T+48 Deciding to dig myself out

T+48 (July 16, 2020)

Navigation Report:
Start Point: Melville Nauheim Shelter (mile 1615.4)
Target Destination: Kid Gore Shelter (mile 1628.2)

Travel Log:
10:00 Break Camp (mile 1615.4)
10:05 Rejoin AT (mile 1615.4)
10:15 Power Lines (mile 1615.9)
MISSED Beginning of Glastonbury Wilderness (mile 1616.0)
10:45-11:05 Hell Hollow Brook (mile 1617.0)
11:40 Porcupine Lookout (mile 1618.2)
12:20 Little Pond Lookout (mile 1619.6)
MISSED Glastonbury Lookout (mile 1621.4)
1:45 North End of Glastonbury Wilderness (mile 1622.4)
2:56 Goddard Shelter (mile 1623.9)

Daily Mileage = 8.5
Total Mileage = 474.7

Commander’s Report:
Today I spent in a mental fog worrying about how I'm falling behind again on my blog posts. I think my experience in Williamstown on T+36 may have brought this on. A big assist goes to my notes folder, which currently looks like this:

​Yes, that would be the upcoming 10 days worth of posts. Yes, that's 7 in preparation, one posted, and two drafted and waiting to be posted. At some point during the hike today I decided that I was going to catch up on those. My ideal would be to draft each of these the day in which I hiked them, but once I get behind it seems I'm always playing catch up. 

No longer! I'm resolving to get caught up in drafting the diaries and that starts today.

I was joined in camp last night by two guys just starting a section hike of the VT section of the AT, Adam and Matt were their names and they were VERY green (think first day, 2 mile hike in: green). I spent a bit of extra time in the morning giving them some tips and pointers. Thus, I was late getting out of camp again this morning. Plus, I found it impossible to finish the drafting of the diary entry I had hoped to complete in the morning. (Perhaps that also played into my decision to focus on getting caught up on the diaries?)

Once on the trail it was a quick jaunt north to a crossing with some power lines. I almost universally hate these intersections, but at least they can provide a peek at the surroundings. In fact, I quite liked the views offered at this power line cut.

​Supposedly there's a sign right after the power lines announcing the southern end of the Glastonbury Wilderness. I beg to differ. (Or at least, I missed it when I passed.)

A mile north of the power lines the trail crosses Hell Hollow Brook. It's a really nice, large, mountain stream with spots large enough to enjoy a swim in. Unfortunately, today's temperature is supposed to top out at 70°F and it's supposed to rain overnight and into tomorrow. So, no swim for me today. I'll have to take consolation in the pictures.

​About a mile north of Hell Hollow Brook is Porcupine Lookout. I didn't see any of our be-quilled brethren, but I did find a pretty reasonable viewpoint. Here's the evidence. (I really appreciate the views with the wind turbines, as opposed to some.)

​About a mile and a half north of that prickly view point is another viewpoint - Little Pond Lookout. This one was quite obstructed, and it was clear that effort was put into maintaining a viewpoint here. I might suggest they let the trees reclaim the location. (Though I did like the way the colors transition between hills in the pictures.)

​Speaking of letting the trees to reclaim a viewpoint, I totally missed the third viewpoint of the day - Glastonbury Lookout. The guide says of this location, "A very obscured view through trees to the north." It was so obscured that I missed the view (if there remains one at all). I think the trees reclaimed that particular one.

A mile after the missing view is the northern boundary of the Glastonbury Wilderness, I actually managed to spot this sign.

​A mile and a half further on is the Goddard Shelter. When I arrived I spotted two juvenile red squirrels playing on the front of the shelter's porch. They settled down and pretended to be statues as soon as I got the camera out.

That was it for the hiking. A really easy day today, which meant that there was little sweating and a better chance of having dry-ish clothes to put on for hiking in the morning. (All part of the "slow your roll" decision earlier today.)

[Ed note: I managed to get 3 posts drafted this evening.]