A salute to the trail maintenance crews in VT
Since we found out Bunny’s boots were at the P.O., a wrench was thrown in our plans. This is the third time on this trip that FedEx has lied about deliveries. I will never voluntarily use them ever again. Nothing pisses me off more than being lied to. It turned out to not be too big of a deal when Max agreed to take us by the post office on the way to dropping us off at the trailhead.
After exchanging Bunny’s boots and mailing a little crap home, we swung back by the hotel to pick up Bear, Ass, and Sassy. Mud Bug texted us that she was trying to hitch a ride to the trail and would be just a few minutes behind us. Round About has decided to not return to the trail because her Achilles’ tendon was hurting too bad. She was already planning to get off in less than 3 weeks to go to NC with her son and grandkids. We will miss her. She was fun to hang around and was always happy.
Today marked several milestones for us. 1) We have officially hiked more miles this year than we did on all of the combined trails we hiked in Europe last year. 2) We passed the 1600 mile mark on the AT which means we are below 600 miles from finishing. 3) We entered our 12th State, Vermont. We have high hopes for Vermont as we will be getting into “real” mountains once again. We are hoping for cooler temperatures and fewer bugs at higher elevations.
That was the hope. The reality is that Vermont sucks. I know we have only hiked 11 miles of the state today so it’s probably not fair to judge the entire state by our limited exposure, but I stand wholeheartedly behind my assessment. Vermont sucks. It’s a bigger letdown than Damascus was to us.
Our Vermont experience is comparable to the Trump/Bush effect. Trump sucks so bad that everyone I know looks back on W with fond memories. His popularity has never been higher. New Jersey’s and New York’s polling numbers are already skyrocketing thanks to Vermont being so crappy.
So what’s wrong with Vermud, Versucks, Vermuck, Vershit? Bunny and I have walked close to 4,500 miles of trail since we’ve been together, and this is THE WORST MAINTAINED trail we have ever encountered. Maybe it’s intentional. Maybe they want us to look forward to the Whites of New Hampshire. As Chad the Dad said “Vermont is just another state that’s in the way of Katahdin.”
The long trail is the oldest trail in the USA. It predates the AT by decades. I’m pretty sure the state was pissed off at the idea of the AT and just said “Fine, you can come through our state, but we’re not putting any effort into building the AT or going to do anything to make the experience pleasant. You can use the Long Trail, but the only work we’ll put into it is to make it muddy as hell. Those water drains that most trails have, don’t count on them at all. In fact, we’re going to do everything we can to convert the trail to one giant stream.” They have succeeded beyond their wildest dreams.
We’ve only seen two shelters so far, but they appear to be the oldest and crappiest on the trail. No picnic tables or bear boxes. Level spots around them are minimal. As I’m writing this, I have a giant root running under my sleeping pad. On the plus side, there is a roaring stream outside our tent, so I can count on getting up probably 5 times tonight to pee.
Vermud was expected, but we thought that meant muddy trails, not streams for trails. Bear’s dad was a mountain man, so he used to give Bear advice. “If you ever get lost in the woods, find a trail and follow it down hill. But don’t be a damn fool and walk in the stream, that’ll tear your feet apart.” Someone needs to pass this tidbit along to whoever is supposed to maintain the trail. I say supposed to maintain, because they haven’t walked the trail in years. My guess is that it’s a couple of old guys that are bedridden (or possibly deceased).
For this trail to be so well known around the world and to be this bad is an embarrassment. It has done one thing that’s made Bunny happy beyond belief. It’s made me give up the idea of ever doing a yo-yo from Katahdin. Once I get out of this shithole state, I never want to come back.
Each state has its own character: Georgia: secretly hard and catching newbies off guard and making them quit. North Carolina: holder of the Smokies and the worst managed NP, but also the home to several outstanding balds. Tennessee: wanting to maintain a primitive experience as close to nature as possible. Virginia: flat Virginia, a long but easy state (my ass), well maintained trails with a broad variety of experience, 1/4 of the trail in one state. West Virginia: historical, short, and home to the ATC. Maryland: an under appreciated state that really tries to enhance the experience for thru-hikers. Pennsylvania: aka Rocksylvania, a few rough sections that everyone paints the entire state for, but really one of the easiest states in terms of elevation, and the best shelters. New Jersey: boardwalks and swamps (I forgive it for the miserable heat and bugs). New York: the best maintained trails along the AT, but why so many f’ing puds? Connecticut: gateway to New England, short and underestimated. Massachusetts: the start of individual mountains again, great streams. New Hampshire: the Whites, real climbing after 600 miles of easy going so everyone forgets what it is to put effort into the trail. Maine: the home of Katahdin and the hardest mile on the trail. Vermont: shitty little muddy Vermont. The only state that I can’t imagine going back to.
We did make it to the shelter by 7:15. It took us 10 hours and 3 good breaks to travel the 14 miles. It wasn’t because the climbs were huge although we did climb well over 3000’ today. It was because we foolishly thought we could walk around and pick our way through the mud pits which are called a trail here. Once we accepted this was wasted effort, we picked up speed.
In most states, coming to a level section is a good thing. Not in Versucks. Level means standing water 6” deep with mud a foot deeper. Occasionally, there are stepping rocks to keep you from sinking in. More often, though, there are leaves on top of the mud/water that look like rocks which lure you into stepping…and sinking up to overflowing your boots. The only thing that could make me hate Vermont any more is if Big Agnes was headquartered here.
EFG
Methinks you need to give Vermont a chance. It’s really one of my favorite states on the AT. Beware…all of New England is muddy and rocky and rooty. And Maine is “mossy and moosey” (HDT). And we like it that way!
The running streams in the trail were a bit excessive. VT is growing on us (like moss on a house).