May 29
End: VT 103
Miles: 22.3
Total: 3540.9
I was out of the shelter quickly. The plan for the day was to do a decent day and get to a hostel in Rutland, a real town! I was excited for a Walmart, which I considered a rare find in Vermont.
I was worried about the possibility of rain, but knew that even if I did get wet at least I would be ending the day warm and dry. I was a little upset to hear thunder rumbling early in the morning. I figured that the rain was inescapable, but hurried on, thinking maybe I could stop at a shelter for a small time if needed.
Oddly, the thunder stopped after awhile and the rain did not come. I was blessed to be walking on fairly flat trail for some time, and made good time. At the road to Wallingford I came across two cars with their rear windshields bashed in. One also had a broken rear window.
I wanted to notify the authorities, but good old AT&T wasn’t giving me any service. After ten unsuccessful attempts, I was able to climb a mountain enough to get a call through to an emergency operator and get my message out before the call was dropped. I hiked on, feeling that I had done all I could.
Passing one more shelter, I set up a ride with the hostel and made my way to the road. As I waited for my ride thunder boomed overhead and I wondered if I was going to get wet. Thankfully I was picked up before the rain hit, and learned that the hostel was run by The Twelve Tribes.
The community running the hostel was interesting. All the women wore long dresses, the men had long hair, and they had all given each other Jewish names. Thankfully they understood that not everyone is as odd as they are, and were very nice to me as well as the other hikers. I found Moses there, and met Maverick, Goose, and Marathon, who had departed Springer Mountain on March 24th. His pace was incredible, and he had been hiking with Sticks, who was apparently back on the trail.
Spiral and Swivel showed up, and we all had a good time together. Walmart was disappointing, but there was a great Price Chopper next door. We stocked up on food and had Domino’s for dinner. There was a flash flood warning as well as a tornado warning, and we got to watch the miserable storm from inside our nice bunk room.
