It’s been a while!

campground #13 with judith, pre-trail

In the last couple of weeks I finished up nannying, cleaned my last house for a while, cleaned up my room to get it ready to sublet, cooked & dehydrated my last couple boxes of pasta, and hiked 57 miles through the Green Mountains!

My friend Judith drove me to Williamstown, MA last Wednesday and we dined at Noco Pastaria and camped at the Winston County Park. They had a nice pond to swim in, and a clean & quiet bath house to shower in. We started the trail on Thursday the 3rd and Judith hiked the first 3.3 miles with me until we reached the official start of the Long Trail, just over the Massachusetts border.

My journal entry from day 1:

“Thursday, 9/3/15 LT Day 1    7:02 PM      6.7 hiked

In the tent. Too hot for the tent fly. Too exhausted now too. Rain, rain stay away. I’m exhausted. Did I mention that? Sleep sounds good. Can’t close my eyes just yet. Forest sounds are creepy. Well, to be honest I’m creeped out because of the guy in the Seth Warner shelter. Being alone in the woods as a woman is difficult. But I’ll be okay. Cheryl Strayed was okay. I did kickboxing for a couple years. I also have a pocket knife. In my pack. Outside my hammock. Damn.

I’m also a bit creeped because I’m right next to the “road”. Though it’s more like a logging trail. Well actually, it’s a dirt road.  I heard a truck on it earlier. I wonder if I’ll see a bear. My mom asked me what would happen if I got chased by a moose. Good question, Mom. I love thinking about those things as I embark on my solo journey through Moose Country.

It’ll be fine. I have Mart with me. He’s half wet because I dropped him in the stream when I was talking to creepy AT guy. Sorry Mart. Judith asked about Mart’s story today. I told her how he came on the JMT last year and made Alex & I famous. <3

Uh oh. I just closed my eyes for a sec. 7:11 PM. Acceptable bedtime, right? I wonder how many miles I’ll do tomorrow. Today Judith & I moved super slow. 1 mile per hour. Oh well, Day 1, what do you expect? She means well. I felt bad because I wasn’t very talkative today. Though I’m glad we had last night. Dinner at the Pastaria. Red wine, warm bread, eggplant parmesan. J got the pesto.

I got goodbye/ good luck emails and text messages today. ‘Twas nice. <3 I was a little sad when Judith left. For a second I was also freaked out and wondering what in the hell I was doing. So I signed the trail register, picked up my pack and started walking. I went North.

There’s a 4-wheeler on the road. It’s dark. Creepy. Time to read & sleep.

Phillippians 1:6 I AM CONFIDENT THAT THE GOOD WORK THE LORD HAS BEGUN FOR ME WILL BE PERFECTED <3″

I read about half a page that first night before falling asleep. This is me when I awoke in the morning.

dat wavy hair

Check back for more updates on the Long Trail!

<3