Green State – Part 2 – The Walk

06/18/26

Monsoon afternoon!

The morning was fine, but we knew there was a chance of some showers after the rain. Let me point out that, for me, showers are defined as being enough to rinse the shampoo out of Mrs. Acorn’s hair (not mine, since I have very few hairs on my head). What we had this afternoon was a heavy rain, something like Forrest Gump’s “side rain,” accompanied by a VERY strong gale. My raincoat and kilt fought bravely, but never stood a chance.

My brother and I squeezed into camp, only to find the shelter overrun by other hikers and every piece of their wet, muddy clothing hanging from every available nail, peg, rope, and beam. Rat farts!

But it turned out that they were quite a friendly and jovial group. We spent the rest of the afternoon chatting and laughing, even though you got hit in the face with socks and underwear every time you got up.

Then the most incredible thing happened… the rain stopped, the sun came out and the wind dried our equipment. Alleluia! On top of that, all but one of our new friends announced they were setting up their tents, so we had the shelter to ourselves…woohoo! I slept like a baby.

Windy afternoon to dry off overnight, wonderful.

06/19/26

Rainless! Wind!

Camp Pico -windy!! All for us, score!

Cold during the night. A mouse put a hole in my brother’s backpack, only 3 days of tracking, seriously Clark?

Clarendon Gorge – very cool!

Stream crossings!

There are two ways to navigate a stream crossing:

1. Rock jumping or tightrope jumping (my brother, Mike).

2. Go through, balls to the wall! (Me).

06/20/26

7.1 miles

Killington with Tabors!

My good friends drove from the foothills of the ADK (New York) mountains just to meet us in Killington. They even welcomed us with beer! Best friends ever! They took us on a resupply run and then hung out for a while before dropping us back at Gifford Woods State Park. A great day!

06/21/26

7:45 am to 5:00 pm; 16.6 miles

Happy Father’s Day!

Today we have surpassed 700 miles of trails!

I heard my first loon of the year, in Gifford Woods SP while we were on the trail! It was probably at Kent Pond. About 2 miles into our day, we visited Thundering Falls, which were pretty impressive. We met a MITO (multi-year hiker), Pie, who asked us where we were from. I told him, near Syracuse, New York. He said he was recently there to visit his sister in a nearby town. Turns out it was the city I live in… small world.

We also met «Wind Walker» today and had a nice conversation or two along the way.

Another highlight was “El Mirador”. A privately owned cabin with a small roof terrace. It had incredible 180 degree views of the surrounding mountains…pretty spectacular!

There was quite a bit of UP today, but the trip was my favorite AT hike in Vermont so far.

06/22/26

8:00 p.m.-2:15 p.m.; 12.3 miles

The morning was quite pleasant, not too warm, with a light intermittent breeze. The terrain was higher than lower… we had to practice for “the whites”.

The trail was varied and beautiful. We walked through forests and ferns, wildflower meadows and marshes. You couldn’t have a nicer day on the trail… but Mother Nature’s fury was approaching. A storm the size of many small countries was heading our way. OMG, why are we taking our sweet time at breakfast? Why did we stop to take so many photos? THE RACE HAS BEEN STARTED! We climbed hills, danced down hills, and floated across streams, hoping to escape the impending deluge…we did it! Best of all, the shelter had only one other occupant…life is good.

We stayed at Thistle Hill Lodge. While we were hanging out, a hiker showed up and offered us magical trails. It was called «Maple» and offered homemade chocolate chip cookies, trail bars, and hydration packs! It turns out that she is in charge of maintaining the Green Mountain Hiking Club shelter. She’s kicking ass as a volunteer, and the GMC is lucky to have her…so shout out to Maple!!

Oh, “Escape” arrived at the shelter, around 9 pm, looking like a drowned rat, but we made room for him anyway, ha.

Keep walking! Acorn

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