McAfee Hikes

Date Written: 9/10/2024 | AT Mile 524.5 | Day Total: 18.6 miles | Gain: 4644 ft

Good nights rest last night. Rained a little while I was watching the movie but it didn’t for the rest of the night. I could only stay up for half of the movie so I plan to watch the rest tonight.

Packed up first thing and left my tent to dry while I ate breakfast at the shelter. Reroll ended up getting to the shelter late last night so I talked with him this morning. 2 days ago I picked up a dropped Cnoc bag on the trail and put it in a hiker box in Rutland. Turns out it was his. Surprisingly the little farmers stand had a few Cnoc bags for sale and he got a new one there.

Rutland only sold the large 8oz gas canisters and mine was super low. I decided to double up and use another low canister in the hiker box. I heard of a stand that sold them at the road today but Reroll was planning on cold soaking and gave me his half full canister. So now im carrying 3 canisters. I’m hoping to ditch the 2 low ones at the parking area a mile away.

I started hiking early this morning around 7:30am. I’ll hike down into Clarendon Gorge to a road and parking area. There’s supposed to be a view but the morning fog made it mostly view less.

The hike down was steep in a section but it didn’t last very long. As I got to the road there was no trash can nearby or along side the road. I really didn’t want to carry three canisters… each weigh a half pound. I sadly trudged on with 3 canisters in tow.

I passed a shelter about 5 miles into today’s hike and filtered some water. This shelter was moved a few days ago because it was on private property. It been there for years so maybe the property owners changed? I’m not sure. It seemed like a big project to move it though.

Climbed up and over a mountain and down to a parking lot. As I approached the parking area there was a sign posted on a tree that said “trail magic” and I look down to the parking lot and there’s 8ish chairs and two tables setup with food! A gentleman from Albany NY was running the magic. It was just past 11 so he had just switched to cooking hotdogs. He asked how many I’d like and cheerily said two! He had an assortment of other snacks too: chips, cookies, watermelon, and a variety of sodas. He also hand a large battery bank to charge electronics so I plugged my phone in. I ended up grabbing some watermelon and a Gatorade to go with my hotdogs. A few minutes after I sat down Kill Bill walked up. I haven’t seen him for a few days because he had taken a zero to visit his mom. The three of us talked while we ate.

After a while I packed up my things, said my thanks and continued on. This was the first BIG trail magic I’ve gotten. I’ve heard lots of rumors of amazing trail magic like this.

Refueled and happy I climbed up the mountain where there’s white rock gardens. Hypothetically magical woodland gnomes created the garden.

Vermont has been really good about building bridges across the water crossings. My new shoes haven’t seen a drop of water yet.

I passed a flagged marker on FarOut that indicated the remains of Aldrichville Mill Village. The remains went that amusing and just seemed like some metal junk on a rock wall. Definitely not a whole village of remains.

Once of the cooler sections that I passed today was Little Rock Pond. The trail walked right against the edge and had good views to the west. There’s a campsite but I’d like to hike a little further today. I saw a small garter snake as I walked by.

Seems like there been recent bear activity in the area. A LT hiker mentioned they heard dogs barking then hunters shooting a bear because it was approaching people for food and few days ago. When people feed the bears (or don’t store it properly) the bears associate people and food and have to be put down. I also passed a shelter with a recent handwritten note saying a bear was watching him eat a snack at the shelter… just a couple days ago.

I crossed another stream as I hiked up to camp. This one also had a large cable bridge going over it. The trail leading up to the shelter was graded well and it was easy to travel up without pulling too much of my breath away.

As I got to camp I passed the privy. There’s supplies for a new one right next to it. A few hikers have already setup camp but I was able to tuck my tent into a small, but flat, spot. While pitching my tent Kill bill walked by. He’s also spending the night here tonight.

After getting settled in I went over to the shelter to filter water and prep dinner. While I cooked and ate I talked with Kill Bill and some other LT hikers. On tonight’s menu is mac and cheese, and chocolate pudding for dinner/dessert. Tonight bear hang is text book. It’s on a beach just over 25 feet up because my 50ft line is barely long enough to reach it.

I got to camp fairly early so I’ll have some time to journal and finished the rest of the movie before bed.