Day 41 - Seth Warner Shelter

​Day 41 - Seth Warner Shelter

Starting location: Wilbur Clearing Shelter

Ending location: Seth Warner Shelter

Mileage today: 12.5 miles 

Total Mileage: 459.9 miles

Miles from Springer: 1609.4 miles

Miles to Katahdin: 588.60 miles 

Today’s Photo

The story behind this photo ... 

New state unlocked! Eleven states completed and only three more to go. Today was a monumental day, since when you get to Vermont it feels like now you have really gotten to the great parts of the trail. Vermont , the Whites in NH and of course Maine! Plus when you get into VT you have completed about 75% of the trail. I only have 25% more to go! That is bonkers! 

So today we woke up after a restless night of sleep due to the humidity in the air. I was hoping a cold front would come through last night but unfortunately not. Maybe tonight! Praying earnestly for it. lol. We got on the trail at 7 am and hiked a nice downhill 3.5 miles to The Supplier & The Guardian. We encounter trail magic first from 1st Baptist Church. 

We got some ice cold water and root beer to drink. Then the boys got some chips and cookies and suckers. I grabbed some mixed nuts. So awesome! We then got resupplied for food for the day and trekked on after eating all the trail magic and telling mom our stories from yesterday. 

Also today was 1600 miles for my thru hike! The 1500 miles was in CT when the Wilson’s visited. Crazy! I should hit 1700 in eight more days. Miles are adding up quickly. Praise the Lord. 

While in the town we were getting resupplied there were some beautiful roses in bloom. I love flowers! 

The afternoon hike was tough. We ate lunch at the border of MA and VT. But the whole time we basically climbed from about 650 ft to about 2500 ft over the last 8 miles. It might have been more challenging than yesterday’s climb over Mt. Greylock, just because it is so humid. It was already 71 degrees when we woke up. Ugh. We found this rock that Bombadil and I thought had rested there since Noah’s flood finished! 

We did get to see a black bear and her cub today and actually saw the cub climb up a tree. They are so fast! 

Finally we made it to the shelter. The only negative about this shelter is that it has no water source. So we had to camel up about 4.5 miles before getting here, but with it so hot it barely helped. So we had to hike 0.3 miles north on the trail to a beaver pond and get some water and then hike 0.3 miles back. Plus the water was warm and not ice cold, but we are thankful we have some. Trying not to complain! lol. 

This is the first shelter in VT. There isn’t any picnic table (I think it’s a future project they want to finish), so we had to cook in our sleeping area. Praying no bears swing by tonight. 

Well playing some cards, reading a book and calling it a night. 

God bless,

Gandalf, Legolas & Bombadil 

Day 40 - Wilbur Clearing Shelter

​Day 40 - Wilbur Clearing Shelter

Starting location: Father Tom Campsite

Ending location: Wilbur Clearing Shelter

Mileage today: 11.8 miles

Total Mileage: 447.4 miles

Miles from Springer: 1597.1 miles

Miles to Katahdin: 600.9 miles

Today’s Photo

The story behind this photo ... 

Today we left Father Tom’s campsite about 7 am. Amee packed up the tent for us since it was still wet from a sprinkle during the night. We didn’t sleep well since it was so hot and muggy. 

Today we hiked up Mount Greylock. The tallest peak in MA. They have a WW1 memorial at the top you can go in and climb up to see even better views. The hike was 8 miles up to it and it took 5 hours to do it. So not horrible. It was hot and muggy again but there was a nice breeze at times. 

One nice thing was there were flushable toilets and a water spigot to recoup at! 

This was were we came from. Also they have a lodge and restraint up here too. This view was from the top of the memorial. 

This is north and where we are headed next. Vermont! Woo hoo. We at lunch up there and headed 3.8 miles to the shelter. 

Since the boys love Minecraft, they are excited about all the quartz rocks they find up here. lol. I have never played so I am unimpressed. 

Here are a few flowers blooming that I want to figure out what they are. Just have horrible signal around here so can’t google it. 

All alone at the shelter yet again. Soon I am sure NOBOs will catch up to us. We ate and then hit the sack at 8 pm. We were so tired today. 

Good night. 

Gandalf, Legolas & Bombadil. 

Day 39 - Father Tom Campsite

​Day 39 - Father Tom’s Campsite

Starting location: Kay Wood Shelter

Ending location: Cheshire, MA

Mileage today: 11.9 miles 

Total Mileage: 435.6 miles

Miles from Springer: 1585.6 miles

Miles to Katahdin: 612.4 miles

Today’s Photo

The story behind this photo ... 

Today we woke up all alone at the shelter. Weird that nobody came through last night. We got on trail at 7:15 am. It was another hit and muggy day. Possible rain in the forecast tonight.

 

Here we are ready to hike! We were only 2.5 miles to a trail town called Dalton. We got some trail magic from a trail angel named Tom. Honey buns and some fruit! 

Legolas likes hiking through towns. Here is a cool castle house we passed by! 

Then we filled our water bottles and hit the port a potty before heading up Crystal Mountain I believe. 

We stopped at the Cheshire Cobbles for lunch. It was breathtaking. Perfect place to rest and eat. It is the photo at the very top. 

The tallest mountain is Mt. Greylock which we will hike over tomorrow. 3,500 ft tall. Our tallest mountain yet. Should be fun!

 

In Cheshire, MA which is known for the biggest cheese real sent to the Oval Office! lol. 

Celebrated finishing CT finally with some ice cream. We will be out of MA in 1.5 days! Unreal. 

Of course we found the library and they gave our boys some Gatorade and snickers! That loved it! 

Camping at Father Tom’s campsite. Just finished dinner. Getting ready for tomorrow! 

Good night. 

Gandalf, Legolas & Bombadil. 

Day 38 - Kay Wood Shelter

​Day 38 - Kay Wood Shelter

Starting location: Upper Goose Pond

Ending location: Kay Wood Shelter

Mileage today: 18.2 miles 

Total Mileage: 423.8 miles 

Miles from Springer: 1573.8 miles

Miles to Katadin: 624.3 miles 

Today’s Photo

The story behind this photo ... 

Today was the morning the boys had been looking forward to for a few days! Pancake breakfast at the Upper Goose Pond Cabin and they were not disappointed! They were delicious with soft spreadable butter and gallons of maple syrup! Legolas ate 3 and Bombadil at 2. 

We got on the trail by 7:30 am. We have a long day ahead doing our biggest mileage yet! 18.2 miles. Yikes. Thankfully it was relatively “flat” without a bunch of big ups and downs, but still it was hot and humid. Probably mid 80’s I imagine. 

We resupplied with Amee pretty early on and got right back on the trail. 

Right before lunch we came upon this sign in the forest. Bombadil earlier said he wished we could get trail magic and God answered his prayer big time! 

Frosty, a trail angel, was at a road crossing. He had tons of food! CJ had chocolate milk, mixed nuts and chili cheese Fritos, Lucas had the same thing except the mixed nuts. I had two things of mixed nuts and 2 hard boiled eggs! Very thankful he had low carb options! We took some pop tarts to go for breakfast. 

This is Frosty. He even had a tent to sit in with chairs and fans. It was very nice!

After lunch we had a 2 mile walk to the northern cookie lady. She was extremely nice. She had a blueberry farm as well. We had some chocolate chip cookie and some very sweet hibiscus tea. It was very refreshing. See the picture at the top! We topped off our water and had 9 more miles to get to the shelter! 

We got into the shelter at 6:05 pm. The latest yet. Fixed dinner and got stuff ready for bed. The boys got as a reward of hiking so far to watch some Ryan Trehan. 

Off to bed and a short 11.9 miles tomorrow 

Good night. 

Gandalf, Legolas & Bombadil