Chipmunk

“In a bed, in a bed, by the water’s side I will lay my head, listen to the river sing sweet songs to rock my soul.” – Grateful Dead “Brokedown Palace”

Woke up last night to animals walking around the camp. Not the first time by any stretch, but these were different. Listening to their footfalls in the leaves they were medium sized and had decently long legs. They were trotting around like they owned the place, not furtive at all. The stride was too big for raccoons I think, they moved like dogs, so maybe fox or coyote. Honestly, it’s a little hard to tell from the tent. I’d like to say it was common sense, or even fear, that kept me from poking my head out and investigating, but it was ultimately laziness. I figured if I got up it would be harder to fall asleep.

Woke up early, thinking I might tackle the 21.5 miles anyway, but it was raining. Snoozed until almost 8:30 hoping it would pass but no such luck. Sometimes you have to hike in the rain. If it’s not coming down hard it can actually be nice and keeps you from overheating. I got to Wintturi shelter fairly early, even with the late start. I considered staying there and not dealing with the wet tent, but that would have left me with 20 tomorrow. Plus I can’t be done at 2 in the afternoon. I took a little break there and found my first recruit for the chipmunk army. He must be used to finding shelter scraps because he was not shy at all. I could have touched him.

The next stretch didn’t look that bad in AWOL but it was a mini rollercoaster. A steep eroded, drop down to a meadow where you can see the next mountain in front of you, rinse and repeat. I attacked the first one, trying to see how many miles I could get in today, but by the third one I was shot. It was beautiful though, Vermont’s definitely got that going for it. Hardwoods giving way to towering spruce spread out and blanketing the forest floor with needles so there’s no undergrowth. You can see far into the forest but you also kind of feel exposed. Then the grassy meadows with Black Eyed Susans, Queen Anne’s lace, and these alien-looking purple flowers I haven’t seen before. I also saw my first flying squirrel today, so I’ve got that going for me.

I was getting pretty tired and I willed the next valley would have a tent spot. Instead, just before the gravel road where I figured the prime spot would be, I got a creepy, boarded-up house in an overgrown yard. I’m not sleeping beside the Blair Witch, so more miles were on the menu. Up and down to Pomfret Brook, where I saw a fire ring and knew I was home for the night. I’m just off a real road, which is less than ideal, but I was done for the day. Tried to dry out the tent as best as possible, but it’s been overcast and drizzling on and off all day so nothing is really going to dry before the sun breaks through. 460.9 from the top and it’s going to take more than a wet tent to stop me.

“Mama, mama, many roads I’ve come since I first left home.”