THE ROCK GARDEN

AT Day 132:  Thursday,  August 17, 2023

SOBO Mile 1698.5 -1677

Sargeant Brook Campsite – Campsite in the Woods near USFS 10 

Distance Hiked – 21.5 miles/ 34.6 km

Total Distance Hiked: 2169 miles/ 3490 km

A:5121 ft/ 1562 m D: 4730 ft/ 1443m

It rained heavily through the night. It looks like Vermont will continue to be rainy and wet for us. At least it hasn’t been cold. We were relieved to wake up to no rain and a tent that stayed mostly dry inside. A lot of the internal moisture was from condensation as it was so humid. We were packed and got going about 6.

Most of the early morning we had beautiful trails underfoot that followed a river and looking at the map it looks like we’ll be following rivers (brooks) through the day.  It would have been quite something else to have hiked along here after the July flooding rains. I’d imagine a lot of the low lying areas would have been underwater.

The beautiful river valleys soon gave way to a descent through a rocky and steep ravine. The rocks were wet and very slippery which made for a very slow descent. We were very relieved to get out without incident. We descended to a busy highway and met two homeless guys at the road crossing. I hope we look a bit less scruffy.  We crossed a huge river and were very grateful for the suspension  bridge over it. The day was quite beautiful and sunny. We met a  steady stream of NOBO hikers. Funny how fine weather brings hikers back on trail. Yesterday we didn’t not see anybody at all.  

We hiked through beautiful woods with the sun streaming through the canopy. It reminded me that for brief periods this trail is a walk in the park. 

Despite the relatively easy trail, our pace was slow. We feel like we are working hard just not getting the mileage. Especially today as we are getting so close to finishing. Maybe just accumulated fatigue, mental and physical. Or it could be the humidity. 

We stopped to get water and to have some lunch at Minerva shelter.  And there was no one around but within 10 or 15 minutes a couple of hikers arrived.  We were very surprised to meet Gus,  the gorgeous dog we first met in Hiawassee in our first week on trail. He was with his hiking owner Jon Fuller who’s known on trail as The Incident. He keeps a trail journal  on The Trek website which we’ve been following. A very talented writer. We overlapped by a day on our AT_Day 8  and again today.

It was nice to meet and have a great chat before we set off. We were keen to make some more miles before the rain returned.  We just going over the summit of Bear Mountain which was nearby and a light sprinkling of rain started. The last time I checked the weather,  it wasn’t predicted to rain at this time so we didn’t expect it to last for very long.

After going over Pinnacle Hill and we passed a feature on our map noted as a Rock Garden. It was a whole bunch of rocks placed in piles.  A hiker sitting nearby recognized us from our first meeting in Erwin back in Tennessee. Such a surprise that anyone would remember us. 

As we were leaving “the garden” the  weather seemed to change –  a cool wind had sprung up. We  still had many miles to cover.    The cool wind made for much more pleasant hiking conditions. It wasn’t raining and wasn’t as humid as it has been all day today. 

A  long descent sent over rocky terrain through pine forest followed. We passed remnants of a village dating back to the 1890′. Not much of it is left,  a stone wall and a few metal scraps.  The rain returned just as we were passing a small pond and the trail traversed a beaver bog. Not the nicest landscape to pass through on a wet day. But I can imagine that the Little Rock Pond would look great on a sunny day. From the pond the trail  follows a creek – Little Black Branch – all the way to a forest services road where we planned to stop for the day. It was all very low lying land with the waterway alongside and crossing the trail. It was a section of trail we were both so happy not to have attempted to hike during the flooding rainfall earlier in July.  

We found a campsite high off the creek and stopped for the day as it was getting dark. It was our last night on trail. We hoped that it wouldn’t rain through the night.