The Green Dress Made it to Canada

Who could have expected 2020 to turn into such a dumpster fire? Every race I had signed up for was postponed and then cancelled and rescheduled to next year. If I can't race I might as well go into the woods. I had 63.6 miles left of the LT and had already covered the hardest parts, including Camel's Hump and Mt Mansfield. The plan is to drive up (Vermont's covid travel policy states that you can quarantine in your home state if you drive into VT) on Friday and finish by Tuesday. This was the first backpacking trip that I was starting alone (there were so many people on the AT that even though I technically started alone I was always around other hikers). There was no one ahead of me I would be trying to catch up to, and no one to wait for at camp each night. 

Wrapping up 100 miles over Camel's Hump and Mt. Mansfield

After hanging around Waitsfield, VT for almost three hours on Friday August 2nd we knew it was time to make our way back to the trail. A man passing us in the parking lot told us that we could expect sunny weather until the following Wednesday. We said goodbye to Jester again, assuming it would be the last time we saw him, since we had another 15.5 miles planned for the day, up and over Camel's Hump. We got a hitch back to Appalachian Gap and were back on trail at 10:40AM. We climbed out of the Gap about 2.6 miles to Birch Glen Lodge. The trail was pretty difficult and I had a stomach cramp from drinking chocolate milk and then eating a whole chocolate peanut butter Talenti ice cream so I could have a cold soak container. I took a break at the Lodge but wasn't hungry enough to eat any snacks.

Resupply and Reassess

Slugs! 

On Thursday August 1st I woke up on Day 3 to everything still damp. I had a pretty restless night, sleeping on a slant, and constantly trying to keep my quilt from touching the sides of my tent to keep from getting wet. My dress was still wet and smelled like like sweaty gym clothes. I got moving at 5:30AM and pulled all of the slugs off my tent and shoes before packing up and heading out at 6:10AM. We had one more full day of hiking before our first resupply - the plan was to go 20.2 miles over Mt. Abraham and Mt. Ellen, two of the four 4,000+ foot mountains on the northern stretch of the Long Trail.

Tenting on a hill

It was a cool morning and I took my time the first two miles climbing Mt. Roosevelt (3,542'). I didn't arrive at the top until 7:20 - I was getting used to hiking slower than 2 miles per hour. I guess it didn't matter as long as I was moving forward. It was a tree covered summit, we actually hadn't had any summit views so far, except the ski lift clearings. I ate my breakfast as I walked, which consisted of a Nature Valley oatmeal bar, package of cold soaked oatmeal, and a GoGoSqueeze apple sauce. I was drenched from the overhanging branches and my feet were soaked from walking through the famous Vermont mud pits.

Lesson on Day 2 - Manage Expectations

It rained pretty steadily that first night but by morning the clouds had passed and there was blue sky above. My alarm went off at 5:30AM on Wednesday, July 31st and I sat in my sleeping bag a little longer with my dress underneath me trying to dry/warm it with my body heat. I was packed up and hiking at 6:15AM after stopping to fill up my water bottle. I had already found my first piece of gear failure - I was given a lifestraw as a gift and figured I'd try it out, thinking it would be similar to the BeFree I carried on the AT. It is a piece of junk, it's basically like trying to drink out of a coffee stirrer. So I switched to using my Nalgene and Steripen. Lesson learned, definitely should have tested it out better before bringing it on my hike.

The Vermont Long Trail, Part 2 Day 1

Dad and I, VT Route 4

Dad was nice enough to drive Strider and I the three and a half hours to VT Route 4 between Killington and Rutland to begin our hike up the Long Trail to Canada. It was just after 1:00PM on Tuesday, July 30th when we got back on trail in the heat of the day. When I put my pack on I could barely buckle my waist strap - I was a lot skinnier the last time I had put my pack on. The car thermometer read 91 degrees as we crossed the highway and into the woods at Long Trail mile 104.5. There was an easy mile of walking before we got the Maine Junction where the Appalachian Trail and the Long Trail split, but I was dripping with sweat almost immediately. There was one hiker sitting just beyond the split on the AT which would be the only other hiker we saw that day until we got to camp. The Long Trail was definitely going to feel empty compared to the AT.

The Green Dress is Back

It's been nearly a year since I finished my Appalachian Trail thru hike and I've been inundated with memories from my trip - facebook, instagram, and google all like to remind me where I was at this time last year. I decided instead of vacationing at the family cabin in Maine this summer I would head back to the Green Mountains of Vermont and finish the Long Trail.

Mobile Marathon Race Report

I decided to sign up for marathon #9 in Mobile, Alabama in August when I got done through hiking the Appalachian Trail. I wanted redemption from the two crappy races I had at the beginning of 2018. The Melbourne (Florida) marathon in February turned into a disaster when the temperature climbed into the upper 80s on race day. The marathon in Atlanta a month later wasn't much better and I was frustrated. In April 2018 I began my Appalachian Trail thru hike and assumed that I would have to begin my run - and triathlon - training from square one, eliminating all the progress I had made.

Reflections One Month After

It's been just over a month since I finished my Appalachian Trail thru hike on August 8th. Since I didn't have to return to work right away I stayed in Maine with my family for about two and a half weeks, resting and relaxing. I still have another week before I go back to work, and I'm actually looking forward to it. Not just because I'm out of money, but I'm also just getting bored. I've decided to write down a few things that I've been thinking or doing in the month since I summited Katahdin.

Summary of the Whole Thing

I completed my Appalachian Trail thru hike August 8th after 121 days. Below I've summarized a few things that I kept track of - the biggest surprise to me was the number of showers I took!

The Final Miles to Baxter Peak

At around 3PM on Tuesday August 7th Coors, Strider, and I left Abol Bridge Campground/Store (AT mile 2175.9) to hike the 10 miles to the Birches Lean-To. We were all in good spirits, the trail started very easy and crossed the Katahdin Stream and Nesowadnehunk Stream and passed Big and Little Niagara Falls (it was getting late in the day so we skipped those side trails). I was definitely dragging - my legs and feet were getting tired, I started falling behind Strider and Coors.