[at-l] Day Five, No one has normal sized Feet in Vermont

[grey.owl at comcast.net]

Bumper Ticker of the Day 
Be Aware of Invisible Cows 

So here I am without any hiking shoes and the elf did not show up ;-) My wife was in a Knitting Store looking for yarn and I went looking for hiking boots. Now I am just an average guy; 6'6" tall and I wear a size 15 boot. Well, I could not find any size 15 boots!! I retailer told me that the average size of men's boot that they sold was 10 1/2. How can anyone hike the trail with such small feet??? 

Discouraged by my failure to find an average sized boot, my wife and I had lunch at the Inn at the Long Trail. Walking into the Inn I spotted a snake. My wife is afraid of snakes, but I fearlessly approached. It slithered off; I wondered if he ate the elf. The Inn is a pleasant stop, good Irish Music, a great hamburger and a hand planed half and half (a black and tan). After lunch the skies opened up and we have had heavy rains all afternoon. This morning I had reported to the hike leader that I would not be going on today's hike. There was a lady, who was from Cleveland, who was on the waiting list for the hike. She was very excited to be able to hike the trail. I wonder how excited she is now? 

I also had a purchased a book on an early thru hike of the Long Trail. The title of the book is So Clear, So Cool, So Grand. A 1931 Hike on Vermont's Long Trail by James Gordon Hindes. What a wonderful little book. I read the book in two days. I learned many interesting bits of history. One of the most fascinating is that the author met Eiler Larsen at the Long Trail Lodge. He had started hiking at Mt Katahdin heading towards Georgia. If he had finished his hike he would have been both the first thru-hiker and the first hiker hiking the trail north to south. Definitely a book for your collection if only for the history. 

Well it is time for a concert. THe littletown of Castleton has Tuesday concerts and I am off to listen to some music. 

Cheers, 

Grey Owl 
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