This morning I woke up at the room around 6 AM. I didn’t get all of my writing and video work done last night. So I promised myself I would actually get up early to do it this morning. I’m the only person here keeping myself in check now. No one else is going to wake me up or get me going. But I manage just fine on my own, as you can imagine.
I got up and got packed. Then did some writing and video work and ate some leftover Chinese food for breakfast. I was impressed that I got moving very quickly. Then just after 7 AM I left the motel and began walking back to the trailhead. It was about a mile and a half to get back to where the trail picked up. But I decided to stick my thumb out to try to save myself the 20 to 30 minute walk. And lo and behold a car pulled over almost immediately.
This adorable bridge brings you out of Williamstown and back into the woods.
The guy inside was named Andre and he was super nice. It seemed like he was definitely on his way to work but stopped off to pick me up anyway. The road was short, but I talked to Andre for a bit. He was shocked to hear where I’d come from earlier this year. Then he dropped me off at the trailhead and I got moving.
It was a really nice morning and the weather was fantastic. The morning began with a fairly gradual climb, following along a river for a while. Then after another mile or so I entered it into the infamous rock garden. One of the final segments of Massachusetts, which is just a giant boulder field you have to climb through. The boulder field also generally goes uphill. I think boulders are easier to climb uphill than downhill. It did rain last night though so everything was slick which made things a bit slow going.
The Rock Garden!
I got through the boulder field and then got on top of a ridge. The trail became a lot easier after that which was nice. I used my opportunity with some service to upload the last of my content for the day. Even though I didn’t spend a ton of time in town last night, I still feel like I was very productive with my time. And that’s always a good feeling.
Getting close to the next state along the Appalachian trail.
After walking for an hour or two, I caught up to Sunflower who I met yesterday. Yesterday she got a ride back to her car and she sleeps in her car and then does day hikes on the Appalachian Trail. So she got going before me this morning and I’m just now catching up to her. We walked together for the next hour or so and talked. She’s a super nice lady and it was great to have the company. While the two of us were together, we crossed out of Massachusetts and in into Vermont! The 14th state that I’ve hiked through this year.
Welcome to Vermont!
After a while, the trail began to climb and I picked up the pace a little bit. Then Sunflower fell behind and I didn’t wind up seeing her again for the day. Over the course of the day I did see a ton of section hikers. Pretty much every single one I saw was going southbound though. I kind of wonder why that is. One guy was super nice and his name was Gazer . He hiked the Appalachian Trail in 2003 and he actually knows my friend TABA. It was cool to talk to him for a little bit and he had some really nice supportive and motivational words for me moving forward.
I loved this stretch of lush green trail.
At times, the trail was flooded and had a lot of mud. On the bright side, I was definitely expecting this from the great state of Vermont. Though it definitely wasn’t as bad as I remembered. It’s only just beginning I guess though. It’ll be interesting to see how it goes. The mud and water definitely did slow me down a bit. I was just trying to keep my feet dry for as long as I could. There wasn’t enough water to rationalize soaking my feet just yet. But at the same time, avoiding getting my feet lot was becoming time-consuming.
In the early afternoon, I got a call from Iceman, letting me know that he had gone looking for my pendant! Iceman is an absolute saint, and it was so incredibly kind of him to do that. But unfortunately, he had no luck and wasn’t able to find it. A few people have gone out now searching with or without metal detectors looking for my pendant. I’m so incredibly grateful to everyone who has wanted to help me in that way. It really means the most to me that you guys are so supportive and care so much. To think that anyone would take time out of their day to go look for something strictly because it’s sentimental to me, is unbelievable. It just makes my heart feel so full and I feel so blessed and so loved.
Today felt incredibly variable. I got to see so many faces of the AT and its terrain in a 30+ mile segment.
When I talked to Iceman, he also let me know that he was going to be coming out to meet me! There was a road about 18 miles into the day. Hopefully I would be getting there around 2 PM so long as the terrain didn’t slow me down too much. Knowing he was going to be there definitely put a pep in my step though. And I found that the last hour or so leading up to the road was a bit easier.
The last half mile or so heading down to route nine was quite deep with a lot of rock steps. But honestly, it was a lot better than I remembered. I had worked up a lot in my head and was pleasantly surprised by what actually unfolded. Then when I got down to the road, Iceman was set up there waiting for me! It was so great to see him again and this is such a delightful surprise. When I leave this road there is going to have a 10 mile climb, so I’m excited to be able to fuel up.
I sat there and hung out with Iceman for a while talking. He served me hotdogs with all the fixings, potato salad, and a Mountain Dew. It was so nice to take a break and get a ton of calories in. It was also just great to sit and talk with Iceman. He is truly one of the nicest people I’ve ever met. And there is no such thing as a bad time for a friend to stop by along the trail. Even though I knew he was coming it still feels like a surprise.
Iceman! It was so great to meet him for lunch today.
I still had about 15 miles remaining for the day after that. So unfortunately, I couldn’t stay too long. Around 2:45 PM I began getting ready to head out. I filled me up on water and then I said goodbye. Even though I knew Iceman was coming, it still felt like a wonderful surprise!
The next couple miles were definitely the steepest part of the 10 mile climb. Maybe other than the last mile toward the top with the fire tower. I was feeling really good, strong, and energized. Honestly it was an all around wonderful day.
Crossing the bridge after Route 9, where you can go into Bennington.
But then things took a really strange turn. I would like to preface this by saying, I am completely all right, both physically and mentally. But what unfolded in the next half hour was truly chaotic and something I never would have predicted.
Around this time I was passing the spur trail to a shelter. I decided to pop over there and see if there was a privy. As I walked down the spur trail I couldn’t see directly toward the shelter initially. Then when I got closer I noticed someone sitting at the picnic table out front. The guy was wearing some blaze orange and appeared to be perhaps a hunter. When he first saw me, he signaled some kind of hand motions at me. My initial reaction was that he was doing something hunting related and I was interfering with it. I was pretty confused and kind of just froze where I was.
I remembered these cool rocks, which the trail passes between.
I was about 20 to 30 feet away from the man. Initially I was caught off guard and a bit confused. I thought he was just some regular dude and was trying to logically make sense of the situation. Though the more he spoke and gestured, I began to make realizations. After a moment I realized that he was actually gesturing for me to come toward him with his hand.
All of a sudden he started saying “Come here. Come here.” He said a few other things and was basically just trying to get me to approach him. I was a little confused and stayed where I was. I took one of my headphones out and asked him what he was saying and what he wanted. He reiterated that he wanted me to come toward him. That’s when things got super weird. All of a sudden he said something along the lines of “Please come here, I need your help. Someone’s trying to poison me. “
When I heard those words come out of his mouth, they set off immediate alarm bells for me. I can’t speak for anyone else, but to me that sentence indicated that this man was either mentally unstable or under the influence of drugs.
A tree covered in dark mushrooms.
And if it wasn’t either of those things, then it just sounded like he was trying to lure me over to him and possibly harm me. As soon as I heard him say this sentence I turned around and started running back to the trail. I can still remember the tone in which he spoke as well. It was the causal nature of his words which filled me with fear. He wasn’t panicked or frenzied. He was so incredibly calm. And thats when things got even scarier.
When I started running, he began screaming at me telling me to stop, come back, and to come over to him. It was absolutely terrifying, and I only looked back once just to see if he was following after me. But it was really hard to tell because the shelter was slightly up on a hill. So after only 10 or so feet of descending, I really could no longer see the man at the shelter.
At this point, I really didn’t care whether or not he was following me. I knew I just had to get out of there as quickly as I could. I darted back to the trail and decided to go into the woods a little bit sooner than the spur trail. My hope was that by darting into the woods sooner, the man wouldn’t be able to see whether or not I headed north or south. If I continued down the spur trail and he was behind me, then he probably would have been able to see that I turned right to continue north.
At this point in time, my entire body was flooded with adrenaline and my face and neck had that flushed hot sensation that you truly only get when you’re afraid for your life. I felt sick to my stomach and just started running down the trail as fast as I could. Vermont has tons of rocks and roots. There was mud all over the trail. I was running and jumping over things and praying that I didn’t trip and fall. I just kept running for as long as I physically could and just and looked back every now and then to see if he was there.
I passed by this pond and across this foot bridge earlier in the day.
It was hard to balance looking back for comfort and also not looking back to keep myself moving. I was worried that if he was following me that he would definitely be able to catch me. You can’t run that fast with a backpack on. So some part of me kind of wanted to stop and hide. Another part of me just wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible.
While I was running, of course, the only thing flashing through my mind were all of the terrifying stories that I’ve heard over the course of my entire life. I ran for maybe a half mile or so until I was fairly convinced that he wasn’t behind me. Or at least he wasn’t directly behind me. When I looked back, I couldn’t see him and I couldn’t hear anything. But obviously some part of me was still pretty convinced that he was behind me somewhere.
Now this is a solid rock hop! I loved how symmetrical it was.
At this point in time I checked to see if I had service and I decided to call my dad. I figured if I told the police no one was going to be able to get to me quickly anyway. Plus from my experience dealing with police I wasn’t very confident that it was the best phone call to make.
Thankfully my dad answered and I immediately tried to calm him down before explaining the situation. Then gave him all of the details as to what had happened. I had him to write down the name of the shelter that this happened at. He also wrote down the name of the next shelter I would be passing and the shelter that I planned to camp out for the night. I was hoping that he would call the state police and report this because even if I wasn’t necessarily concerned for myself, I was pretty concerned that this guy was still out there.
It really helped me to be on the phone with my dad while I continued to jog down the trail. And just to remind you, this section of the trail was entirely uphill. So I was running on and off for about a half an hour on a climb. I don’t run! When you’re hiking, you’re really just doing the one thing. So by the time my adrenaline wore off I was absolutely exhausted. Physically, mentally, everything. My dad wound up calling the state police and reported everything. He gave my information so that someone could get in touch with me if they needed to. And then by the time I was a couple miles away, I felt relatively safe
At one point though, all of a sudden I heard someone right near me. I turned around to luckily see a trail runner. At first, I was still kind of scared because part of me was worried that it might somehow be the guy. Even though he didn’t look like him, and the other guy had been much older. I was just so shaken up from the situation that anything would’ve scared me. I kind of yelled at this kid and was trying to tell him what has happened. In the end, I just kind of scared him. But he wound up being very understanding. Obviously the situation was very frightening for me and had put me on edge. But, this guy who is trail running said he hadn’t seen anyone the entire time since the highway. Which meant that if this man hadn’t following me, he didn’t follow for long. He had clearly turned back and gone to the shelter.
By this point I felt way better and was finally starting to calm down. Coincidentally around this time, Fresh Ground called me, and I filled him in on everything. Then had to end the conversation short because someone from the Forrest service was calling me. This guy was super nice and had been given my information from the state police. He was personally going to go out to the shelter to see what was going on. Which I was really grateful for because that situation was terrifying.
A small pond just off the trail.
I really don’t want another hiker to have to go through what I just went through. And honestly, I’m worried that another hiker might not run away and might get lured in by this guy. If fight or flight hadn’t kicked in for me I don’t know what would’ve happened back there. That could’ve been a really dark situation.
Things calmed down after this, and the rest of the early evening was pretty chill. I talked to Sparkle on the phone who was pretty glad that I didn’t get murdered by some random guy in the woods. Then I just continued making my way up the climb toward the next shelter and the fire tower after.
I couldn’t even photograph the worst of the snow, because I had to be cautious as I walked. I was post holing like crazy.
The climb up to the Goddard shelter wasn’t so bad. It was pretty gradual the entire time until the last mile or so. But as I got higher, I began walking through patches of snow. At first, they were just short and sweet, but they became more frequent. I had the feeling that this was going to continue as I climbed further up.
Right before that next shelter I filled up on water. There were no recent comments on the spring near the Kid Gore shelter. And the trail was mostly downhill to there. I figured I would just fill up so I didn’t have to worry about it. When I passed the Goddard shelter, I saw one of the most classic things you see on the Appalachian Trail. Someone was set up inside the shelter with their whole tent set up. That is one of those classic novice hiker themes. This time of year there aren’t even any bugs so there’s really no reason to do that. If you aren’t familiar with shelters and trail etiquette, it is very much so not appropriate to set up your tent inside the shelter.
Luckily, I wasn’t planning on stopping off there. If I had been staying there for the night, I certainly would’ve told them to break down their tent and get into the shelter like a normal person. Tents take up a lot more room and make it a lot more uncomfortable for everyone else involved. I was just hoping there wasn’t anything ridiculous going on at the Kid Gore shelter.
When I passed the Goddard shelter, the snow really picked up. I was walking on 1-2 feet of snow all the way up to the fire tower. The snow continued after that and actually got a lot worse. Some areas had snow which was 3 to 4 feet deep, but was beginning to melt. Because of this, every now and then my foot would slip deep into the snow and post hole. I bruised up my shins and cut them up as well. This can be pretty dangerous and you could definitely risk rolling an ankle or breaking something if your foot sinks in at a strange angle. Or also if your foot sinks in and there’s something beneath it.
The next mile or two continued on like that. I was cold and my feet were soaking wet pretty quickly. I had to be really careful and watch my stuff and even still I was post holing constantly. This was not an ideal way to end the day. When I had left the Goddard shelter, I only had another four so miles left for the day. But at this rate, I was not going to be finishing quickly.
I just kept praying that it would get better at some point. Every now and then the snow would thin out and the trail would just turn into a deep river. The water was so cold. My feet were freezing and soaking wet. And then I would round another corner and the snow would pick up again. There were also a lot of downed trees which I had to maneuver around. All in all it was just the worst case scenario to end this day. Today has been exhausting enough emotionally. So finishing it on some aggravating terrain was not what I had in mind.
There were moments where the snow got a lot better and moments where there was no snow at all. That was awesome and allowed me to make better time briefly. Originally I had thought I was going to get to the Kid Gore shelter maybe around 7:40 PM. But now it was clear that I was definitely going to get there right as it got dark or just after dark.
Typically, I want shelters to be empty when I arrive at them. But tonight, I really wasn’t sure how I felt. Some part of me would’ve probably enjoyed seeing people at the shelter. Just because of the chaos that happened earlier today. But at the same time, I think it might almost be safer and easier to have the shelter be empty. I’ll just have to see how it goes.
I was able to pick up the pace a little bit, which helped with time. Now it looks like I would be getting to the shelter just as it got dark. In the forest, I would probably need a headlamp, but it wouldn’t be pitch black. Plus, as of now I wasn’t worried about running into any weirdos. There’s no chance that some crazy person is hiking in 15 miles from a road through snow and other conditions.
It was just after 8 PM when I arrived at the Kid Gore shelter. And I was utterly shocked to find that it was empty. I was also pretty friggin happy about it. Then I didn’t have to worry about squeezing in next to anyone. Or talking to anyone. I could just decompress, record my end of the day video, and do everything I had to do. I was absolutely starving at this point but wanted to get set up in the shelter first. Then I just ate some snacks and got a little bit of video work in writing done before going to bed. I think I’m going to sleep like a rock tonight. I exerted myself a lot today physically and mentally. I’m excited to have a shorter day tomorrow and hopefully get some much-needed rest.
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