5.07. I stepped back on the trail at 4:00 PM, passed over the MA/VT state line at 6:00 PM, and walked into the Seth Warner shelter at 7:40 PM. Had the shelter to myself.
5.08. Cold this morning; I couldn't get out of the sleeping bag and didn't leave the shelter until 9:30 AM. Not a good hiking day for me; my old muscles were without energy and I stopped at the Congdon Shelter at 3:00 PM. Two young couples with two dogs walked into the shelter at 5:30 PM. One dog was very friendly, but the other, a large Husky, was very aloof and barked at me from time to time. This behavior continued until everyone went to bed, and I'm thinking, OK when my bladder calls during the night, how do I get past Brutus? Luckily, my bladder did not call.
5.09. I got up at 6:30 AM, packed--with only one warning bark from Brutus--and left. After hiking for about five minutes, I felt something; I don't know how to describe it, but I felt like I was not alone. I turned around and there was Brutus tracking me down the trail, and away from his master. I shooed him back and went on. Another five minutes went by and the same feeling returned; I looked back. He was still there. I shooed him away again and that was the last I saw of him. I don't know if he decided he liked me, or if he was simply escorting me out of the area; probably the latter.
Arrived at Harmon Hill, elevation 2,325 ft. at 7:40 and I noticed a mile marker posted there. 557 miles to Katahdin, but only 252 miles to Canada.
I crossed VT Route 9 at 9:00 AM and the rain began. It takes me about five minutes to switch into rain gear, which I did on the side of the road, and I impusively held out my thumb as an old van approached headed in the direction of Bennington, VT. The van stopped! The driver took me into town and dropped me at a local coffee shop and I had eggs and hash browns with the NY Times. Bennington is another pretty little college town. I walked around the historic district in the rain after breakfast.
This return to civilization weakened my resolve and I pulled out the A.T. guide and perused the listings for a motel in Bennington. The listing for the Knotty Pine Motel said they had a shuttle to take hikers back to the A.T., and I called and verified that before I hiked the 1-1/2 miles to the motel.
I got to the Knotty Pine and I was greeted by Tom Bluto, the owner. We started talking and one thing led to another and I discovered that Tom is a serious yachtsman. He and is wife are leaving in June on their Chris Craft, THE KNOTTY LADY, for a circumnavation of the East Coast, starting north on the St. Lawrence, into the Great Lakes, down the Mississippi River to the Gulf Coast and then back around Florida and up the East Coast to the Hudson River. Small world, huh? He is a nice man and a generous one; I am typing this entry on the computer in his office. Saves me a trip to the library tomorrow. And Mrs. Bluto just stuck her head in the door and said she was fixing me a plate of food from her Mother's Day dinner to take back to the room with me. What can I say? Very nice people.
If you know someone hiking this way, tell them about the Knotty Pine. Very convenient location. There is a diner next door, a McDonalds one block away, and two blocks the other way there is Dunkin Donuts, Wendy's, Walmart and a major grocery store.
My next town stop will be Manchester Center, VT where I have a mail drop. Probably be there Thursday or Friday.
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