Aug 8th
21.5mi+1.1mi AT approach=22.6mi
Elevation chart courtesy of Guthook's AT Hiker app. He has apps for many trails including the PCT. CDT, and AT.
I took a double zero the past two days since finishing the Appalachian Trail. The first day, I ended up renting a car to drive over 5hrs from Maine to Killington, Vermont. It was great to just cruise, make phone calls, and listen to satellite radio. A really enjoyable and relaxing drive. Then the next day I spent the whole day with my laptop doing blog and correspondence. Totally fried my eyes and was up waaay too late both nights. Still woke up early naturally each morning so I need to catch up on sleep tonight and should be done blogging fairly early.
As for today, I got on trail about 9:30am (thanks to Kathcup for the ride!) and had a 1.1mi approach on the AT until it hit Maine Junction where the AT and LT split. I overlapped with another hiker for about 20mins there and he was nice enough to take a picture for me at the junction.
When I came through Vermont on the AT in the beginning of July, it was not an enjoyable experience and it really made me question coming back to finish the Long Trail. This journal for the LT will be a continuation from the AT, so this is technically day 7 on the trail. Next town stop in a couple days. I'm going to make a tab at the top of my journal for all the Long Trail entries so they can be read in order. When I did the first seven days, it was raining, hot, humid, brushy, and muddy. I've heard the northern part of the LT is quite rugged and brushy in parts, so I am expecting it to be slow going. I'm coming into this prepared for the worst, but hoping for better and today the trail was great! I was able to cruise on great terrain with little elevation changes. I know this won't last long, so I was sure to take it in while I could today. The temps were also perfect in the 70s with a slight breeze and no humidity. Just great!
I hiked alone all day today other than seeing a man in the morning and another man and a pair of mother/daughters at the end of the day. The forest was really quiet and there were no views until the end of the day. Yep, a whole day of just walkin' in the woods. I listened to music much of the day and was very happy and entertained. The day went by pretty quickly.
I was worried about hiking solo on the LT after the last few weeks enjoying hiking with Jett Cat and such great scenery in Maine. I was concerned that I made the wrong decision and that I should have just ended on the high note, but right now I'm happy with my choice to finish out the LT. We'll see once the rugged terrain starts if I still feel that way, ha! Today was a great day to relax and reflect and I just felt really happy and strong. I love hiking and wasn't ready for it to end just yet so this was the right choice.
It does feel weird to not have Jett Cat here anymore. I did cheat as we were able to text some throughout the day. I know many of you will cringe at me using the phone through the day, but I couldn't just go cold turkey and shock my system like that. The texting was just what I needed. At the end of the day, there was a viewpoint (on a side trail) to see the Great Cliffs on Mt Horrid(ha!). It was a good view over Brandon Gap.
I wanted to get over the climbs before camping and I luckily ended up finding a spot near the viewpoint on top of Cape Lookoff Mtn. It was a great way to end the day! I was able to watch the sunset as I ate dinner on the sun soaked warm rocks.
The moon is shining bright and almost full. It is quite cool in the low 50s. I'm going to sleep very well!
