Day 23: stealthy campsite to Melville Nauheim Shelter

I'm up in get-a-move-on mode, with probably 16 to 17 miles to cover today (stealthy camping has undermined my knowledge of exact mileage). I hike fast, somehow almost angry today at just how long the, um, Long Trail is turning out to be. But, reliably, hills still slow me right down. 

There's always time to take a photo of an artifact. 

The dill was a very pleasing addition to the cheese of the day. 

I met a guy who was out hunting; he asked whether I'd seen any dogs on the trail. I hadn't, but the antenna-ed box attached to his belt had all the dogs tracked on GPS. Dog-dots on the screen were ranging through the woods. 

Further along, another hiker said "you look like you're going the distance", and I felt less angry about the Long Trail's length. More, you know, stoic and mighty. Also, smelly.  

I climb Glastenbury Mountain fire tower. From here, more wild forest is visible than at any other point on the LT:

S'troo. Also works for stuff that's not hiking.

Structural remains

Here we go with another designated Wilderness Area. 

I get snackish; I eat an entire VT pepperoni as a snack. I become, predictably, very very thirsty from the salt. This is a dry stretch of the trail, with no water sources for several miles. I feel a tad foolish.

A slightly creepy thing to pass in the wilderness near the end of the daylight. 

I just keep going, racing the dusk to make it to the shelter. A bridge is out and I pick my way across a beautiful stream. I'm tired and sore but OK. Up the spur trail to Melville Nauheim shelter, which is open face (less preferred) with stacked bunk-platforms (definitely preferred over ground-level sleeping). It's quite busy with other hikers, including Swampfoot and his girlfriend who share leftover chili. I set up my home area (foam mat, sleeping bag, layers of sleeping clothes, sleeping scarf, sleeping mittens, ziploc bag of socks as a pillow) on one of the top bunks, and tend to my feet. My right heel's rubbed raw -- I slap a Compeed plaster over the broken skin and trust it will do some healing as I finish the last couple of days' walking. I discovered Compeed during a very painful part of the Coast-to-Coast hike last year -- I will never hike without some Compeed in reserve. Unfortunately, they don't seem to have U.S. distribution. Yet.

America needs Compeed.