Long Trail Thru Hike 2015

LT 2015 Thru-Hike Journal

Eric Chin

I compiled this Journal as I hiked, usually writing at night, unless I didn’t remember to, in which case I wrote in the morning.  This copy is transcribed from my paper journal with minor editing for the sake of readability/ clarity.  My full thru-hike took 18 days, starting on 7/30/15 and ending on 8/16/15, and had 2 resupplies.  I was resupplied by my mother, who planned to day hike the VT 4000 footers this summer anyway in an effort to complete the 67 NE 4000 footers. She also met me at Battell Shelter and Killington in the process of her hiking.  I predominantly stayed in shelters during my hike and only used my tent twice.  My trail name was Sprout because I was 16 and people seemed to find it amazing that I was doing a solo thru-hike at that age.

Itinerary:

Day 1: Williamstown, MA to Melville Nauheim

Day 2: Melville Nauheim to Story Spring

Day 3: Story Spring to Spruce Peak

Day 4: Spruce Peak to Big Branch

Day 5: Big Branch to Clarendon

Day 6: Clarendon to Route 4 (resupply)

Day 7: Route 4 to Sunrise

Day 8: Sunrise to Skyline Lodge

Day 9: Skyline Lodge to Battell

Day 10: Battell to Cowles Cove

Day 11: Cowles Cove to Route 2 (resupply)

Day 12: Route 2 to Taylor Lodge

Day 13: Taylor Lodge to Taft Lodge

Day 14: Taft Lodge to Bear Hollow

Day 15: Bear Hollow to  Corliss Camp

Day 16: Corliss Camp to Tillotson Camp

Day 17: Tillotson Camp to Uller’s Dream ski trail

Day 18: Uller’s Dream ski trail to Journey’s End Rd.

7/30/15

I started the day on the Pine Cobble Trail in Williamstown, MA after staying at the Villager Motel, which is near the trailhead last night, and did the largest climb of the day up to the VT border. From there, the trail was relatively flat the rest of the day up until the last 3 miles.  I stopped for water at Roaring Branch and Congdon Shelter, where there were two people when I arrived.  On my way up Harmon Hill, A number of people I passed were looking for the shelter, so it’s probably quite busy tonight.  After Harmon Hill, there was a punishing descent and a fairly steep ascent up to Melville Nauheim Shelter.  Just half an hour before I reached the shelter, it started Pouring, so I put on my rain coat, however, I did not close the pit zips, so the rain ran down my arms and saturated the inside of the coat sleeves.  I was regretting my late breakfast and start time.  At the moment, there are a few other people at the shelter. Hopefully no more show up.

7/30/15 (later)

A few more people showed up, but two left.  I finally looked at my feet… not enough mole-skin.

8/1/15 (morning, I forgot to write 7/31)

I went over Glastenbury yesterday.  I thought that it was 7 miles to Goddard Shelter for some reason, but it was actually 8.5, so I was wondering why it was taking so long. I met two guys at Kid Gore Shelter who also went to Story Spring.  Someone was snoring last night and this morning Redwood (LT nobo) traded me a bar for a pair of earplugs.  There were 5 people in the shelter last night and many more tenting/ hammocking/ sleeping on the ground.

8/1/15 (later)

I left around 7:00 this morning and met Redwood on the way to Stratton Mtn. He had a resupply in town and was going to take the gondola down, so I decided to go as well.  We got burgers at a restaurant in town. They were good but expensive (14 dollars for a burger and drink, no fries).  When we finished eating, I went back up the gondola and he went to go find his resupply package. As soon as I got to the top, the gondola closed for a thunder storm. I am waiting for the storm to pass at the top of the gondola with a bunch of tourists and Redwood is still at the bottom.  It’s 1:00, so I may not go all the way to Spruce Peak today as I had planned.

8/1/15 (night)

I waited out the thunder storm and headed down.  It was amusing to listen to the tourists complain about how they’d left the windows in their cars and houses open.  I got to Stratton Pond around 3:00 and decided to head on.  The trail was quite muddy and one person I passed heading south was hiking in crocs. After the trail going to Douglas Shelter, there was a road walk and I stopped for 20 minutes at Prospect Rock before heading on to the shelter.  I got to the shelter around 6:00 and made dinner.  My instant stuffing was mush, so I need to reduce the water next time.  The shelter has 4 or 5 AT sobos, Redwood, who unexpectedly showed up around 7:00, and me.  The blisters have not gotten significantly worse.

8/2/15

I got up around 6:30, made breakfast and left around 7:30.  I made good time over to Bromley Shelter, where I filled water bottles.  There were several AT nobos there, one of whom had broken his finger when his hiking partner stepped on a bog bridge at Stratton, which flipped up as he was going to step on it.  Everyone left at about the same time, so there was a crowd up at the summit also.  There was a middle aged couple giving out food at the top (day hikers), and I got a snickers bar, while the first few people up got apples and the last few got Hershey bars, It was much appreciated, but if I had known, I would have left the shelter earlier for an apple.  It was a great view and the food was a plus.  There was a good view from Styles Peak as well as an array of large dragon flies flying around the clearing at the top.  There was no view from Peru Peak, which was disappointing. The rest of the day went by fairly quickly and I made short stops to rest my feet at all of the shelters as well as Baker Peak, which had an interesting view.  I finally arrived at Big Branch shelter around 5:00 and considered stealth camping along the trail, but decided not to.  I went down to the river and soaked my sore feet and washed off the the day’s mud.  I am the only one in the shelter, though a number of people are camped along the trail from here to the bridge.

8/3/15

I started from Big Branch around 7:00 and saw some turkeys near the trail in the woods on the way to the trailhead before Little Rock Pond.  I stopped at the pond in the morning, then at White Rocks, which had a great view. The cairns near the junction were quite interesting.  I did not take the side trail to Greenwall Shelter.  There were various other views throughout the day, but none were quite as good.  The rest of the day was tough ascents and descents (at least after 4 nearly 20 mile days).  Much of the trail up Bear Mtn. passed through former fields and pastures, so there were few rocks and the trees were all fairly young.  The young trees made the ascent up Bear Mtn. hot and sweaty. I stayed at Clarendon lookout until some dark clouds came in.  It started raining just as I arrived at the shelter.  There are a bunch of people here tonight.

8/4/15

I was the second person out from Clarendon Shelter today and passed the Moons (an AT nobo couple) early in the day.  They must have stealth camped somewhere along the trail.  I got to Governor Clement Shelter fairly early and stopped for a break.  Governor Clement Shelter is quite unusual.  It is made of stone and has a fireplace.  There was a black and white photograph in the front of the shelter that shows the shelter in the middle of a field soon after it was built, however, there is no sign of a field there now.  The Moons caught up to me again at the shelter and I soon headed up Killington, which was not as tough as I expected.  I nearly ran out of water on the ascent because I was only carrying a liter, but found a small spring next to the trail going up Little Killington from which to filter water.  I reached the summit of Killington before noon and waited for a while until my mom and brother showed up.  There were many tourists at the top who presumably rode the gondola up. After my mom and brother arrived, they ate lunch and then we went back to Cooper Lodge, which appeared to be in terrible shape.  I took the LT to Route 4 at Sherburne Pass while they took the shorter route.  Not long into the hike down from Killington, I started to hear thunder in the distance and picked up the pace.  I averaged roughly 3 mph on the way down.  My mother picked me up and after taking showers, we all went to Rutland to look for some new insoles for my shoes, more moleskin, and dinner.  It appears that there are no sporting goods stores or restaurants (other than Chinese food and pizza) in Rutland, so we went to Walmart to buy moleskin and insoles, which did not end up working with my shoes. We went up the Killington access road for dinner, then came back to the lean-to that we reserved at Gifford Woods State Park for the night.  Tomorrow, my mom and brother will head home, and I will resume the trail at Sherburne Pass where I left off.

8/5/15

This morning, my mother cooked scrambled eggs and sausages for breakfast.  They were delicious and a welcome change from granola and powdered milk.  After breakfast, I finished re-packing my pack and my mother dropped me off at the trail.  The hike to Maine Junction was uneventful, though I did see a deer, which ran off into the woods as I approached.  On the way to Rolston Rest, there was an area near the trail that was being logged and I could hear chainsaws and a skidder off in the woods.  I stopped at Rolston Rest for a break, then continued on.  The trail leading up to David Logan Shelter was long and slow and had no views.  I stopped at David Logan Shelter, where a summer camp group was camped.  They were amazed by my age and the fact that I was doing nearly 20 mile days.  I was quite tempted to ask if they would sell me the “extra” fresh fruit that they were trying (unsuccessfully) to distribute fairly. I filled up my water and headed on to sunrise shelter.  The trail was very flat and my feet were beginning to grow sore by the time I reached the shelter.

At my resupply, I picked up my second trekking pole, which I used today.  The poles seem to have reduced the stress on my knees and feet, but also reduced my pace slightly.  I think this is a reasonable tradeoff and thus, will continue using the poles.

8/6/15

At 16 miles, today was my shortest day so far.  I am still feeling the distance despite the trekking poles and reduced mileage. I woke up today around 6:00 today and was the first one up.  By the time I left the shelter at 7:30, the other 3 people who spent the night there had not left their sleeping bags.  The climb up Mt. Horrid was not as bad as it looks on the map, but it was still slow.  I decided that the trekking poles reduced my speed on ascents, so after Mt. Horrid, I stowed them while climbing and took them out for long and/or steep down hills.  On the way to Sucker brook shelter, I saw one solo day hiker with a dog, a group of two day hikers, and a group of 3 sobo LT hikers. After Sucker Brook shelter, I ascended Worth Mtn. and at the top, I replaced the moleskin on my right foot because it was coming off.  After Route 125 at Middlebury Gap, I made the ascent up Burnt Hill during which I passed a fellow LT nobo.  When I reached Boyce Shelter, it was closed, apparently because all of the posts that hold the shelter up were either leaning or tipped over completely.  I stopped only briefly at Boyce shelter and did not enter the building itself.  The climb to Skyline Shelter felt long and slow even though it was only 2 miles from Boyce.  I missed the two lookouts shown on the map before the trail to the lodge, but the view from the lodge is quite nice, so I don’t really mind. While I ate dinner on the front porch, a rabbit came down the trail and began eating the grass growing in the shelter clearing.  It certainly saw me but did not seem to care.

8/7/15

The other people in the shelter got up around 5:00 this morning and I got up around 6:00.  I left by 7:00 and made it to Emily Proctor Shelter around 8:00.  The hike to Cooley Glen was fairly flat with easy ascents and descents.  The flat sections were muddy, and after a few miles, I began noticing moose prints in the mud.  I also saw a rabbit sitting on a log.  As I approached, it ran into the bushes.  Cooley Glen was a typical LT shelter and the water source, which was down a side trail left much to be desired as it was shallow and didn’t have much flow. The trail after Cooley Glen was similar to the trail from Emily Proctor, but had a very impressive view at Sunset Ledge.  I stayed there for a while and moved on around 1:30.  The ascent to Battell shelter was steady and not very steep, so I made good time, arriving at 2:15.  After i arrived, I was extremely bored for an hour until my mom and brother showed up.  They are doing Abraham and Ellen tomorrow.  After I arrived, the campsite filled quickly as did the shelter, so I set up my tent for the first time on the trail.  This is by far the busiest campsite I have seen so far.  There are at least 5 groups of various sizes, and a few solo hikers.  There are 4 other LT nobos and no sobos.  One large group is sitting behind the shelter talking loudly at the moment.  Hopefully they will decide to disperse to their tents soon.

8/8/15

I got up around 6:30 this morning and packed my pack.  My mother made oatmeal and we headed out around 8:00.  We reached the summit of Mt. Abraham quickly and stayed there for a while.  We then at the plane crash that another person at Battell mentioned last night.  We continued to Lincoln Peak and split there.  I stopped at the various views on the way to Cutts peak, then took a break there, where my brother caught up to me again.  He said that my mother was not far behind, so I waited for her, then went on.  I stopped next at Orvis Lookout after passing several small groups of day hikers on the trail down from Ellen.  The hike from Orvis Lookout to Stark’s nest was uneventful and I stopped at Stark’s Nest, I stopped to refill water at the water barrel and to use the privy before heading to Theron Dean Shelter. The trail immediately before and after Theron Dean shelter was the roughest I have seen so far.  It had an array of ladders, steel rungs implanted in the rock, and slippery rocks.  I arrived at Appalachian Gap mentally battered after the tough descent, and much to my surprise, there were two GMC volunteers sitting at a table in the parking lot handing out trail magic.  They directed me to the location of the trail on the other side of the road and offered me a Snicker’s bar and a Kind bar, which I gratefully accepted. After a short but steep climb up Baby Stark Mtn. and a good view from Molly Stark’s Balcony, I trudged into Birch Glen.  After a short break there, I decided to go on to Cowles Cove Shelter.  I made excellent time to Cowles Cove and arrived around 4:00.  There were 2 LT nobos here when I arrived (Duck Stepper and Crockpot, collectively known as the Honeymoon Hikers), and a father and son headed south on a short section hike arrived later.

8/9/15

I left Cowles Cove Shelter around 7:30 this morning and headed up Burnt Rock Mountain, which has amazing views along a long stretch of open rocks.  I stayed at Burnt Rock Mtn. for a while and contemplated the possibility of camping on the open ledges on some later trip.  I then descended to Ladder Ravine.  The ladder is an aluminum ladder, perhaps 20 feet long, that is attached to a vertical rock face.  After Ladder Ravine, I ascended to the summits of Mt. Ira Allen and Mt. Ethan Allen and descended to Montclair Glen.  Montclair Glen is the site of recent bear issues and had a brand new bear box.  When I arrived, there was a GMC group stopping for a break on their way up Camel’s Hump.  We talked briefly and they gave me a handful of trail mix.  They started their ascent while I signed the trail register and refilled my water bottles.  I then headed up Camel’s Hump, passing the GMC group and several other small groups of day hikers on my way to the summit.  The summit was crowded with day hikers, but had great views.  I stayed a while and headed down when more day hikers began to show up.  The descent was long and I stopped at the various views.  When I reached Duxbury Rd. I realized that even though there is a new suspension bridge, there is still a long road walk, which was quite miserable.  The bridge was very impressive.  I met my mother there and we drove into Waterbury to our hotel (The Old Stagecoach Inn), took showers, and got dinner a restaurant down the street.  Later, we drove to Ben and Jerry’s and got icecream before returning to the hotel, where I finished packing the supplies from my resupply box.

8/10/15

We ate breakfast at 7:30 when it began.  I had a ham and cheese omelet, a sausage, and a piece of toast.  The late breakfast forced me to start late (8:30).  I did the short walk up Bolton Notch Rd. and headed up the new LT, which looked to be a mix of new and old trail.  I arrived at the spur leading to Buchanan Shelter around 12:00 and went down it for a little while looking for the shelter and water.  I found neither, so I went back along the LT a little and filled my water from a very small stream that I had passed.  I took a short break at the junction with the spur, then headed up Bolton Mtn.  It was a long, rough climb because of my heavy pack and the many miles of uphill hiking.  I took a short break at the top of Bolton Mtn. and then went down the half mile to Puffer Shelter, where two sobos informed me that there was a piped spring at Taylor Lodge and that there was no water at Puffer.  I continued down on a difficult descent to Taylor Lodge and considered moving on to Butler.  I arrived at Taylor Lodge around 3:45 and decided that it was too late to go to Butler.  I went down to the spring mentioned by the sobos and filled my water bottles and both Sawyer squeeze pouches so that I would not have to go back down.  Before I left to go to the spring, a large camp group of girls showed up.  They were initially tolerable, but have become increasingly loud.  I am beginning to regret my decision not to move on to Butler.

8/11/15

There was rain in the forecast for today, so I planned only to go to Butler Lodge.  I woke up at my usual time (around 6:00), packed my gear, and ate breakfast.  By the time I was almost ready to go, it had started to rain, so I waited a while, then put on my rain gear and headed up the trail.  My rain pants were sweaty and leaked slightly at the seams, but my raincoat, gore-tex socks, and pack cover were fine.  When I arrived at Butler, there were 3 people there, all still in their sleeping bags.  I took off my wet rain gear and hung it up to dry.  I then pulled out my map and LT guide to consider my itinerary for the remainder of the trip.  At 2:00, the rain started to let up and the other people in the shelter began to consider leaving.  I decided to leave with them thinking that the trail would only get wetter tomorrow.  Two others and I headed out around 2:30 and stayed together until a dangerous section, where one person turned back in favor of the bad weather bypass.  My self and the other hiker (Redrum, LT nobo) continued to the top of the forehead, where we split and I went ahead.  There were no views on Mansfield because it was in a cloud, but there was no rain or wind (or day hikers) either, so it was not nearly as bad as it could have been.  The descent from the chin was quite steep and slightly slippery, so I took it slow.  There are 7 others here excluding the caretaker.

8/12/15

Today I got up late and left late because it was raining and I had a shorter day.  I left around 8:30 and was the third to leave the shelter.  The hike down to Route 108 was steep at the beginning, and because it was wet, it went slowly.  I took a short break at the bottom to figure out where the trail went and to take off my rain pants.  I stopped at the picnic area to use the bathroom there as well.  The climb up to Elephant’s head cliff was hard and felt lik it took a long time.  Even the flat spots had many roots and small ups and downs, making them almost as slow as the steep sections.  When I arrived at the spur for the view point, there was a break in the clouds, so I took the advice of the Taft caretaker and went to the viewpoint.  The view was interesting with the low clouds, so I took a few pictures and ate my biscotti.  When I returned to the top of the viewpoint spur, I headed on  to Sterling Pond Shelter, where I signed the register and took a short break.  Next, I went up and over Madonna Peak and Morse Mountain to Whiteface Shelter.  The trail was very muddy in the flat spots and there were many roots, making this another slow section.  I stopped for a break at Whiteface shelter and it started to downpour.  I waited to see if it would stop for 10 minutes, then determined that I needed to move on.  I put on my rain coat and headed up Whiteface Mtn.  The trail was a stream and I trudged up the steep slope for about ten minutes before the rain stopped.  I tagged the summit, then took out my trekking poles and headed down since the only view was a cloud.  The descent to Bear Hollow was easily the wettest section of trail that I have ever had the misfortune of hiking on.  Nearly all of the steep section was enveloped in a stream, which did not seem to be abated by the occasional water bars, and all of the flatter section was continuous mud.  My trekking poles came in handy for pole vaulting the mud puddles.  My shoes still ended up completely saturated.  Thankfully, my Gore-Tex socks kept my feet and socks fairly dry, though water was beginning to seep through by the end of the day.  When I arrived at Bear Hollow, there were 4 other people here, and I was forced to take a top bunk.  There were a few small puddles on the top bunk, so I inferred that the roof leaked and got out my bivy.  I then cooked dinner (stuffing), filtered water, and organized my gear before getting ready to go to bed.

8/13/15

Because today was a 16 mile day, I got an earlier start.  I left the shelter around 7:30 and headed down the trail.  It was an easy hike, being mostly on dirt roads and old woods roads.  I reached the bottom of the hill, walked the rail trail section, and shoved through the dense brush leading up to Route 15.  I had been somewhat concerned that the secondary channel of the Lamoille River might be flooded after the rain, but when I arrived, it barely had a trickle running down it, so I crossed it and the bridge.  I took a short break at the bench on the far side of the bridge, then headed up to Prospect Rock.  The view from Prospect Rock was good, so I stopped there for another break.  From Prospect Rock, the trail to Round Top Shelter was uneventful.  I stopped at the shelter for another break and signed the register.  After Roundtop, I went down to Plot Rd. and up the hill immediately north of it.  On my way up, I saw many tubes running from tree to tree for collecting maple sap.   At the top of the hill, I saw some moose tracks.  There appeared to have been 2 moose traveling together south bound on the trail.  Later, I saw a few tracks heading north as well.  After reaching the bottom of the hill, I ate a Snickers bar and saw an impressively obese woman waddling down from Laraway Mtn. I climbed quickly up Laraway Mtn. and soon came to a stream crossing where I stopped to transfer water from my clean bottle to my drinking bottle.   I made the ascent up to Laraway Lookout very quickly and passed two families, both heading up.  I stayed at the lookout for a while, and saw two ravens flying a little ways away.  The ridge on Laraway Mtn. was as muddy as the Sterling Range yesterday and it was slow going.  The descent from Laraway Mtn. was not bad, but felt long.  I arrived at Corliss Camp around 2:20, set up my sleeping pad/ bag, got water, and set out my shoes and socks to dry.  My Gore-Tex socks still have not completely soaked through, but my socks were slightly damp from sweat.  There was no one here when I arrived, but 2 sobos have showed up since.

8/15/15 (morning, I forgot to write 8/14)

I started off yesterday a little after 7:00 and easily climbed Butternut Mtn.  I reached Bowen Mtn.  an hour later than I expected, however, and after looking at the map, realized that the two unmarked peaks north of the marked location for Bowen Mtn. were actually the North and South summits marked by signs on the trail.  After passing the North summit of Bowen Mtn. I descended to Spruce Ledge Shelter and spent some time at the lookout there.  I then passed through Devil’s Gulch, which was interesting with its many boulders and steep walls, but not all that amazing.  Ritterbush lookout was a good, but not great view and I stopped there only briefly to recover from the brutal rock staircase leading up to it.  The trail from Ritterbush Lookout to Eden Crossing was fairly easy.  The bottom part of the ascent up Belvidere Mtn. was fairly easy because it was a continuous steady incline, but the top part became steep in sections.  I stopped at the top of Belvidere and went up the Fire Tower.  The trail from Belvidere Mtn. was bushy and muddy, but otherwise unremarkable.  I stopped at Tillotson Camp for the night.  There was one sobo here when I arrived, and two nobos doing the northern half of the trail (Dollarcoin and Dante) showed up later having gone to Eden for a resupply.

8/15/15 (night)

I got up around 6:00 today as did the sobo thru-hiker.  I made breakfast and left around 7:30.  The climbs up Tillotson Peak and Haystack Mtn. were not bad, but the mud was terrible.  I slipped once early in the day (Before Tillotson Peak) and got my leg all muddy.  There was one small mud puddle so deep that I was able to submerge my trekking pole up to the first locking mechanism without reaching the bottom.  I did not take the spur to the summit of Haystack Mtn. because there was a cloud and thus, there would have been no views.  The section from Hazen’s notch to Jay Pass was not bad, but like everywhere else on the LT, it was very muddy.  I did not stop at Hazen’s notch camp, but did stop at Chet’s Lookout just north of the summit of Buchanan Mtn.  The view was obstructed by trees, but it was dry.  At Chet’s lookout, I concluded that I would have enough time to pass Jay Camp and find a spot to camp somewhere on Jay Peak so that I could get a good view of the sunrise.  When I reached Jay camp, I filled my water bottles in preparation for camping somewhere without water and headed up at around 3:00.  I arrived at the summit of Jay peak a little after 4:00.  I did not stay at the top long since there were tourists, but did go to the tram station to throw away my trash and use the bathroom.  I left the tram station a little after the last tram went down and hiked to the Uller’s Dream ski trail, where I found a good camp spot.  I decided to make dinner around 6:00 and found a large rock to cook on a little ways from my tent.  In the process of putting my pot on the pot stand, I accidently tipped over my stove, windscreen and pot, spilling 16 oz. of water and all of my remaining alcohol (I use an alcohol stove).  I considered my options, and not wanting to make a fire or eat cold mashed potatoes on my last night out, I remembered that I had far more olive oil than I needed.  Being a bit of a stove/ fire nerd, I have always had an interest in oil lamps, so I decided that this was a good opportunity to try it out.  I poured some olive oil into my alcohol stove and tried to light it.  As I expected, this did not work, so I looked through my gear for something to use as a wick.  I finally settled on a thin strip of moleskin folded over on itself.  I propped the moleskin wick against a small rock that I placed in the stove and lit it.  This burned with a small but steady flame.  I set up my pot stand and windscreen again, measured out another 2 cups of water, poured the water into my pot, and placed the pot on the pot stand, this time very carefully.  After nearly an hour, the water became hot enough to make a hot meal and I poured in a package of instant mashed potatoes (because of their quick rehydrating times).  Those mashed potatoes were the best I ate on the trail.  I will get up early tomorrow in the hope of catching the sunrise, sit around in camp for a while, then leave fairly late.

8/16/15

I got up this morning around 5:30 hoping to catch the sunrise, however my campsite was in a cloud, so I stayed in my sleeping bag until around 6:00 when the clouds began to clear. I ate breakfast and once the clouds had cleared , I got out and took many pictures.  Hopefully some of them came out well. Because of the condensation from the cloud, my tent was wet on the inside and outside, so I packed it last in the hope that it would dry out a little in the sun.  It did not and I ended up packing it wet.  The descent to Laura Woodward shelter was steep and slippery and I slipped once, thankfully landing on my pack and not the rocks.  At Laura Woodward shelter, I stopped to fill my water bottles and to sign the register.  I used a hobblebush leaf to make a spout to fill my Sawyer Squeeze bags at the water source. The ascent and descent of Doll Peak was wet and slippery, however after that the trail leveled off and the mud reduced.  I was able to pick up the pace for the first time in a few days.  At Shooting Star Shelter, I stopped for a break and received a text from my mother saying that she would meet me at the northern terminus between 1:30 and 2:00.  This was an hour earlier than I expected, so I left Shooting Star Shelter earlier than I planned.  The remainder of the day went by quickly because the trails were in good shape and had little mud.  I did not stop long at either of the viewpoints shown on the map because there were too many trees to seem much.  I arrived at the northern terminus at about 1:20, and to my surprise, found my mother already there.  She had brought me an apple, 2 cookies, a LT T-shirt, and a LT/GMC patch.  We sat on the rock outcrop jutting into the border strip next to the line post while I ate the food, then started the walk out on the Journey’s End Trail.  We stopped briefly at Journey’s End Camp and I signed the register.  When we arrived at the parking lot, two men were there preparing to start a thru-hike.  They took pictures with the couple who had given them a ride to the trailhead and we were forced to wait because we were parked in.  After they finished taking pictures, their ride headed out and so did we.  My mother had reserved a hotel room at Jay Resort, so we went there and took showers before going out for dinner at the Belfry Restaurant, where I got a chicken pesto sandwich, which was delicious.  It is always nice to eat meat after being on the trail.  It is strange to be finished with the LT after planning to do it for many months and hiking it for a little under 3 weeks.  I am happy for my achievement, but would prefer to be back on the trail again, no matter how steep, slippery, muddy, and overgrown it might be.

Final Gear List:

• Osprey Exos 48 pack
• Sea to Summit Ultralight air mattress
• Marmot Sleeping bag (some discontinued model)
• Mountain Laurel Designs Superlight Bivy
• Z-Packs Hexamid Solo Tarp (white)
• REI Motility Rain Jacket
• Red Ledge rain pants
• Rocky Gore-Tex Socks
• Sea to Summit Pack Cover
• Sawyer Squeeze Water Filter, Sawyer Squeeze Bags, and cleaning syringe
• 1 Liter Nalgene water bottle
• 1 Liter disposable bottle
• Smart Wool Socks (2 pairs)
• Columbia Hiking Shoes (some discontinued model, unfortunately)
• Dirty Girl Gaiters
• REI Zipoff pants
• Smart Wool T-shirt
• Ursack S29 AllWhite bear bag(2x)
• thin Champion Gear gloves (no idea what model)
• Evernew Titanium Pot
• Home-made alcohol stove, windscreen, and pot stand
• Light My Fire fire-steel (for lighting stove)
• REI Campware Soup Spoon
• Black Diamond Approach Trekking Poles
• Granite Gear xs compression sack
• foam seat pad
• Toob Toothbrush
• Ear Plugs (4x)
• Pillow Stuff Sack (stuff sack with fleece sewn onto it)
• Under Armour Fleece hat
• extra shirt (not sure what brand)
• Victorinox Signature Lite
• Camera and case
• Princeton Tec Byte headlamp
• dental floss
• Skin Glide Anti-friction Balm
• Small Sea to Summit waterproof bag (for phone)
• Sea  to Summit waterproof bag (emergency bag)
• Moleskin, Ace Bandage, Tape, Matches and Match Case, various bandages/ bandaids, Advil, compass, safety pins, cuben fiber tape, duct tape, air mattress patch kit, sewing needle and thread, Z- cord (replacement tent lines), Benadryl
• Toilet paper and hand sanitizer
• Sea to Summit Pack Liner