Camel’s Hump(177.4)-Jonesville/Duxbury Rd(187)
Aug 11th
9.6mi
Elevation chart courtesy of Guthook’s Long Trail Hiker app. He has apps for many trails including the PCT, CDT, and AT.
I did not get the sleep I would have liked last night, but it was totally worth it! At 10:30pm and again at 11:30pm more people hiked up to the summit in hopes of seeing the moon and meteors. One pair camped out of sight, but not sound as I heard them throughout the night. The weather was perfect with little breeze and I didn’t need my beanie or my jacket while using my sleeping bag unzipped as a blanket. I set my alarm for 2am in hopes of seeing some of the Perseid Meteor shower, but the moon was too bright and the stars were too faded to see any. At 4am, three college aged girls came up and were quite loud and giggly until the sun rose and others arrived closer to 6am. Here is the transition as I saw it.
My favorite part was the low lying fog down below. It all was quite beautiful in person and I did my best to photograph it. I started hiking at 6:30am and it was a steady downhill off Camel’s Hump. It started off as a lush forested section and soon returned to flat rock that would go down steeply at times like a roller coaster diving down. Then it would be more jagged and require some scrambling at times. I was thankful that it wasn’t wet! I enjoyed the views of the fog as I dipped closer to it.
Towards the bottom, it became some of the nicest forested trail with a cushioned pine needle ground. I really enjoyed the morning and cruised at a relaxed pace.
The final three miles to town were a road walk. That’s the longest road walk I’ve done since the CDT last summer and my feet and I was quickly reminded of why I didn’t enjoy those road walks. I dreamed of pink lemonade as the heat came off the road. There is a suspension bridge and some trail that will be rerouted along the AT that will soon cut the road walk down quite a bit. I’ve just barely arrived before the bridge is done as the chains were hanging without boards to walk on. I imagined those chains to be like the rings at a playground which I’ve always swung easily across. It could be a fun way to add even more challenge to the trail, ha!
I was walking into Jonesville at about 10:30am where I was going to be hosted by PCT 2012 thru hikers, Shivers & BAM. Shivers met me about a mile out and walked the road with me. He came bearing cold chocolate milk and raspberry lemonade! My hero!
It is my last resupply stop for the summer and it was my most efficient. I had all my town chores done and had a sit down meal of burger, fries, and milkshake before 2pm. It was great and that gave me the rest of the day to do blog things. I was pretty tired and actually took a nap for almost and hour which I never do. I really needed it as I haven’t slept a lot since finishing the AT. I also got to Skype with Jett Cat (yay!) who is still visiting with family down south. Then she will return to her childhood hometown in Florida to figure out the next steps with grad school applications…and finally get back on a bike!
BAM came home from work to join Shivers and I and we had a great home cooked meal! I’m going to sleep great tonight with all that I ate. THANKS so much to Shivers and BAM for being wonderful hosts!!!
So this will be my final leg of the summer. I should finish up and be in CANADA in four days the evening of the 15th. There is much rain in the forecast and I’m just hoping it doesn’t slow me too much. Most of tomorrow should be ok, so I hope to make it over Mt Mansfield (highest in Vermont) before the rains start and maybe get a view. It looks like it should at least clear up for my final day. I had a great streak of clear days, so I can’t complain. I think it’s a fitting way to end the summer. Watch out, here comes VERMUD…
