September 6, 2016
8 miles completed on this section of the Long Trail! We got out on the trail about 2 p.m. A sense of home at the Inn at Long Trail pervaded the day. Was it the familiarity with that spot since we had stopped there last year, even though we didn’t stay. The hefty breakfast, included with our stay could have had something to do with the feeling. Perhaps the homelike arrangement of the furniture in the common living room or the laundry room tucked in a hallway next to the kitchen. The place seemed, well, livable, not like a hotel. I got a surprise service from the Innkeeper, Maury. Another hiker and I were waiting at the bus stop across the road from the Inn, with plenty of time to catch the 10:38 bus. We stood, chatting about our hikes, when zoom, the bus passed by! Right on time too! “Hey! It’s supposed to stop here and it didn’t!”
John, who had been waiting with me even though he wasn’t going along with me to the post office, volunteered to go back in and call the bus company. He found out that the bus had indeed passed us by and that someone with a truck would take us to the post office.
I found out that our driver was the Innkeeper. He even waited for me at the P.O. and while I picked up a bottle of hand sanitizer at the store next door. “Thanks for the ride! Now I have some extra tip money for the room attendants!” I said when he delivered me back to the Inn.
It’s notable that this is the first time in a while that I’ve walked on unfamiliar trail! My walks lately have been on the AT and Pacific Crest Trail, both familiar ones.
The forest and general terrain are the same as we’ve walked for the past week here in VT. It was a pleasant walk this afternoon. We did see another hiker on the Long Trail – a southbound Appalachian Trail hiker who had been confounded by the white blazes marking both trails! He had walked a few miles north on the Long Trail before concluding that he had made a mistake!
Otherwise, as we settled into our campsite, a previously used undeveloped site 8 miles from the Inn (I know that because the new Guthook App told me so!), John said, “I guess since we’re still out here hiking even though we finished the AT, we must be living on the trail!”
Maybe that’s why it feels like home!
Please comment or ask questions via email at regina@forgivenesswalks.com (The comment function isn’t working. If you know how to fix it, let me know!)
In joy,
Regina