Temple of Doom

Day: 126 (July 29)
Starting location: Greenwall Shelter
Ending location: Governor Clement Shelter
State: VT
Miles today: 14.6
Miles total: 1,680.6

There was a 70% chance of rain & thunderstorms last night so we decided to stay in the shelter. We definitely made the right decison because a big thunderstorm came roling through around 2:30am. Recently we both traded out our iPods for radios. We had begun to get really sick of the songs on our iPods and we both like getting the local weather reports on the radio.

We didn't get started until around 8:30am since we knew we had a shorter day. Today we were lucky enough to have a restaurant that was just .5 miles off the trail. We rarely turn down a place to eat if it is less than a mile off the trail. We arrived at the roadcrossing around 12:30pm and walked the shoulder of the road to the restaurant called The Whistle Stop. We both got our fill on food and soda and also got an ice cream sundae from a place next to the restaurant. I got Maine Blueberry and Kristen got Moose tracks. We are both trying to keep a good mojo going for Maine and seeing a moose.

After lunch we got back on the trail and ran into a trail maintenance crew. The entire AT is maintained by many different trail maintenance groups from each state. Almost all the groups consist entirely of volunteers and we always thank them for all their help and work everytime we see them. If it wasn't for them we would be doing a lot more bushwhacking. Anyway, one of the crew members asked us to carry a small stuffed animal moose with a note inside to another trail maintenance 20 miles north. We were happy to do it but talk about "snail mail". We won't get it to them for another 2 days.

On a side note, I spit on myself again today. Yes I said spit. Our mouth gets so dry sometimes that we try to spit but it doesn't go very far and ends up on our shoe, leg, or chin. Everytime this happens I just shake my head and wipe it off. If I am really tired I may just let it dry. I am not sure why I am talking about this but to descibe the small quirks about being on the AT.




This bridge reminded us of Indiana Jones Temple of Doom. Kristen is going to cut the bridge and we are going to fall into a river of crocs.




What is for supper?

Conan + Backwards