After a good dinner last night, great conversation with the Whites, I crashed out and slept all night. There is something special about being with familiar faces, wonderful friends and people that just make life so much better. Alan and Blue are my people.

We all woke up early. Alan went for a walk just as it started misting. It’s gonna rain today. Blue was already packed and ready last night. I needed to still sort through all the things my hubby sent, and decide what I really needed and what I could send home. It’s so nice to have options, and being Alan is going back today, he could take my discarded items home to George.

We headed over to Zoey’s Deli & Bakery for breakfast. It is voted the best Deli since 2004 by Michelin. I have to agree, this place was outstanding. We all had different egg sandwiches, which you all know is my most favorite. Zoey’s bakes their own bread, English Muffins, cookies and all things good. What a treat, and how lucky for us, it was right down the street from our motel.

After breakfast, we headed to the Outfitters for one last stop. I purchased some shoe inserts that didn’t fit well and needed to return them. And Blue realized that she left her trekking poles at home, and she’s gonna need a pair. Ten minutes later, Blue has new trekking poles, and somehow I ended up with a new hiking shirt. It all worked out perfectly.

Alan dropped us off at the trailhead in the rain. Looks like Blue is going to get a taste of Vermont mud on day one. No breaking in easy, just douse her with a firehose. And the extended forecasts is for rain showers till the Fourth of July. Oh joy. I had to take a picture of our shoes, because this would be the last time they would be nice and new. Before long, they would be caked in mud, drenched in water and we’d have dirt splattered all over ourselves. Welcome to the Appalachian Trail Blue.

Take a guess what we first had to do as soon as we left the parking lot? Yep, climb up to Bromley Mountain. Bromley Mountain is home to a popular ski resort in Vermont. After climbing 1500’ elevation in a downpour, we arrived at the Ski Patrol Warming Hut. What a great surprise it was to find it open. We went inside and had a nice lunch of tuna, crackers and chips. Yum, what could be better?

It rained pretty much the entire day. But lucky for us, both Blue and I have umbrellas. The temperature was a balmy 65 degrees, which was quite comfortable unless you stopped. We were moving most the day, dodging huge mud puddles, mosh pits and pig pens of muck. Well not really. Our crisp new trail runners were a dirty mess. I somehow had a fern attach to my shoe and Blue, well her shoes are a pale purple which the mud blends in with quite nicely, if I say so myself.

After descending from Bromley Mountain, we had another good climb to do, up and over Styles Peak. Blue was leading and kept saying we reached the top. Nope, not yet. It had many false summits but after an hour or so, we finally arrived. There were no views to take in being we were in the clouds. We ran into some crazy trail runners, who were soaking wet and decided that today was a good day for a run. I’m sure they scratched their heads when they saw us, with our loaded backpacks and umbrellas. At least the runners will go home tonight, take a shower and put some dry clothes on. Unlike me and Blue who are not sure where we are spending the night.

We made it to Peru Peak Shelter where 6 others has staked their claim. It was the same group I’ve been hanging with since Catamount Motel. They were pretty cozy, so after scouting around for level tenting sites, I made the command decision, that we should hike on.

Blue likes her privacy and she was good with heading north. About a half mile up trail is Griffith Lake. It’s run by the Green Mountain Club and has a Privy and several tenting platforms. It was an easy walk on many boardwalks, and we found our place to call Home-Sweet-Home. The rain stopped, just long enough to set up camp, get some brackish water from the lake and hunker down. By the time I was cooking dinner, the rain came back. Lovely.

So today was especially good. I have my hiking partner back. Blue hiked with me last year on the AT for over 400 miles, so she knows what she’s getting into. She has a great attitude, and is a ton of fun to hike with. We are similar pace and that makes it that much easier.

Thank you Lord for providing me exactly what I needed, at the perfect time. These past few weeks were vital for me to be solo, to get into a rhythm and to be with you, one on one. But you also know, that I need people to help me become better, to keep me from falling apart, and to share my emotions, frustrations and feelings with. It is so important that I have a few special people in my life, just like Jesus had. He had his 12 Disciples but then he also had his inner circle. Blue is my inner circle. Thank you my dear one for being such a good and faithful friend! You truly came at the perfect time. What a blessing indeed.