Reflexions

You know you’re first one on the AT in the morning when you come face-to-web with the overnight handiwork of all the spiders in the area that for some reason feel the need to bungee jump from one side of the trail to the other. Spider webs aside, today was the first day where there was only one hike on the agenda, and it was a good one.

Did I say good? What I meant was good and hard! I was hiking to the White Rocks Cliffs, and this was the first of my hikes that the AT Council rates as “strenuous.” What I learned was that my tough little hike the day before was merely a palate cleanser for today’s hiking entree. As soon as I crossed a little footbridge over a pretty stream, it was up, up, and away!

 

I wasn’t a half-mile into my walk when, as my Millennial students would say, “shit got real.” What I mean by that, is that right smack-dab in the middle of the trail was a big welcome gift from a bear.

It didn’t look too fresh, but rest assured, I made sure my bell was tuned up and ready to go. Oh, and for those of you wondering, yes, the bear poop was in the woods. So that answers that.

They call this hike the “white rocks cliffs” because as you get to the top of hike, the rocks are made of quartzite, and are very white and translucent. At one point, the sun shone through the canopy and upon hitting one of these white rocks, lit up the forest floor.

As I approached the top of the hike, I stumbled upon a sight that was the most moving so far. In a quartz field of rocks, previous visitors had erected dozens of cairns — little Jenga-like rock towers — as evidence of them being there, as a memorial, or just as an outlet for their creativity.  It was at once eerie, impressive, and moving. Of course, being a cairn-builder from way back, I had to erect one in honor of my very best friend in life.

To get to the cliffs, I had to head off trail, and the biggest garter snake I have ever seen (and I’ve seen thousands of them) was waiting to welcome me to the cliffs. What she was doing up there (yes, it was a female) is beyond me, but apparently there are enough mice, etc. to keep her fat and happy. As usual, all the work to get to the top was rewarded with an amazing view of the area mountains and countryside of Vermont.

After a quick descent and a shower, I made my way to New Hampshire via an out-of-the-way side trip to Burlington (think a northeast version of Madison, Wisconsin), and then a stop at the headquarters of Ben & Jerry’s for a touristy little tour of their ice cream operations (a guy’s gotta do what a guy’s gotta do).

Driving in this part of the country can test one’s patience as there are very few roads that are east/west (there are plenty of north/south). Consequently, my east-bound drive to New Hampshire was slow-going, which gave me plenty of time to appreciate the beauty of the mountains,  road-side streams and rivers, and quaint little resort towns (I drove past the town and lake of “On Golden Pond” fame.).  After a few hours, I arrived in New Hampshire in time for an evening swim, a gin and tonic, and great dinner with my long-time friends Glenn and Amy Bloom.