I'm sitting on the tailgate of my truck munching on the burrito when Sloth, the shuttle driver, pulls up a few minutes before 7 and we are off. Sloth is affable and easy to talk to, and the 45 minute ride back to Rte. 9 passes quickly. When we arrive at the trailhead, he offers me a Gatorade. I drink half and pour the rest into my Talenti jar cup for later, and say goodbye.
The hike today is going to be a 10 mile grind up Glastonbury Mountain. I'm glad that huge breakfast burrito is sitting well as I leave the parking lot and cross the stream on a bridge to start my hike.
The first couple of miles is steep but I feel really well - probably the best I've felt since getting sick, but I'm only minutes into my day. I try to pace myself and take slow steps up the incline, not wanting to burn out early like I did the last few days.
After 0.7 miles the trail travels through a large split rock, called interestingly enough "Split Rock." I'm glad to see it's not another pack-destroying Lemon Squeezer, and walk through. This is the flattest the trail has been since leaving the parking lot.
I stop a mile later to filter water in front of the Melville Nauheim Shelter. A man and woman hike up together and we chat while we all filter water. When we exchange names, the woman says "Trash Panda! I've heard of you!" A hiker I met last week named Gravity, who is from Switzerland, apparently got such a kick out of my name that he has told other people about it. So far, the Europeans I meet tend to literally guffaw at my name.
We talk briefly as we continue up the mountain, but they quickly outpace me as we gain more elevation, and I slow down to continue to conserve my energy.
Four hours later I am nearing the top of Glastenbury Mountain. The hardwoods of the lower elevation has gradually shifted to spruce and fir trees. I am enjoying the dark, quiet forest when I arrive at the Goddard Shelter. A woman is filtering water from the Spring pipe that runs alongside the shelter, and we talk animatedly. Her name Crochet from Australia, and she started Sobo the first day the trail was open for the season, the same as Meal Mode.
So many hikers are now on the trail. I love it! It brings a sense of comfort knowing I am not out here all by myself, as well as a sense of community; we are all our here trauma bonding in our own special way.
I enjoy a break inside the shelter, actually welcoming the warm sunlight that filters through the trees, as the air is appreciable cooler up here. A couple walks up with impressively-sized backpacks and sits down and we chat for a while. Her name is Speedy, and his is Eagle Eye. They are hiking from North Adams to Killington over eight days.
I am uncertain what to do. I feel really good right now, and feel like it's too early to stop, but don't want to push myself into exhaustion. I'm looking at the FarOut comments and the next shelter - Kid Gore - is reported to have a gorgeous sunrise in the mornings with the easterly facing view. It's only 4 miles away and another 700 ft of elevation gain, something I feel like I can easily do.
I say goodbye to the couple and continue on up to Glastonbury Peak . At the top is a fire tower still in service . Signs are liberally posted stating that it's closed, but the comments make it clear that hikers don't take closed signs at face value. Many hikers shimmy up the first 10 feet in order to climb to the top which is supposed to offer amazing views. I take them at their word and continue on.
One thing notable about these woods, and in stark contrast to other woods I walked through thus far, is the lack of lusty birdsong. I hear occasional chirps and tweets but not nearly at the level that I am accustomed to. I do see lots of frogs jumping out of my way as I head up the trail.
I arrive at the Kid Gore shelter at 5 PM. No one else is here, so I have my pick of the campsites, but that's not saying much, because there aren't any decent sites to pick from. I do find a great hammock spot right behind the shelter and go to work setting up my camp. The trees are just the perfect size to fit my hammock and tarp.
The view from the shelter is amazing. The sky is beautiful with thick white puffy clouds. I sit down to eat my dinner of freeze-dried sausage gravy and biscuits. I love having breakfast for dinner and I literally lick every last morsel from my bag. The couple that I met earlier at the Goddard Shelter arrives while I act like I'm a condemned person eating my final meal.
They set up and we are chatting under the edge of the shelter when it starts to rain. It's a light drizzle that quickly turns to a full-blown thunderstorm. I run to my tarp to make sure nothing is getting wet, as muddy runnels of water are pouring down the hill under my tarp. The wind is blowing so hard that I have to put out a couple more stakes to keep the tarp from collapsing into my hammock, and I have to adjust a few things that are under my tarp, but overall I weather the storm well.
I hear some other people walk into the shelter, and once the rain abates a little I walk back over to the shelter and see Righty! She looks a little shell shocked from the gale she just walked through. Lefty and Awkward Silence are close behind. I'm too exhausted to chat, and they look too weather beaten to talk so I say good night to everyone and retire to my camp.
I set my alarm for 4:55 so I don't miss the sunrise. I have yet to get an amazing sunrise or sunset since I've started the trail, and I am determined to do so!
I put in my earplugs and pull my buff down over my eyes at 7:45 PM.
Today's Stats: 14 miles, 4,000 feet gain
Trail Stats: 1,632 miles, 318K feet gain
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