Once I got to Appalachia, I geared up and was on the trail by 8:40am. It will be 12.5 miles to Camel's Hump.
About a mile into the hike, I found a campsite. Once the tent was somewhat set up, I continued up. I'll finish setting it up when I get back. Little did I know that I wasn't going to be sleeping there tonight.
To get to Camel's Hump, I had to climb over five mountains.
The trail was wet and muddy and there were many bugs. One section I think the moose liked, there was poop everywhere.
The farther I got into the hike, the rougher it got.
I met a man that was heading south. He told me that he was heading to Mass. Cool.
Once I got to Montclair Glen Lodge, it was only 1.7 miles to the summit.
Now the real climbing begins.
Scrambling up many boulders, I was on the summit.
There were great views.
When I tried to eat my peanut butter sandwhich, it was very difficult because I was dehydrated.
When I headed back, I stopped at the Glen Lodge and filtered water. After filtering two liters, I went and got another 2 bottles. When I tried to filter water again, my filter didn't work. Great. So I filled two of them with water and I can boil them to purify them at camp.
It was 4:20pm when I reached the summit. So I tried to go as fast as I could back to camp before dark.
Heading back, I was malnourished and still dehydrated, since I've only eaten a few Snickers bars and half and pb sandwich. I tried to eat the other half of the sandwich but I couldn't.
I was going good on the flats but when I came to a climb, I slowed right down. I had no energy.
I thought I was making good time but halfway back, it was dark, so I put my headlamp on.
Trying to follow the trail, I got lost. I couldn't find any blazes.
I didn't panic. I stood there for about 10 minutes figuring out what I was going to do. I also looked around for any trail markers, none. I have to spend the night here. I'll have to wait here tomorrow and hope that Jenifer called Vermont State Police after 12pm (since that was our plan on my itinerary). It may take all day to find me.
So my first priority was to change my wet cloths. Great, I left my dry cloths at the tent. So I put on my rain pants and rain jacket.
Now what am I going to use for a shelter? I had a black plastic bag in my pack. I use it to cover my pack when I leave it outside the tent. I laid it out on the ground. Then I got my emergency blanket. I've been carrying that for about 15 years and now I'm finally using it.
I put on my headlamp and lit my candle lattern. I grabbed some birch bark and twigs to start a fire. The birch bark lit but the twigs didn't. I tried to place the twigs on the bark as it burned so they would dry out but they didn't.
So now it was bedtime.
I wrapped the emergency blanket around me and laid down. I tried using my wet t-shirt as a pillow but that didn't work. The ground would be my pillow.
I was warm in my little makeshift shelter. I was worried about hypothermia. Every time I got the chills, I would adjust the blanket. I also heard a few noices during the night but it didn't bother me.
I got up around 3am. I looked around for a trail marker and not too far from my shelter, I found a blaze. I slept on the trail, so I wasn't lost. I ate a Pop Tart for breakfast and drank the last of my water. I had water in the truck so I would have to wait until then to have some.
I put away all my gear, put on my headlamp, and I was off at 4:20am. It would be 5 miles back to my campsite and 6 miles back to Vt. 17.
Soon I was dehydrated and malnourished again.
As I was going down the LT, I heard something in front of me. To the left on a stump was a large porcupine. I stopped. I tapped my LEKI's on a rock and it climbed down the stump. It looked at me, then turned around and ran down the trail. As I was hiking down the trail, I almost tripped over the porcupine. He stopped on the trail and I came about a foot from him before I seen it. I took a couple steps back and the porcupine looked at me again. Then it ran down the side of the trail.
Some of the climbs back were tough.
I got back to my campsite and broke it down. Loaded up all my gear and headed to the truck.
A few more climbs on the way and I just didn't have the energy for them.
When I got close to the end of the trail, I could hear cars so I knew I was close.
It was the hardest hike that I've ever done. 25 miles. I learned a lot on this backpack and I will do things differently next time.
