Back on the trail

So, we are back on the Long Trail, finishing off the sections we have not yet walked with the goal of completing the LT by the end of the summer in the 100th year of its existence.


As we are 'sectioning' the LT, we decided to knock off the very first one, the MA-VT border to Rte 9 in Bennington. We dropped one car at Rte 9, and then the other, walked in, set up our tent and then walked 2.9 miles south to the actual state border. Like any border, you wouldn't know the difference if it weren't marked. So here we look into MA.


Do a 180º turn and you now look into Vermont, aka, Vermud. The sign clearly is new.


Proof that we were there.


The turn-off to the Seth Warner shelter has seen better days.


Beavers lead a very active life in this neck of the woods. This is the first of three beaver ponds we passed in 14.5 miles.


Note the beaver dam across the top of the photo. Woe if it were to break; the trail passes below it.


Different pond, same sort of builders. Note that we stand on puncheons below the water level. The beavers had chewed out the previous puncheons so the Green Mountain Club (of which we are members) simply put new ones over the old ones.


Two-thirds of this section could be walked on puncheons because it is so muddy underfoot. We met one hiker, 'Olive Oil,' whose boots have had it which means she is walking in mud all day long. I hope she doesn't have trench foot.


The first 105 miles of the LT overlap the Appalachian Trail so the cover to Bill Bryson's book, A Walk in the Woods, could have been this sight.


The sign at Harmond Hill helpfully informs the hiker how many miles there are to the US/Canadian border or Mt Katahdin in Maine. For the AT through-hikers, they now have walked three-quarters of the whole trail and for them, the end is in sight... sort of. [Click to embiggen.]


Someone left two of these chairs up on the hill so we sat in them while we had lunch and enjoyed the view overlooking Bennington as well as the wild raspberries nearby.


The descent down to Rte 9 starts out innocently enough but soon devolves into this...


and this...

granite stairs that go on for 0.9 miles down. It's an impressive descent and hard on the knees.