Long Trail
Where: Long Trail
When: August, 1985
With: Bill
The start of a week's vacation...my first at MEDITECH, and I decided to kick it off with a hike with brother Bill. We elected to try out the bottom end of the Long Trail, so we drove over to Williamstown and went in from there. Found a place to park, then followed the AT markers along a couple of roads to the trailhead. If memory serves, the trail followed a stream at first.
We didn't go too far that first day due to a late start and settled in at a primitive campsite (the Sherman Brook Campsite). Some interesting site-mates. Two thru-hikers were the most efficient campers I'd ever seen. Came in, one set up while the other cooked dinner, they ate, talked a bit and then went to sleep. One had some bad blisters and was using a cane. They said they'd had to get off the trail a couple of times to find a hospital.
The other folks were a group of kids who came up to our fire at one point. They seemed interested in partying, but we convinced them we weren't interested. "It makes me crazy!" said Bill. They left and for quite awhile we could hear them destroying the forest for firewood.
The next day we got up, watched the thru-hikers get on their way and then headed out ourselves. Up to the top of the ridge and then north. An uneventful day and we wound up at the Seth Warner shelter that night. That shelter has since been relocated several miles further north along the trail and the original site is now a tent site.
The next day we went a bit further on the trail to a power line crossing. We walked out to admire the view and came face to face with a young deer. All of us just stood there and looked until finally one of us (probably the deer) took off. An encounter with nature! After that, we headed back out the way we'd come.
There were two events of note, both meetings with people. One was with a Ridge Runner, a young guy, whose summer job was to hike up and down this section of the trail answering questions, checking up on things, etc. The other was a man and his son from someplace in the south. The man had been hiking sections of the AT for years on vacations, sometimes alone, sometimes with the whole family. This time it was just him and his son. "Look Poppy," exclaimed the boy, "he's got a purple backpack," pointing at my Karimor. Guess you had to be there.
When: August, 1985
With: Bill
The start of a week's vacation...my first at MEDITECH, and I decided to kick it off with a hike with brother Bill. We elected to try out the bottom end of the Long Trail, so we drove over to Williamstown and went in from there. Found a place to park, then followed the AT markers along a couple of roads to the trailhead. If memory serves, the trail followed a stream at first.
We didn't go too far that first day due to a late start and settled in at a primitive campsite (the Sherman Brook Campsite). Some interesting site-mates. Two thru-hikers were the most efficient campers I'd ever seen. Came in, one set up while the other cooked dinner, they ate, talked a bit and then went to sleep. One had some bad blisters and was using a cane. They said they'd had to get off the trail a couple of times to find a hospital.
The other folks were a group of kids who came up to our fire at one point. They seemed interested in partying, but we convinced them we weren't interested. "It makes me crazy!" said Bill. They left and for quite awhile we could hear them destroying the forest for firewood.
The next day we got up, watched the thru-hikers get on their way and then headed out ourselves. Up to the top of the ridge and then north. An uneventful day and we wound up at the Seth Warner shelter that night. That shelter has since been relocated several miles further north along the trail and the original site is now a tent site.
The next day we went a bit further on the trail to a power line crossing. We walked out to admire the view and came face to face with a young deer. All of us just stood there and looked until finally one of us (probably the deer) took off. An encounter with nature! After that, we headed back out the way we'd come.
There were two events of note, both meetings with people. One was with a Ridge Runner, a young guy, whose summer job was to hike up and down this section of the trail answering questions, checking up on things, etc. The other was a man and his son from someplace in the south. The man had been hiking sections of the AT for years on vacations, sometimes alone, sometimes with the whole family. This time it was just him and his son. "Look Poppy," exclaimed the boy, "he's got a purple backpack," pointing at my Karimor. Guess you had to be there.
