Agile Trekker: VT Appalachian Trail - Section 8 - Story Spring Shelter to Goddard Shelter

Date	Distance	Time	Elevation Gain	Average Moving Time	Year to Date Miles
5/28/2017	8.9 miles

Map and Guide Book: New Hampshire-Vermont Appalachian Trail Guide
Parking: We got a shuttle to Stratton Arlington Road and left our car at Route 9.
Directions: Story Spring Shelter to Goddard Shelter

I was actually warm enough last night! In the morning, we weren't the first ones out, but we weren't the last ones out either. We sat at the picnic table to eat our breakfast. For some reason I love the sound of my JetBoil. I made Starbucks Via coffee (and I don't even like Starbucks) with Nido milk powder and it tasted great. Everything still feels new and slow. Most of the people we camped with were going northbound, opposite of us. We woke up much earlier than we would at home on a weekend, or even a weekday.

On today's hike, we saw a lot of people with bug nets. We don't have bug nets. Vermont is not only muddy but buggy. We ordered bug head nets after this trip :)

We stopped and ate lunch at the Kid Gore shelter. This shelter has a great view! It seemed like it only had 2 tent sites, but those tent sites also had a great view. We ate dehydrated hummus (surprisingly good) with Fritos (which we are still not sick of).

The highlight of today was the Glastenbury Mountain fire tower. Only 4 people can climb it at once. I'm not a fan of climbing fire towers, but there was no view unless you climbed it. The view at the top was fantastic! Even Glen climbed it, and he has vertigo. The Goddard shelter was not far past the fire tower.

Due to waking up early with the sun/birds, we arrived at the Goddard shelter so early! We spent some time trying to decide what to do. We aren't used to carrying heavy loads, so it is better to stop early. But would we be bored? Plus, the weather is supposed to be bad tomorrow, so pushing on would be good. But the next shelter was nearly 9 miles away. We decided to stay. We walked around trying to find all the tent spots. There were 3 tents already set up by people who looked like non-AT hikers. I was worried they'd be too noisy. We thought we found a flat spot, but it really wasn't! We set up our tent, taking forever. We also took forever trying to find the perfect tree to hang our bear bag on. I found the tree, Glen threw the rope.

We went to the shelter to cook, again wondering if this was a no-no due to bears, but it seems that people DO cook in shelters. We spent the afternoon talking to a thru hiker. Later on an older couple came in to cook as well. I loved talking to them. Seeing couples that are older than us thru hiking is so inspiring. I'm not looking to thru hike, but I would like to keep hiking with Glen for many years to come. I like to see what gear everyone has as well.

After we were all settled in for bed, I came to discover that our Dr. Bronner's soap eye dropper bottle was still in my backpack. Ugh. Glen had to bring the bear bag down and hang our soap. It is NOT unscented. After this trip, I ordered unscented soap. But I heard the bear hanging out at the Fingerboard Shelter in Harriman, actually went for someone's unscented soap!

We were hiking higher up, and as a result I was colder at night. Still trying to figure out how to regulate my temperature better. I tried my new silicone ear plugs, and still found them uncomfortable. They stuck to my hair, stuck to my stuff sack, etc. The good news - only one nighttime potty! Woohoo. And no tripping over guy lines. And our neighbors were all quiet at night.