Day 121
After sleeping and staying dry all night (what, no rain?!) we woke up and headed for the border! I left earlier than everyone in camp and headed north. The only thin between me and VT was a steep hill with a rock scramble, which has definitely gotten easier for me. When I got to the border, the AT is now concurrent with The Long Trail, which runs the Green Mountains to Canada. From here, I had a lot of undulation with some pretty views of both mountains and ponds. I also found out why Vermont is nicknamed “Ver-mud!” At some points the mud was so thick your trekking pole would get stuck. The mosquitoes were out in full force with the swampy terrain as well. After stopping for lunch on Consultation Peak, Nokey caught up with me as the rain started falling. By the time Testament caught us, it was pouring again so we took a long break in the Congdon Shelter, which had actual working windows and a table inside. We met several other hikers here seeking shelter from the rain. We were soaked and cold, so I decided I wanted to walk to warm up. The rain had turned into a drizzle now, so we walked along the ridge until the steep downhill. The downhill portion was nearly 1100 feet straight down with rock steps. About halfway down Nokey fell and nearly slid off the side of the hill, only staying up because he was holding a wet root. We hiked silently down the hill and when we got to the bottom we took a mental health break. We saw some hikers across the highway getting out of a van and walked over to see who it was. It turned out to be Secrets and Shenanigans doing trail magic! They also had a hiker we met before: Sparrow! He is Testament’s friend who gave us trail magic on day 90! He was out hiking the Long Trail with some buddies. Secrets and Shenanigans gave us a ride to town where we got a hotel room to tend to Nokey’s wounds. He was pretty bloody and battered from his fall. He was pretty sore also. It sucked to spend the money, but he needed to recuperate. Tomorrow, we’ll head out rested and feeling better (and full!) The picture is of me at the border.