Temperatures pushed a bit higher today. Uphill, downhill, or flat: all lead to profuse sweating. Luckily, there are still plenty of swimming opportunities. I took a dip in a lake around lunchtime. Then, trail magic! A guy named Phil was parked with his truck on a gravel road with coolers of beer, soda, and Gatorade. For food, there was fruit, chips, pastries, and other goodies. He also had a grill and made some delicious taquitos. He has a construction company in Syracuse but drives out for 4 days twice a year. Phil sleeps in the truck at night as spends the rest of the time cooking for hikers and getting them drunk. While the beer was tempting, my recent stomach bug and the general heat dissuaded me, especially with 8 miles to go.
The rest of the day was fairly uneventful, until I met Tuna! He stopped in at the shelter at the end of the day. Tuna is currently attempting to break the unsupported speed record for the Long Trail, which runs through Vermont from Massachusetts to Canada for 275 miles. He is 5.5 days into his trip and has already done 215 miles, sleeping only a few hours per night. He has 24 hours to do the last 60 miles, meaning that he’ll hike through the night and all through tomorrow, needing to average about 3 miles per hour (I can do 3 mph on flat, completely clear terrain – not what he’ll encounter). I offered to get him water or cook, but “unsupported” means you start on day 1 with everything needed for the hike and accept zero help of any kind along the way.
Just as he was about to leave, the downpour came. He laughed, said goodbye, and trotted off into the darkness, headlamp lighting the way.
Trails And Travels 