Agile Trekker: VT Appalachian Trail - Section 9 MA Section 1- Beaver Pond to Massachusetts Ave.

Date	Distance	Time	Elevation Gain	Average Moving Time	Year to Date Miles
05/26/2018	9.6 miles

Map: New Hampshire-Vermont Appalachian Trail Guide
Parking: Parked car at VT Route 9, and got a shuttle to Massachusetts Ave.
Directions: Hike northbound

Glen and I are trying to finish the Vermont section of the Appalachian Trail this year. Glen is not fond of backpacking, but I persuaded him to do this piece as an overnight backpack. We got a shuttle from Silvia Cassano, who we had used last year for a shuttle as well. I recommend her for anyone needing a shuttle in the Bennington area. Last year we finished the Massachusetts section of the AT, hiking to the MA/VT border. There is no road crossing near the border, so this year we had to start again in North Adams, MA and repeat the section to the VT border.

I think my pack weight was around 22 lbs with 2 liters of water & 2 days of food. That isn't a bad weight. It feels heavy to me, but I did okay. It was a hot humid day - 85 degrees.

We hiked to the MA/VT border, and took a break there. There is a big sign saying that it's the start of the Long Trail (the AT and Long Trail overlap for around 100 miles). While sitting there, we struck up a conversation with another couple of hikers taking a break - Tagalong & Buck. They are day hiking the AT, which is very similar to what we've been doing. Other than a few short overnights, all of our hikes have been day hikes so far. They just started and are up to 300 miles. They were really excited to talk to us and ask us questions, since it is unusual for people to do it this way. They are also from NY state, and have been focusing on hikes close to home. I suggested to them that they slackpack Georgia - that is how we got inspired to hike the whole trail.

We continued on to the Seth Warner shelter. We've read in multiple places that the site is noisy - due to ATV drivers racing around on nearby trails shooting guns. Yep. Sometimes until 2 am. We met a man named Buckle who was staying there. I wanted a quiet night's sleep, so we just stopped & filtered water (to the sound of ATV's and gunshots) and decided to continue on.

Silvia had told us there was a stealth site on top of a mountain that could be an option. We got up there, and decided against it, as there was a chance of a thunderstorm that night, and I didn't want to be sleeping in a high spot during it. Thunderstorms freak me out. We saw on Guthook that there was another stealth site further down the trail next to a beaver pond. We met some people on the way - they mentioned the site by the beaver pond was already being used. Ack. So we kept a lookout for other sites. There weren't any. We arrived at the beaver pond. Glen didn't want to hike any further - he was beat. We talked to the folks already camping there and walked around a lot trying to find a spot to put our tent. The only place we could come up with was a bare spot of ground just 5 feet off the trail. It wasn't ideal, but it would have to do. Our tent barely fit there.

The beaver pond was really scenic. And we saw multiple beavers swimming around. Normally they seem to be elusive, but at this pond they were easy to spot. The bugs were bad - turns out mid-May to mid-June is black fly season in Vermont. Ack. And being near water, the bugs were probably extra bad. We ate quickly and hid out in our tent to get away from them. The other couple was hanging out outside - not sure how other people cope with bugs. We have head nets. We used Natrapel, which doesn't contain deet, but is supposed to be quite effective. It felt too warm to sleep at first. And the ironic thing - it was very noisy sleeping next to the pond. I'm not sure if it was just crickets, or crickets and peepers. But they were loud enough to keep me awake even though I wore earplugs. I'm a very light sleeper - so I have a hell of a time sleeping on backpacking trips. I spoke to Buckle the next day - he said it was actually quiet at the shelter that we skipped due to the ATV's! Ha!