Restarting in Clarendon

Still on Day 1, just south of Rutland, Clarendon provided another trail head to a section that was not as steep. Even after walking approximately four miles in Killington, I got the the trail head in the early afternoon and started walking.

The Gorge

I came to a suspended bridge and beautiful gorge, and off into the woods I went. The terrain did seem less steep, but my legs were screaming at me. I started planning this hike telling myself to not overdo it, but that's what I was doing. I was determined to not give up. I was going to sleep in my tent on the trail that night, no matter what.

It was almost four miles to the next shelter, which was my intended destination. Enjoying the hike, thunder began in the distance. And then it came closer. And closer still. Being under a healthy canopy of trees, the rain barely made it through to the ground, which was nice. Hearing and smelling rain without getting wet is pretty cool. The thunder ceased for a while, and then... it was back, with a vengance. And it was directly above me. I stopped to cover my pack and get my rain jacket on. Just in time, because it hit hard. I have never been outside in a thunderstorm until that moment.

Good news: It was still beautiful to watch the rain in the forest. Bad news: I had no idea how much farther until I reached the shelter. Bad news #2: The storm decreased my anticipated number of daylight hours and, since I "restarted" late in the day, I might run out of daylight before reaching the shelter. I will add, the shelter area had a shelter structure, a tent area, a privy, and a water source. This was where I wanted to stay the night, not in the middle of the woods. I realized that I might not make it tonight.

View from the trail

At one point, I just sat in the heavy rain. I was, of course, drenched, but hopefully items inside my pack were still dry. I won't know until I stop for the night.

I decided to keep going until it got dark, and then I would set up my tent no matter where I was. Just before dark, I saw the sign for the shelter. It was a short side trail, and there was the shelter. Success. Fortunately, three people were already there for the night, which meant I wasn't going to be alone. I decided to sleep in the shelter, which was preferable to setting up my tent in the rain. Not much conversation happened since it was so late, which was fine since I was exhausted anyway. I estimate I walked about 8 miles on Day 1.

The other hikers left pretty early the next morning with little time to chit chat, but that was the last time I encountered other people with so little conversation occurring. My encounters with everyone else I met on the trail from that morning on was a different story. I could not have predicted how amazing the following days were going to be.