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September 14th, 2021: Middlebury Snow Bowl to Lincoln Gap Road (18.7 miles, 4,623 ft elevation gain)
The trail can be cruel, unforgiving, messy, and difficult. I understand why people look at long-distance hikers strangely (quite frankly, they are a strange bunch). Why would you subject yourself to such punishment? The injuries? The solitude? I often ask myself this when I am going double-digit miles carrying a 30 lb pack for miles.
I think this image is worth all the words I could write answering that question.
It was a beautiful sunrise. While I was soaking it all in, I got some bad weather news. It appeared that a massive storm was scheduled to arrive in the area by tonight. Looking at a forecast that called for lightning, hail, and massive amounts of rainfall.
Making the situation even worse, I was heading towards my next big mountain. At over 4,000 ft, Camel’s Hump was Vermont’s third-tallest mountain, and notorious for being a really tricky climb. I considered my options as I packed. My tent was storm-worthy for sure, I had survived through some pretty bad rainstorms in the past, so I knew I could do it; however, I had never been through hail, and with reports of the intensity of the storms, I knew that a shelter would be my best bet.
I made the decision to try for Cooley Glen Shelter. It was approximately 14 miles ahead. I had no idea what I was going to do if the storm lasted for longer than a night, though. I knew risking the climb up Camel’s Hump in a rainstorm was not going to happen, but I could not take any more days off with my timeline.
Sitting around worrying about it wouldn’t solve anything, so I headed off. Descending the ski lifts toward Lake Pleid. A few miles in, I reached Boyce Shelter and realized that I had just passed the official halfway point of the Long Trail, so that was fun.
Picking up my pace to try to make good time, I continued on; I didn’t pass too many hikers. I wondered if they were getting off trail due to the impending storms, and that made me wonder if I should.
Eventually, after many miles, I made it to Cooley Glen Shelter and found that it was undergoing construction. The crews were completely renovating it, so it was uninhabitable for the time being. Folks, this is where I learned another valuable lesson: always check the comments section on Guthooks (now Far Out), had I done that, I would have known and could have planned accordingly.
I weighed my options; I still had a few hours of daylight, and the Battell Shelter was 7 miles ahead. Another thing I considered was whether I knew about the storms; everyone else on the trail did as well, and they would be going to the shelters, too. I raced out of Cooley Glen. I passed by two hikers who had more bad news for me; they had come from the Battell shelter, and they said it was full. Not knowing what to do, I quickly continued over Sunset Ledge and towards Lincoln Gap Road.
Climbing down towards Lincoln Gap, I tweaked my ankle. It wasn’t a serious injury, but it was in a good amount of pain. It was around this point that I saw the writing on the wall for my trip. A big storm was coming; I was still a few miles and a big climb away from the shelter. I was in a lot of pain, the clouds were getting thicker, and I was mentally exhausted. If I were to get off trail and ride out the storm, I wouldn’t be able to finish my hike by my deadline. I still had over 100 miles to go, and I was not going to push myself to the extreme to make it. As I limped down to the parking lot of Lincoln Gap Road, I made the difficult decision to get off the trail and end my hike.
A generous couple saw me and must have known I was in bad shape; they gave me a ride to the nearest hotel. They dropped me off at the hotel; I checked in and told my family and friends what I was doing.
I had so many thoughts going through my head, a lot sad, but a part of me was happy too. Those thoughts are probably left for a different post. As for right now, I just wanted a hot shower and a good night’s sleep.
Previously: Long Trail: Day 10 (David Logan Shelter to Middlebury Snow Bowl)