September 9th, 2021: Big Branch Shelter to Clarendon Shelter (16.9 miles)
Waking up before the sun rises is hard in everyday life…waking up when its still pitch black, after a not-so-great night of sleep, packing everything into your pack, and then walking for 8+ hours can make you want to cry. Wearily, I gathered my belongings as quietly as I could, ate a small breakfast, donned my rain gear and headlamp, and set off.
I am not a huge fan of night-hiking, but seeing as I had a schedule to keep, I knew I would have to do it at some points because of how difficult this trail is and how far my destinations were.
One good note is that the massive storm that had beaten against the shelter all night had been replaced by a fog that had settled. Now that might not necessarily seem better, but I’ll hike through some fog over rain any day.
My goal was to make it to the Inn at the Long Trail by tomorrow, and with the first 4,000 foot mountain (Killington) looming, I had to push on. After passing the beautiful and still Little Rock Pond, the trail mostly stayed under tree cover.
Eventually, I made it to an overlook of the Rutland Airport, and immediately after that, was a steep descent down to a suspension bridge. I was now a little over a mile away from my destination for the night (Clarendon Shelter).
The last mile included a 600+ foot rock scramble. I’m not ging to lie to you readers, it was brutal. When I finally made it to the shelter, I sat down, and I could see steam rising from my body. It was the hardest mile I had done on the Long Trail.
It took a while, but I picked a wooden slab in the shelter, and starting getting ready for bed.
A nice thing about Clarendon Shelter is that it it has a huge amount of wood stocked right inside of it. I have never seen that on trail before, so I figured I would try and make a fire. Due to the storm, the wood was wet. I was able to get a fire going, but it was a small one, and it only lasted about an hour.
Either way, it was enough to dry my clothes and boost my spirits. After a hot dinner, I felt a lot better. Exhausted, I went down to a well earned night’s sleep.
Previously: Journey to Big Branch
Tomorrow: Mt. Killington