August 1 Mile 1601

Broke the 1600 mile mark today! A milestone of sorts. Almost 75% of the way to Katahdin, but of course, the other 25% will have to wait.  Our shelter area was pretty noisy last night.  The thru hikers at the shelter itself were carrying on and playing music. Not sure how they could do that. Must not worry about battery life like I do! Then, after we were in our tents-after 9:00 PM, and it was dark, a family arrived  and began to set up camp.-it seemed like right next to me!  I couldn't see them, but I could sure hear them. That went on for a while with all of them talking about how to set things up. Only one of them, a daughter, seemed to know what to do.  We left this morning before seeing them, but saw the daughter later in the day at our next shelter. She thought we were mad at them. I said, " no, we were fine." It was just startling. She is going to hike the Long Trail to Canada from here, like Cisco did two years ago. It's a tough hike.
When I came out this time, I decided not to wear my contact lenses. I like to remove them at night and that is an impossibility out here.  So, I brought my glasses, and I need to wear them all of the time. The problem has been that almost every day it has been hot and humid and wet or damp. My glasses are continually fogged in the morning or in the rain. Hard to see. This morning we woke up in a real fog on top of the mountain.  As we started walking, I had a cloud stuck to my glasses and couldn't see to clear it, making everything fuzzy.  Also, Cisco on this trip has let me go first to set the pace, as I am so slow. If he went first, he would probably be in New Hampshire by now. Going first is nice, and I appreciate what Cisco has done, cause going slower than your normal pace can be frustrating. But going first, you also get spider web duty.  Today was amazing.  Our first full day in the Vermont woods and there was a web across the Trail continually, catching me in the face.  Just don't want a spider bite!  The forests in Vermont get prettier as you go.  A different look from the states previously.  Fir trees, less scrubby undergrowth and lots of ferns.  Came by a few large beaver ponds and in the ponds the bullfrogs were croaking.  But the sound of each was like someone plucking a string of a guitar.  Very cool, with 20 frogs croaking at the same time.
Another ritual Cisco and I have is to buy Pop-Tarts and share a pack of two at 10:00 AM after about two hours of hiking.  Calories and fat don't count out here! It's a nice treat at mid-morning.  This morning for our Pop-Tart break we stopped by this beautiful creek and really enjoyed the scene.

Camping in Vermont:  Food bags go up in the tree to keep the bears away from us!

Pausing by a beautiful creek for a Pop-Tart break

Vermont Pond

Too often, as a thru hiker you rush through, as you have to make the daily miles. No rushing for the section hiker, especially for us today, as we have a very short day planned. Only about seven miles from our break spot, my wonderful cousin is picking us up on Thursday.  We were hoping for a little longer in the woods, but the mountains really rise from this point on and roads become more remote, and  the next road for us to exit the Trail was washed away by Hurricane Irene in 2011, so it's either out tomorrow, or hike 15 miles a day for 4 days, which isn't an option either physically or time-wise. But that's fine-we are having a great hike, will have completed  145 miles-about 10.5 miles a day, not bad for just getting off the couch and coming out here-and we are in   Vermont!