Day 25 on the Vermont Long Trail

We were slow to break down camp this morning. We were not sure how Tiny Turtle was going to be feeling. We knew if he was still sick then we would have another night at this camp. Luckily, he woke up as though nothing happened the day before! We were very happy he was better and ready to go! Dreamer and Family Mule had their morning ritual of the Family Mule dispersing the dreaded power bars and Dreamer showing her disgust!

The trail was immediately a steep incline. Mainly a dirt path and nothing really exciting to see. I was leading and Family Mule took the back. I felt great and ready to put in some miles. Family Mule on the other hand did not seem himself and was sluggishly moving behind the rest of us. We kept a good pace going. After 5 miles we reached Buchanan Shelter. It is located .3 miles off the the trail. We decided to press on past the shelter and head to Puffer Shelter instead. I was getting worried about Family Mule because he was moving very slowly and was not himself. The thing about Family Mule is he NEVER likes to admit he is sick or hurt so I have to just figure it out on my own! Shortly after we decided to press on the terrain became more rocky and the roots were more raised as we climbed further up Bolton Mountain towards the shelter. We came to Harrington’s View after a small push. It was a gorgeous outlook so we decided to take a 15-20 minute rest. I could tell Family Mule needed it.

Dreamer, Tiny Turtle and I stayed a distance ahead of Family Mule. We took some of his weight, mainly the cooking supplies and the food for the camp ahead. The plan was to get camp set up and dinner prepared as quickly as possible so he could just get to bed. However, the trail become very steep with large rocks. It was tough. Lots of climbing but the trick was to keep conscious of footing. It was easy to slip between the rocks and falls seemed to be unavoidable especially for Dreamer. I stayed close to Dreamer to help her as needed. Tiny Turtle was in front and moving as nibble as ever. Tiny Turtle managed to get to far up the trail where we could not see him.  Dreamer and I could not see Family Mule behind us either.  We were all split up.  Dreamer and I began hollering for Tiny Turtle. We could not hear him or see him and was becoming a little panic considering the terrain and the sun was getting lower. We finally found him crying in panic looking for us. It was very scary! Shortly after finding him Family Mule caught up with us. He said he could hear our calls to Tiny Turtle and came as fast as he could.

We made it to Puffer Shelter together after about 9 miles. The shelter had a nice young couple settled in for the night but still plenty of room for us to join in the shelter. No need to set up the tents tonight.  The puffer shelter is three-sided and has a gorgeous view. The water supply is not far from shelter, which was convenient. Tiny Turtle handled the water. Family Mule laid in the further corner of the shelter in his sleeping bag while we prepared dinner. I did not carry a thermometer on the trail but it was obvious he was running a fever! We had brown gravy and rice for dinner then went to bed hoping everyone will be well in the morning to press on.

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