Day 2

Apparently Elyse and the Rain Gods have some sort of connection, because the rain stopped at about 4 or 5am and made our 8am start much drier. The trail was (obviously) quite muddy and was difficult to pass at times, though we made the best of it.

It turns out that we were only about 0.3 miles from Seth Warner shelter - a place we did not visit due to its 0.2 mile distance from the primary trail. So, we continued on and pushed hard for Congdon Shelter, which marks the 10.0 mile mark of the LT.

This part of the day was marked with many 'false summits,' so to speak, as I am unfamiliar with the area and the terrain we are traversing. I think I will put together a check-point sheet tomorrow so that I will be more aware of our progress.

At Congdon Shelter we had a small fire - no easy feat considering the wetness of all the wood available - and cooked some lunch while resting and drying out the tent and fly from the previous night's rain. We spent about 1.5 hours there, which was way too long considering I wanted to push another 5.9 miles to Melville Nauheim Shelter - estimated to take another 3.75 hours.

After continuing on for another couple of miles we ran into a man and his dog along a boardwalk. He was quite friendly and I have to admit that it was heartening to have contact with another person - even if for only a few moments. I had to laugh when he was concerned about Ramius' pack and suggested I carry it for him. I smiled and thanked him for the advice before continuing onward.

At about 3pm it started to rain lightly (damned Rain Gods!) and I called Lauren to have her check on the weather. "Rain 'til 7pm,' she said. So, we took our packs off and hunkered down in the tent for a few hours - napping most of the time. I'm definitely going to have to find a way to acclimate Ramius to hiking in the rain so that we won't have these delays all of the time.

After the rain we continued along and made the arduous journey down to VT 9. This huge drop in elevation is almost completely along a path with large stones that one must navigate and walk over. The rain resulted in slick conditions on these rocks and I ended up slipping and taking a few falls. Needless to say, I was elated when we finally reached the road and the end of the 1st Division of the LT. 1/12 of the way there!

It was another 1.5 hours to Melville Nauheim and we arrived shortly after 9pm. The shelter was full and we ended up camping behind it. Dinner for me consisted of a few handfuls of Peanut Butter M&Ms. I was just too worn out to worry about cooking. Hopefully tomorrow will go more smoothly.

-A

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Miles Traveled: 13.6

Miles from CA: 256.8

Miles from MA: 15.9

Total Miles Traveled: 21.4

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