Pa Bert

Day 30 (Bennington, VT to Story Spring Shelter)

I woke up this morning to Janette relaying Franco’s message to get my butt out of bed. I was sleeping so good that I didn’t even hear Janette taking a shower.

We got packed up and headed to breakfast at Papa Pete’s. Yummy breakfast! Janette outed me as a bacon eater. No worries, I’m still 98% vegan and will return to my old diet once I’m off the trail. While in trail towns I will make a few exceptions… because I can. 😉

Next, Laura, Janette, and I headed to the trail and climbed a small hill together. It started out cool and overcast but the cloud cover cleared quickly. After a few miles, Janette and Laura had to turn around so they could catch their flight. I’m still smiling about their awesome surprise.

I climbed Glastenbury Mountain which had an elevation of ~3800 ft. There was a tower at the top so I climbed it too. Wow! Awesome view but kind of scary. I hiked with Pa Bert in the afternoon for a couple hours. Hiking with him is always a pleasure. He stopped at the Kid Gore Shelter. I hiked on 4.6 more miles to the Story Spring Shelter. Funny thing about saying goodbye to fellow thru hikers is that you never know whether you will see them again. We are together but we are all solo. There is no signal here tonight so I will post this in the morning.

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Bonus Gallery!

Wild hydrangea – I only saw this above 3500 ft.
Baby grouse – mama bird was not happy with me. Made noises I didn’t think a bird could make. They reunited once I passed.
In the tower
Hard to look down.
Beaver pond in the evening

Day 25 (Race Brook Falls to Tom Leonard Shelter)

It rained all night and continued the next morning. It was forecasted to stop around 8:00 AM so I decided to wait it out in my tent. I went back to sleep and when I woke at 9:00 (wow!), it was still raining so I decided to pack up and get hiking.

I climbed Everett Mountain first (elevation 2602 feet). It is the highest elevation climb thus far. It rained most of the morning and remained cold and wet all day. I’m sure there were some awesome views that I missed due to the clouds.

Near the end of the day, I passed the 500 mile mark for my hike. Yay! I hiked with Pa Bert again in the afternoon for a couple miles. We are both staying in the Tom Leonard Shelter tonight along with 4 section hikers. It is pouring rain so I’m glad to have a roof over my head. This is the first time I’ve ever slept in a shelter. I hope the mice don’t get me. 🙂

Shay’s Rebellion
Top of Everett Mountain
Wet trails
Climbing up Everett Mountain in the rain

Day 20 (Graymoor Spiritual Life Center to stealth site)

The day started with more beautiful weather. I saw three wild turkeys within the first couple of miles. Then I hiked the next few hours with Pa Bert. This is his 3rd AT Thru Hike. I believe this is the first time in 20 days that I’ve hiked with another person. We had a nice conversation but I also enjoyed my alone time later in the day. 🙂

I believe most of the people I camped with last night hiked to the RPH shelter. I arrived there around 4:00pm and decided to continue on to the next shelter 9 miles away. I ended up racing a thunderstorm.

Four miles short of the shelter it caught me. No problem. I set my tent up on a flat spot right by the trail. I’m dry and comfy inside listening to the rain hit the tent. I will sleep well tonight.