Well here I am in Vermont and it is truely beautiful. About a week ago I made a significant decision... I had a several choices relating to how I continued with my trip as the possibility of me reaching Mount Katahdin in Maine(the Northern terminus of the Appalachian Trail) was becoming evermore questionable. The choices were as follows;
1) I continue hiking as hard as I could, trying to reach Katahdin by the 6th of October - I am due to fly back to the UK on the 9th.
2) I slow down for the last month or so, continue hiking north but thoroughly enjoy the remainder of my hike.
3) I travel up to Mount Katahdin and start hiking south thru' Maine, and see how far I get.
4) I delay my flight to allow me to finish the hike to Mount Katahdin.
I decided the first option was not sensible for several reasons. I have self diagnosed myself with "plantar fasciitis" - an ailment of the heel of my foot which I have been living with for a couple of months. I have alleviated the problem with medical insoles in my boots but I really can't hike the long days I was doing without significant pain by the end of the day. I also feel that I want time to enjoy the scenery, people etc. that I meet on the trail.
I did not want to hike south or miss any of Vermont so discounted that option and to delay the flight would have meant hiking in some pretty remote areas in very cold weather.
Therefore I decided to slow down and really enjoy the last section of my hike - I will continue hiking north and just see how far I get. This decision was made when I arrived at a shelter in the early afternoon - it was in the middle of a clearing in the woods and someone had left a newspaper and some magazines there. Normally I would stop for a quick break and then continue on however I decided that it was too nice a spot to ignore. I chilled out for the afternoon just reading the week old newspaper and spent the evening around the fire chatting to some other hikers who arrived.
I am now thoroughly enjoying hiking Vermont at my new relaxed pace! I have taken a break at Kent Lake where I knew I could do some kayaking - this has been fun and the Lodge where I have been staying at is geat. The leaves in Vermont are just starting to change and the vivid reds are amazing. I think I saw an Osprey above the lake yesterday. I have not seen a moose yet, but I have seen a "Moose Crossing" roadsign!
I am planning to meet a guy called Larry who I hiked with thru' Georgia and we are going to hike some of the White Mountains of New Hampshire together.
It is starting to cool down a bit now (which is no bad thing)and I really noticed this for the first time when I camped on top of Peru Peak a few days ago. Just me and another guy camped right on the summit - the sunset was amazing but it was windy up there at night!
Totally lost the trail for the first time a couple of days ago. I had taken a sidetrail, which are marked with blue blazes instead of white blazes (these are occasional paint marks on the trees that border the trail - sometimes every hundred yards or so, sometimes much less frequent, however they are usually present when the trail changes direction). I came out of the woods into a clearing and could not see any blazes so I assumed the trail followed a forestry road. After following it down the mountain for about quarter of a mile I realised that I was wrong but did not want to go back up the hill! I knew there was a road which I wanted to meet at the bottom of the mountain so I ended up following ski runs, gondola trails and ski lifts to the bottom... where I ended up in a ski resort, not too far from where I wanted to be.
America is a strange place - they say you either love it or hate it. I dispute this, as I both love and hate it! The scenery is amazing and I have seen so much thru' the twelve States I have travelled so far, however sometimes when I am hiking up three or four thousand feet, with a pack that I have just restocked with food, then suddenly the mountains lose some of their appeal.... at least 'til I get to the top and can sit down and enjoy the view!
Likewise, the wildlife I have seen has been amazing and seeing animals like bear, beavers, porcupines etc in the wild has been a great experience. Unfortunately, along with these one must endure the wealth of insects that infest the woods. The mosquitoes were particularly bad thru' Massachusetts and the first part of Vermont. These annoying, stupid, pointy nosed, winged monsters seemed to thoroughly enjoy my blood and see "flying out for English" as an exotic alternative to their usual American food! They also have the ability to fly nanometres from my ears and yet still be able to move before I can swat them. Every once in a while they would send me completely mad and I would take my hat off , wave it around my head like a lunatic and swear profusely.... this would provide a few seconds of respite before the stupid b**stards would be back flying around my head! Even the pleasure of managing to swat one if it lands on my arm is ruined by the fact that I then see my own blood splatted all over my arm!! Even in death, they annoy me!
I love much of the American food (I am somewhat renowned for my poor diet when Sarah is not keeping an eye on it!). However, only the Americans would have Blueberry pancakes, maple syrup and bacon on the same plate for breakfast.... it is great! They have the ability to make the most healthy of dishes unhealthy - a simple salad is "garnished" with so much cheese, boiled egg, bacon bits, croutons and salad dressing as to totally negate any health benefits of the salad!
They also have the ability to make the most simple of things complicated! Ordering a fried egg with breakfast is an ordeal and it is pretty much impossible to have a simple cheese and ham sandwich. It seems that you must complete a multiple choice questionaire before they can begin and when I said I just want cheese and ham without all the other crap they thought I was mad! .... surely I wanted them to cram so much chopped lettuce and mayonnaise in the sandwich that it would be impossible to eat without spilling out all over my only clean set of clothes!!
While I am on a roll I should mention that far more scary than any of the wildilfe I have seen are... the massively over sincere waitresses that you sometimes meet. They seem so desparate that you enjoy you "dining experience" that I wouldn't dare be critical of the service or food, lest they take my steak knife and commit "hari-kari" next to the table!
Anyway that's enough for today - feel like I have been a little critical of the US, but they are just observations (apart from the stuff about the mozzies.. I hate those b**stards) and I am still having a great time and have met some real good people.
I am gonna enjoy the rest of Vermont and then lets see what New Hampshire is like!
