Congdon Shelter, Lake Hancock and Seth Warner Shelter

I was determined last night to get on a regular schedule that would keep me pushing toward home. My new cell phone alarms are 5:30 for coffee, 6:30 to pack up camp and 7:00 HIKE HOME! Forest seems well-rested and ready to go, too. Part of the reason I stayed put yesterday was to give him a break to rest his paws; the day before he had done a lot of gravel road walking. Today looked like it was going to be rainy and muddy.

After we left camp this morning, the Trail began an immediate steep climb from about 1,200 feet up Harmon Hill to about 2,100 feet in less than half a mile. For about 3 miles, we followed ridges with minor changes in elevation and crossed three streams. When we reached the Congdon Shelter (Mile Marker 582.8), we took a quick break to collect water. Then we continued down the Trail, which followed a series of streams and passed Lake Hancock, where we stopped for lunch.

Back on the Trail, we started climbing up and down another unnamed peak (elevation 2,844 feet). At the bottom, we passed a small pond and then hiked over two unnamed peaks before starting the ascent up the highest summit of the day (elevation 3,026 feet). The descent from that peak took us to the last shelter in Vermont, the Seth Warner Shelter. Just past the shelter was a stream from which I was able to collect water before I set up camp for the night and made dinner. A thunderstorm was rolling in and it was chilly and windy, so I set us up with the tarp closed in tight and climbed in to get warm. The next two days are supposed to be a little nicer.