We started out by climbing up to the top of Harmon Hill under a blue sky. It was already nice and warm and when we hit the top of the hill we were greeted by ripe raspberries at the top and a view of Bennington. We then did the steep hillside down the rock staircase to route 9.
From here, we went uphill steeply again to the Melville Nauheim Shelter and took a lunch break. NoKey has been dehydrated so we made sure to refill and drink our water before moving on. We met a southbounder named Rocco at Hell Hollow Brook and chatted with him before rock hopping across due to the bridge being out.
Hell Hollow Brook
From here we did quite a few ups and downs on Porcupine Ridge leap frogging with northbounders and passing tons of southbounders. We really began getting worn out before we had to climb one of the last hills of the day up to the Goddard Shelter. The rock stairs were steep all the way up and thunder began clapping overhead. I finally reached the piped spring prior to the shelter and filled my water and rehydrated my dinner. I ran inside the shelter and set down my gear waiting for NoKey, who thankfully made it to the shelter just as the rain started to fall.
The rain stopped for a short moment and then began again several more times for the next three hours. We had originally been planning on hiking out and up to the fire tower to camp, but since the trail was wet and more storms might hit tonight, we stayed in the shelter instead. We will get up early in the morning to make up the additional two miles. We at least met quite a few Long Trail thru hikers here, so that was nice for us.
The fungus among us!