Day 71

Day 71: 17 miles

Today was probably the hardest 17 miles I’ve hiked so far, not because of elevation gain or weather but just because there was no trail to follow. I really thought more people would get out and hike the long trail in the winter but that is not the case. There are no footprints to follow and there are rarely blazes on trees that are visible. This makes following an alleged “trail” nearly impossible cause all the snow looks the same and it could feasibly be going anywhere under these 4 feet of snow.

Throughout the day I was postholing fairly frequently. I would be walking and suddenly fall down 3 feet. The only thing that stopped me from falling farther was my other leg jamming in the snow. I probably did this or postholed and collapsed forward on my knees at least 20 times today. I even managed to hit myself in the face with a trekking pole recoil one time and Seppuku myself another time when I fell with my trekking pole in front of me. I bent my new pole 4-5 times today when I fell. I tried to bend it back several times but it did not go too well. My poles also became somewhat useless as they would just slide into the snow with no leverage as I tried to use them.

At times today when I knew I was supposed to be going uphill I would just climb as vertically as possible since I had no idea where the trail was to try to save some time rather than checking my gps constantly which was the case most of the day. I can deal with postholing even though it frustrates me, but this lack of a trail to follow is not sustainable for the mileages I need to maintain.

The one highlight of the day was Glastonbury fire tower.

Massachusetts had locks on most of the privies but Vermont has natural locks on most of theirs. Most have at least a foot of snow and ice in front of the door so you’re not gonna get that bad boy open.

As I type this there is an extremely annoying owl near the shelter I am at. Thankfully I’m exhausted so falling asleep for the few hours I’ll get shouldn’t be too hard.

Song of the day: till forever falls apart-ashe