a better, shallower place to cross, but found none. The safest thing to do was to hang on the cable and wade across. After securing our trekking poles to our pack and making sure all our electronics were in a ziplock bag, that’s exactly what we did. At one point I had trouble finding a level place to put my foot and sunk up to my knees, but we made it across without too much trouble. I knew there were crossings like this in Maine, but had no idea we would have to use a cable in Vermont.
Honey, you haven't roughed it if you've never
done two days like we just did. I have
never been so wet in my entire life! The
only positive I could think of was that we would be in a shelter tonight and
not have to pitch our tent in the rain.
Surely, no one else would be crazy enough to be out in this weather, so
surely we would have the shelter to ourselves. We reached Thistle Hill Shelter and before we
could change into dry clothes, two men showed up! Crazy men—what were they doing out here? They were just out for the long weekend—plans
made were plans laid for them. They
would take any opportunity to get out on the hiking trail. The Lookout to Thistle Hill Shelter
14.1 Miles
7:00 to 5:00
Billy Goat got out before we did this morning but we were close behind him and got on the trail at 7:00. I perused the profile before leaving the shelter and saw several steep little climbs ahead of us. The two fellows commented that it would be a much easier day today though, so I was hoping. We found that they were pretty steep but luckily, not too tall.
It was a long, hard day. No place to sit and rest, when we stop we get cold. I’m so wet, when I put my arms down water runs down my sleeve and drips off, when I put my arms up on my trekking poles water runs backward into my sleeve. Dang rain gear is not worth anything. Pack cover is not keeping our pack dry either—if not for the garbage bag we have inside, everything would be wet by now.
When we reached the Pomfret Brook, I really could not believe my eyes. In front of us was a rushing brook at least knee high in places with a cable stretched across it. They really expected us to wade across that thing! We searched for a better, shallower place to cross, but found none. The safest thing to do was to hang on the cable and wade across. After securing our trekking poles to our pack and making sure all our electronics were in a ziplock bag, that’s exactly what we did. At one point I had trouble finding a level place to put my foot and sunk up to my knees, but we made it across without too much trouble. I knew there were crossings like this in Maine, but had no idea we would have to use a cable in Vermont.
So we moved everything that we had already hung all over the shelter and made room for them. They had started in Hanover and hiked south. They told us what lay in store ahead of us, and we filled them in on the stream crossing ahead of them.
