Day 151
Start: Ledge Site on Bear Mountain
End: Cooper Lodge
Miles Hiked: 16.2
Miles on AT: 1701.9
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I woke up this morning to a different sky. Instead of gloom, I could see blue in between fluffy clouds. As I packed up and got back on trail, I listened to a news podcast to occupy my mind. Head down and lost in thought, I suddenly heard a rustle on the trail not 10 feet in front of me. As I looked up, I saw it. A bear on Bear Mountain! The small black figure dashed down the mountain while my heart raced. I guess we both startled each other!
I continued on, looking out for more bears on this aptly-named mountain, but didn’t see any for the rest of the day. I reached a shelter to take a quick snack break and met another hiker named Bad Frodo who was out doing a section. He had hiked the trail before, so we chatted about trail life and making it through the whole thing.
After I moved on, I reached a lookout point with a view of the airport in the valley below. This wasn’t a large airport, but it was cool to have this elevated perspective rather than sitting on the runway. Sadly, no planes came in or out while I sat, but I enjoyed the view anyway.
I was looking forward to stopping at a farm stand just off the trail for lunch, so I put my pack back on my back and kept moving. This farm stand was run by a small local farm and was rumored to have some really good ice cream. That was all that was on my mind as I hiked through the beautiful Vermont hills.
When I finally got there, I was greeted by the wife of the couple that ran the farm. She told me to help myself and left me to enjoy their magical place. They grew flowers and also had what looked like goats roaming their fenced-in yard. I set up under the shaded area where they had a table, chairs, and power strips set up for hikers to use, then headed into the little store room to pick out some goodies.
I got a small loaf of sourdough to eat with my meat and cheese as well as a dehydrated dinner for tonight since I had run out. Sadly, the ice cream was all sold out. Bummer. As I ate my lunch in the shade, two more hikers, Scorpo and Bad Frodo, showed up and kept me company. I could’ve stayed there all afternoon chatting with them, but it was time to move on.
Back on trail, a log book informed me that I was near a big milestone. Only 500 miles left to go! That was still a lot of miles, but I was closer to Katahdin than I had been. All of the log book comments were encouraging, I couldn’t help but feel buoyed by all of our collective excitement. There was even a pile of rocks with names of the states of the AT carved into them.
Around 4:30, I reached a shelter that Scorpo and Bad Frodo were going to stay at, but it just felt too early for me to stop. I could make it to the top of Killington Peak by sunset and stay at Cooper Lodge to catch sunrise in the morning. It sounded like a good idea to me. Bad Frodo and Scorpo thought I was a little crazy for starting a climb this late in the day, but it seemed pretty gradual on the map, so I decided to go for it.
And it really wasn’t that bad. The climb was very mild and gradual with only a few rooty and rocky areas. I got to the top just before sunset and absolutely nobody was there. I felt a little lonely and the sign by the shelter didn’t help. I set up my tent and ate dinner in the dark, the only light coming from my headlamp. I chatted with Janitor while I ate, so I felt a little less lonely, but it was still a bit chilly on the mountain.
When I got into my tent and was ready for bed, I made sure to put on all of my clothes, including my rain jacket. It was going to be a cold one!
And that’s day 151.
A version of this post originally appeared on TheTrek.co.