Thursday, June 28, 2012

Day 1

Today was one of the longest and hardest days of hiking I can recall. As I lay here in my tent writing I can feel my leg muscles aching from the day's hike. It may be quite the challenge to get them to work again in the morning!
The day started off with a quick, light breakfast at Dunkin Doughnuts before we returned the rental car. The young man working at Enterprise rental car gave us a ride back into Williamstown and the trail head. The car he drove us in had an unfortunate odor issue that made us eager to get on the trail. I could only assume that the car's previous driver had used it to transport garbage or large quantities of road kill.

We strapped on our packs and stepped off from the Pine Cobble Trailhead a few minutes after 9 am. The trail climbed gradually at first through a beech and maple forest alongside a subdivision of high end homes. I can imagine how glorious it would be to live in a house with a trail to Vermont in your backyard! After about an hour of steady climbing we reached the summit of Pine Cobble. At 1890 feet it wasn't much compared to what we have in front of us but it did provide a great view of Williamstown from above.

In another half hour of climbing we reached the intersection with the Appalachian trail. The trail crossed over large rocks bleached white by the sun. Some of the rocks were adorned with blueberry bushes, a tasty discovery.

A little before noon we reached the Vermont state line. We had hiked more than five miles and ascended over a thousand feet and we were now at mile 0. Yes, all of the hiking before the state boundary counts on my knees, feet and ankles, but none of it counts towards the 273 on the Long Trail.

After adjusting to this sobering reality, we trudged on. Around 2 pm we arrived at the Glen Ellis shelter. We were exhausted so we decided to take a long break for lunch before deciding if we should go any further. As tired as we were, I really wanted to knock out more of the trail while we had beautiful weather and fresh legs. A two hour break with lunch was enough for both of us to feel recharged. We decided to go for it and bit off another 7 miles of trail.

The trail climbed to a couple of summits with limited views along the way. We passed by some serene looking wet lands and the most elaborate beaver pond I have ever seen. The forest seemed constantly alive with bird song and squirrels busily chasing each other or chastising us. The long hike dragged on and the woods began to grow dark. Just when we thought we might be night hiking we reached the Congdon Shelter. We had hiked for the better part of 12 hours and traveled 14 miles.

Congdon shelter was a dump made less appealing by the fading twilight. In the few minutes it took Mary to set up the sleeping bag she watched enough mice scurry about to decide better of sleeping in the shelter. We decided to pitch our tent near the shelter for tonight. I filtered water from a pretty little Brooke and Mary prepared our dehydrated cheese enchiladas in the dark. Dinner tasted amazing after such a full day on the trail.

As I lay here in the tent finishing this I just heard a barred owl call out. The forest feels calm and welcoming and I am eager for sleep. 263 miles of hiking remains on front of us. Goodnight everyone.