Willows Motel has the best breakfast on trail. Paul and his Dad are from India. They understand what hikers need, want and desire. So when Bear and I walked in, our mouths dropped. There was a fruit spread that you only find at the finest Easter Buffet. Berries of all kinds, peaches, nectarines with plums, dates, walnuts and almonds, all kinds of yogurt including plain Greek, my most favorite. There were muffins, breads, bagels and plenty of coffee and tea along with Coconut Water. Oh my, this is nirvana. I ate to my hearts content and had a second bowl of fruit.

All the hikers I’ve been hanging with, Bear, Stealth and the sisters went back to the trail. Winter Boots flew home to Germany. I’m really going to miss hm. You do indeed, meet Gods’ best out here! I stayed behind and enjoyed my day off. I did pretty much nothing at all. It was exactly what my body needed. Even Norman expressed his pleasure of just hanging around. I booked a ride back to the trail for an early morning departure. And relaxed some more.

My ride arrived Wednesday morning at 0630 and I was back on the trail by 7am. Today is a big day. A new state of Vermont. All I have heard about this state is Vermud. How muddy can it really be? Ends up, like a pig pen! It has something to do with the clay-like soil that doesn’t allow water to absorb. It just clumps up and turns to a mud-like consistency. With all the rain we’ve had of late, it really enhanced the mud making substance. You have no idea what it’s like to walk miles in mud. All I can say is if I was 5 years old, it might be fun. But at 60-something, it’s not a good look!

As I’m making my way down this river of water and mud, I see what I think is a hawk flying fairly low. It lands in the forest to the left of me. I look up and it’s an owl. A big huge owl. He is gorgeous with his big yellow eyes and fluffy owl feathers. I was shocked that he was flying about in the morning. They are nocturnal, hence the reason I always hear them at night. He must’ve been getting ready to nest when I scooted by. What an amazing bird you are.

I made my way to a new shelter that is still under construction. There was a crew of women building the soon-to-be shelter and stacking a rock wall. They had all the hand tools needed to do the job. They work for Green Mountain Club and are employed seasonally. This Shelter is replacing an older one with a new privy and tent sites. It is hard labor and you can tell, these chicks are tough cookies. It’s been raining off and on for the past seven days and they don’t get to go into town for showers or laundry. Kudos girls! Thanks for the hard work.

Today was one of those days that you just have to embrace the suck. After lunch, I ran into Uncle and Pyro. They had camped at the new shelter and stopped along the trail to dry their tent and sleeping bags out. Sure as the sun comes up daily, it started raining. I felt terrible for them. They packed their damp items up, put them inside their packs and were right behind me. I could tell that Pyro was running on empty and told her about the hotel down the road. It’s cheap and they will pick you up from the trail. She pondered the thought, as I continued northbound.

The rain came down for a good hour or two. It was rained hard enough that I put my tent inside my backpack instead of it’s normal spot, in the outside pocket. Poor Norman was soaked and he was ready to hide jump ship and land inside my pack with the tent. This rain is relentless. I had just dried out my stinky shoes to no avail! What’s the point? Mud and rain, and more mud and rain. Oh and trails filled with water and a ton of mud. Just want to make that clear!

If that’s not bad enough, now I have a river crossing. I believe before it started raining, the rocks were above the river. But now, everything is submerged and the only two options are 1. Take your shoes off, or 2. Walk through the river with your shoes on. Guess what I did? Yep, walked on water! We’ll I didn’t actually walk on water because I am a mere mortal and not Jesus. I just walked into the river, shoes, sock and dirty girl gaiters. And you know what, the mud was temporarily washed off. That looks better, until the next mud bog.

By the end of the day, all I could think about was how in the world am I going to clean this mud and muck off me and my shoes? I need a hot shower, and a place to dry off. I headed to Woodford Hollow Trailhead and decide to call it a night.

The best part about today is my wonderful hubby George called me and tells me my new shoes have arrived. And to make this even better, Natalya, aka Blue will bring them with her when she arrives on Saturday. You’ve got to be kidding? That is how my Lord works. He knew that I was going to need some cheering up today and he made a special delivery of a new pair of shoes, much needed shoes, to me on the trail! Originally REI stated that my shoes wouldn’t be delivered till Friday, two days after Natalya planned to leave. That is a darn right miracle in my eyes. Thank you Jesus for your help with this detail that only you could orchestrate.

As I was looking for a place to pitch my tent, Stops A Lot drives up. He calls out Hiker-Hiker and I answer to that. Wanna a ride to town? I’m picking up a couple of hikers, Uncle and Pyro and I have room for one more. I thought for about one split second and said, heck yes, I’d love to go to town. He escorted the three of us to his truck and drove to Catamount Motel. Looks like I will be having a proper shower, a bed to sleep in and a place to dry out. There you go again God. What an ending to what I thought was going to be a wet and rainy night. After eating pizza with the rest of the hiking community at the Motel, I headed back to my humble room. Now I’m all tucked in, me and Norman in a wonderful bed with four pillows. A most perfect ending. And they slept happily ever after…