...and we're walking....: Gross Shelter to Glastenbury Mountain lookout tower

Ok, so Vermont got better today!! More on that shortly. Got up early to hit the mud, I mean trail. As we started out, we passed a bigger, older gentleman that we had passed heading south for the third day in a row. Chatted briefly again and hiked on to the top of Harmon Hill. There was a log book there to sign, and when we pulled it out, we noticed that Warren Doyle had just signed it. Meaning that the older gentleman WAS Warren Doyle!!!

He is one of THE most infamous, extremely controversial icons of the Appalachian Trail. He has hiked the trail numerous times and teaches a class on how to successfully thru-hike. He is controversial because he has very specific things that he believes make for a successful thru-hiker. Contrary to the 'hike your own hike' motto.

We got to the bottom of Harmon Hill and ran in to some great trail magic!! The Bennington section of the Green Mountain Club was celebrating their 100 year anniversary and hosted a barbecue for hikers coming through their section. Burgers, dogs, vegies, sodas..... It was so great! Really nice people and we also met our first Sobo(south bound hiker) Those hiking the trail north to south start the trail in June when they open Mt. Katahdin. We will probably be seeing them much more regularly, although the majority of hikers do the trail northbound. Southbound is a little more of a solitary experience.

The trail today was SO much better than yesterday! (We hiked the section maintained by the trail angels)

We are constantly trying to tweak our food selections to keep it interesting. We have been on a little bit of a golden Oreo kick, but I recently discovered something even better by mistake. The golden Oreo birthday cake variety. Wow! They are amazing! :)

The woods are really changing as we get further north. A lot more pine. Millions more!! View from the top of Glastenbury Mountain Lookout Tower where we are camping tonight.