Journal Entries

Last night wine

Going into Rochester we stopped at the Mac’s Market and packed out wine for our final night on the trail.

Drinking it from an empty olive container that was in my trash bag.

Two things:

1. Because of the short hiking day explained in my previous post, we arrived at Sunrise Shelter at 1pm. That’s a whole lot of daylight left. Even an overcast day.

2. Sunrise Shelter is .9 miles from Brandon Gap/route 73, a road that links towns of Rochester and Brandon.

So let’s go to town!

We hiked down to route 73, hitched into Rochester, and went to a cafe for afternoon coffee!

Tomorrow is our last day on the trail.

Our last stop was route 4 at Rutland and the mileage from route 4 to Middlebury Gap, where our car is parked, is 30 miles. Technically that’s doable in 2 days but we had 3 hiking days left, and also we’re not keen on 2 back to back days of 15 miles. That would be hard on my knees. So, 30 miles in 3 days is 10 miles a day but the shelters aren’t spaced that conveniently (and with these rainy days we appreciate the shelters). Which means some days are longer hikes and other days are shorter.

Today is a short mileage day, only 6.5 and an easy 6.5. The walk over Bloodroot Gap was the easiest part of the whole trail. And the walk through the mist and fog was magical.

A beautiful way to end the trail.

Start of day 15 at David Logan Shelter.

The shelter offered cover from the the morning rain though it was a rather dark place. Had to use headlamps in the morning to cook and eat even though outside the shelter was bright green.

Fellow hiker journaling by the campfire. Goodnight day 13. Only 2 more days in the woods. I am looking forward to reconnecting with my kids but not will miss being out here.

End of day 13

It was a great day on the trail. First five miles were an absolute breeze, easy hiking. Last 6 or so were more challenging. The trail is not as well maintained as the AT portion; lots of navigating around, under, over and through deadfall, the trail is not as well marked or trodden and is narrower. Felt like we entered new territory. Still, a great hiking day. Overcast, cool no rain.

We arrived at shelter with time and energy to build a fire, plus there was a pile of dry wood in shelter. The fire was a great place to gather for the evening with the 6 other hikers who arrived at the shelter after us.

Arrived at the shelter with lots of time to enjoy and afternoon decaf coffee and read through 2 years of log entries.

Note left by caretaker: close the gate at the front of the shelter when we leave to prevent the porcupines from eating the bunk platforms.

Hiked through a lot of mixed hardwoods today and enjoyed some fall colors and the smell of fallen leaves.

One of the last jobs before leaving camp, filter water and wash my bowl/cup.

The privy at Tucker Johnson campsite is the nicest privy on the whole LT, maybe even AT. Not sure what the wheelchair ramp is for since you can’t hike the trail in a wheelchair.