Kid Gore Shelter

Once I opened my eyes and saw light, I jumped out of bed. I thing we hit the trail by 6:30am. I am sure I fell asleep before it was dark and sometime in the middle of the night I was awoken by the conversation of the thru-hikers. It was fun to listen in on the dialog going on between them.

Here are a few things I learned:
- NOBO = Northbound
- SOBO = Southbound
- LT = Long Trail
- AT = Appalachian Trail
- Slackpacking = hiking without your pack and having your pack moved ahead for you
- Birdcage = Rob's home in Dalton, MA where he puts up thru-hikers (room, shelter, food, etc..) all for free. You have to go to the Shell Station and ask for Rob.
- Taking a Zero = no miles hiked that day
- 4 state challenge = Start in Virginia, head into West Virginia, then Maryland, then Pennsylvania, all in one 24 hour period. It is something like 45 miles.
- 1/2 gallon challenge = Not sure what this is but it has something to do with ice cream.
- Through Connecticut, Pennsylvania, etc... you can eat from delis a lot and only pack 1-2 days of food at a time.
....Anyway, it was fun to listen and learn.

The morning hike was great. Harmon Hill had raspberries on top. The hike down the hill was tough. Basically a big stone staircase. When we finally made it out I unloaded my tent and other extraneous gear before saying bye to Pop. Rich Congdon was going to pick him up after church.

It was sad saying bye to Pop but hitting the trail hard felt good. The first mile was tough (about 1000ft in that first mile). The rest of the morning and early afternoon continued the theme of up, up, up. I had a strong mental day for the most part. I kept myself motivated and strong. It was great to finally make it to Goddard Shelter (10 miles in from VT-9) an then Glastenbury Peak. On the peak was this old fire tower which you could climb up and get above the trees.... beautiful, absolutely beautiful.



The hike down to Kid Gore was tough on me though. 4 miles down and my feet had had enough. My left foot's metatarsals started feeling sore and it made me nervous. By the time I made it to the shelter I was starting to loose the mental game. I was happy to see Connie when I arrived. There was also a group of 12 or so kids who are doing a wilderness survival/leadership trip for kids with diabetes. It took me a while for my legs to recover but I can finally walk. It was a lot of fun to sit at the picnic table and chat with Connie and John (new). They are both retirees and are NOBO on the LT. I am impressed with them and am jealous too. John is 60 and has retired from his career as a school teacher. I also learned that Connie was able to retire at 48 with her house paid off and enough $ to retire! Congrats to her!

Anyway, all in all a great day. 18.x miles and tonight I am sleeping in the hammock. Tomorrow looks like it will need to be either 15 or 20 miles. It will be another tough one.

Trail names I have heard:
- Tina Dean
- Faithful
- Danger Mouse
- Stickman
- The Breeze
- Dr. Ninja
- ... and many others

It seems for a lot of people there is a tradition of having someone else give you your trail name. I am going to use the trail name Squeakers until I am given another.