August 28, 2008

When we last left the Dynamic Duo...

... they were loitering in Rutland, VT, attempting to leave town one way or another. Well, of course, it turned out to be "another."

I think that we (at least I) had an overload of Vermont - on and off the trail - and just wanted to get the state over with. Luckily we recalled that Shawn has a friend, Jackie, living in Keene, NH who was eager to visit. The only complication? - Rutland is about a two hour drive from Keene. But of course, our hearts were set and minds made and we would not be stopped. So once again we decided to venture out into that world of fanciful vagary known as hitchhiking. In three easy wags of a thumb we made it about 50 miles down the road to Bellows Falls, where Jackie came to rescue us in a mere 30 minutes. We spent a great night of pizza and DNC coverage at her apt., and tiptoed off to dreamland on a wonderful air mattress.

The next day being Tuesday, Jackie had to get up and go to work like the responsible adult she is. We on the other hand are still complete bums with no deeds to do, no promises to keep. So we slept in, ate french fries for breakfast, popped in Johnny Mnemonic (the perfect morning movie), and awaited the arrival of my old buddy, old pal, Andy Reach, who drove all the way up from Boston. With Andy we ventured out to explore the quaintness of downtown Keene, and Andy related to us the romantic life of a piano tuner. Yet again, the day was mostly spent hanging out, eating, people-watching, and generally wasting time. When Jackie got off work, she took us all to an awesome little brewpub restaurant, and then we returned to her apartment to while away another night with friends.

But alas, our cavorting must come to an end sometime. On that next bright Wednesday morning we heard the call of the trail (that faint "hiker trash" whispered on the wind), so we strapped our few earthly possesions on our backs and headed to follow it. Turns out it was coming from Hanover, NH, about 65 miles north of Keene. Taking a less beaten path, we made it in about six hitches, including an awesome old Methodist minister who writes his own hymns, has a wife from Lithuania, knows how to get optimum gas mileage out of an F150, and once heard Robert Frost recite his poetry. In Hanover it didn't take long to find the old hiker crowd again, and we were quickly invited to spend the night at the property of "legendary" hiker and all around trail bum, Baltimore Jack.

And here we are. Back in a trail town, about to actually venture onto the trail itself after an epic hiatus. It was worth every second. But as I said - the trail calls and Big K looms and we must be off to finish what we started. These last 30-40 days may very well be the most spectacular. I can't wait to find out!




P.S. - I love hyperlinks!

August 25, 2008

National Lampoon's AT Vacation

Hey again, party people. Just thought I'd give you the scoop on the conclusion to our massive trail detour through Vermont.

After spending about a day wandering through town (with one very uncomfortable night sleeping in the back of the car) we figured we had soaked up all Burlington had to offer. We didn't have to be back in Rutland until Monday, we had a car completely at our disposal, a road map of this wonderful tiny state, and nothing else holding us back. So of course we did what any respectable adventure-seeker would do - we drove to Canada. Neither of us had ever been and it was only 40-50 miles away, so why on Earth wouldn't we? Getting in with merely a driver's license was a piece of cake. We drove up the road through the majestic cornfields of Quebec (who knew?) until we hit a convenience store. I awkwardly bought a soda (Dr. Pepper even!) and ice cream from the French-speaking locals and then sat and soaked up the fact that I was actually sitting in a different country, with all the serendipitous events that occured to bring me there. Reentering our homeland, we encountered a little bit of grief (not having passports and all), but still made it through with no major incident.

We still had nothing else to do but drive into the sunset, so we set a course south, stopping for a hot second in the capital, Montpelier. Now I've been to the capital of Vermont. Having hit pretty much all significant points of the state, we figured we might as well set up a base camp in Rutland - our ultimate destination - so we drove on into town two nights ago, and yesterday spent yet another day driving and wandering and driving and eating and roaming and certainly not hiking.

Today is finally Monday. We've picked up our packages, run our errands, and again have to come to grips with the idea of hiking. Maybe. Who knows where the winds will blow us? Or what cars will drive us? I can honestly say, though, that when it finally does come down to hiking again, I will be ready, merely for the sake of finally getting it over with. It's been five months on the trail now and the end is actually in sight, so I'm raring to get there. From what I hear, this last bit through New Hampshire and Maine is more than worth the all the boredom and struggle that has preceded it, so I'm also anxious to get out of Vermont and see how spectacular it really is.

Anywho, that's all the news that's fit to print right now. We're working on finding our way out of Rutland (one way or another), so who knows when or where our next destination will be. Tune in next time for another wacky Twinkletoes Tale from the Trail!

August 23, 2008

On the Road Again

Hello, lovely readers I can only assume exist somewhere. I write this blog from the public library in wonderous downtown Burlington, VT.

You may be saying to yourself, "I have been vigilant in my studies of Appalachian Trail maps and handbooks as I follow Twinkletoes on her whirlwind adventure, and I have never seen Burlington listed as a major stop along the way. How is it that she came to be in such a place?"

The answer, my incredulous friend, is as follows: As Voodoo and I extended our stay in the wonderful burg of Manchester Center for three nights (a zero and a half and a slackpack day), we woke on the morn of our final departure with less than an enthusiasm for hiking and an earnest need to break the monotony once again. So with nary a second thought, we Googled our way a route up the highway to Burlington - home of Ben & Jerry's and Magic Hat Brewery - and proceeded to catch a ride on the thumbnail express. That is to say, standing on the side of the road, we were here in three easy hitches with endless possibilities awaiting us. We rented ourselves a phat ride, strolled by Lake Champlain, wandered down I-89 and found an awesome flea market, and who knows what more will come in the next two days.

All I can say is that I am happier right now that I have ever been on the trail. By no means are we quitting the hike - we'll be back to Rutland, VT on Monday - but never before have I had someone to enjoy utter randomness with. Be spontaneous with. Enjoy life with. We will definitely finish the trail (you know, minus the parts we skipped). Getting to Katahdin is something I would never want to miss and was definitely never in question. To us, though, a lot of this hike was supposed to be all about the adventure, seeing new places and people, and having new experiences. I've done the white blazes and it was awesome and will be again at the end. Now it's time to fill in all those other gaps that the white blazes miss.

So that's all for now. I have no idea what we'll be doing the rest of our time here. Maybe visit Montpelier? Canada? The moon? Whatever it is, I know it will be amazing time spent with an amazing person and it will certainly not be hiking (probably).

August 13, 2008

The Blazes Are Always Bluer

An AT purist can be defined as any hiker (thru or section) who intends to walk every mile of the trail, past every little 2" x 6" white blaze.

Let it be known that I am not a purist.

Blue-blazing can be defined as the act of following any trail detour that is not the AT (usually marked by blue blazes vs. white). Yellow-blazing might be defined more simply as "hitchhiking" - that is, getting a ride to a further point on the trail as opposed to hiking all the way there - and is thusly named because of the yellow lines of the open road.

Basically, as definied by a purist, these methods are what you might call "cheating". That is if there were some kind of actual score kept or rules broken.

Let it be known that I love cheating.

For approximately the last three weeks I have been hiking with my now trail partner/boyfriend (what?!) Voodoo (Shawn), and during this time we have blazed a trail north all our own that would make any purist turn away in horror and disgust.

Since returning from our jaunt in the city, we decided that we would continue our adventure and explore the roads less travelled (by hikers) with a little help from some long-awaited trail maps. Ah, the wonders of cartography. With maps a whole new world of untold civilization is unfolded before your eyes, and a truly straight path from Point A to Point B is finally revealed.

From Kent, CT we meandered by road and trail along the Housatonic River all the way to Cornwall Bridge where we enjoyed an afternoon swim and some free drinks. Then onward we road-walked into Falls Village for some amazing sandwiches and Moxie and hiked into Salisbury that night with nary a place to rest our heads. That is until the amazing and wonderful Olsen family took us into their own home for the night. Finally crossing into Massachusetts, we once again took the shortest path between white blazes where we ran into Del and his not-wife enjoying the day in their front lawn. When we asked for some water, we were given a ride into the nearby town of Great Barrington for some sandwiches and drinks, and then back to the trail again before the rain came down. By far our greatest blue-blaze yet was on the way to Upper Goose Pond Cabin, which involved wading across a brook, bushwhacking through fields of waist-high grass, jumping an electric fence, crossing a cow pasture, strolling down some gravel-paved-gravel roads back into the woods, and finally fording a chest-deep creek just before reaching our destination.

Since that amazing coup de grĂ¢ce to AT purism we further hitched a ride into Dalton, MA, walked a bike path on a 23 mile slackpack, took a few more roads and another hitch into Bennington, VT and again to Manchester Center, VT where I currently am rushing to finish this blog.

Basically what all this shortcutting and hitchhiking and random wandering means is, the AT is great and all, but there's so much else out there - people, places, llama farms - that you miss when you restrict yourself to those white blazes. Maybe we're not really thru-hikers (but we are), but we're still awesome, and life is awesome, and adventure is awesome.

So up yours, ATC.

August 6, 2008

Start spreadin' the news...

...these vagabond shoes are longing to stray right through the very heart of it.

New York, New York. That's right. THE city. You may be thinking, "You've gone out onto this wild wilderness journey to escape the trials and tribulations of modern life - why on earth would you want to detour into one of the biggest cities in the whole world?"

'Cause I'm crazy and I can, so back off.

I know that this hike is kind of a "vacation from life," but once that vacation continues every day for 4+ months it becomes just life. And then you need to take another vacation. So m
y new hikin' partner, Voodoo, and I set a course for awesomeness and hopped a train to Grand Central. Luckily, my long-lost high school chum, Daniel Morgan just happens to live in this very city and is amazing enough to endure a weekend of chauffeuring around a couple of almost-homeless people.

Honestly, I was expecting a seizure-inducing onslaught of over stimulation, but really that is confined only to Times Square (which I did indeed dart through like a cracked out rat in a never-ending maze of people). Most of the time was spent as mine always is - hanging out with friends, eating, observing crazy people, watching movies, occasionally sleeping, and always wandering. We drifted past a few of the landmarks, but there's just no time to be a tourist in the course of a day and a half. It was just fun to be someplace completely different doing something completely different and catching up with old and new friends. And it definitely made me ready to return to the trail.

Now I've moved on to New England (Connecticut if you don't know your geography) and New York is a mere wispy memory. Back to the regular vacation...until another fanciful detour presents itself, of course.

Thanks a lot, Daniel, for showing us such a great time. And thanks, Mr. Sinatra, for providing such an awesomely cliche title for this blog entry.

Also, for The Manchurian Candidate. The remake was totally lame.