Day 97 - Mudville (July 14)

I got a late start out of Willamsville this morning. I had to go to the post office and then resupply at the grocery store. I was probably not back on the trail until 12:00 noon. I have yet to hitch hike. I tried briefly, and then quickly gave up. Hitching is how everyone gets around off the trail.

Redeyes was one of the best hitch hikers. He always had confidence and a smile. I think you could tell he would be a friendly talkative passenger.

I made it into Vermont today, but I think Mudville is a more appropreate name. It is so muddy that I fell three times today. I landed on a large rock on one fall, and cut my knee. I think the problem is your shoes get coated in mud and the rocks are wet so friction can be unexpectedly low at times. I'm at the Congdon shelter tonight. Everyone here says they too had fallen several times today.

I'm camping with a family with a nine year old boy and the boy's grandmother. The grandmother has section hiked a lot of the trail over the last 10 years. She was telling me how she fell in the White's and broke her nose. I think much of the trail was made to be hard and dangerous just for the sake of making it hard and dangerous. You will know what I mean when you see some of the pictures.

I saw some trail statistics on Mount Greylock yesterday. Apparently, only about 10% of those that attempt a thru hike complete a thru hike. The statistics for completing a hike would probably be from self reporting to the ATC.

If you discount the yellowblazers, the percentage of those completing a thru hike would probably be closer to 7 or 8%. Most yellowblazers do not admit to yellowblazing unless they are questioned about being someplace they should not be. One of the most blatant of the yellowblazers is EZ Does It who claims to have completed 4 or 5 previous thru hikes. As near as I can tell, he might only walk 50% of the trail this year. He is hitching the rest of the trail.

I gave myself only a 1 in 3 chance of finishing the trail this year. If I had known how low the actual completion rate was, I might have considered those odds to be too high. I thought I miight have had a slightly better than average chance because I was expecting an ordeal rather than a vacation. Even now I would only give myself no more than a 2 in 3 chance of finishing. While I do not think I will quit, the trail is very dangerous. I am always surprised and greatfull at the end of the day not to be injured or sick.

I met Rockameme today. She is the only other thru hiker I saw today. She said she was off the trail for a month because her dad died. She was behind me earlier in the summer, and remembered seeing my name in the shelter registers.

My tent is still wet from last night. The rain fly no longer leaks after I sprayed a sealant on it in Kent. However, the rain fly does not cover all of the sides of the tent. Rain enters at the bottom inch or two on one side and by my feet. It would have just took an inch or two more fabric to pevent this leakage.