Turtle Feet - Appalachian Trail Journal - 2011

Vermont - Native American Word for "Too Much Water"

Well, I'm back here in Manchester Center after deciding to wait out Hurricane Irene at the Green Mountain House. I think it will have turned out to be a wise decision, the storm has past, but getting back on trail might be a bit more of a challenge than I bargined for.

I should back up a bit by saying that I got off the trail at The Inn at the Long Trail up in Killington, VT. The Inn is a great place, but somewhat removed from Rutland. It's up in the mountains and I was concerned about losing power, not being able to resupply, ect. Another hiker and I arranged for a shuttle to bring us from Killington on Sunday morning back here to Manchester Center. We were dropped off at the local grocery store to give us a chance to pick up some food for the next couple days and then Jeff from the hostel picked us up at the grocery store. That's when the adventure began!

Jeff showed up, we loaded up the truck, and headed out for the short ride to the hostel. One problem - water. Water, water everywhere! The road to his home was closed. He was hesitant to go around the barricade, but like I always say, "better to beg forgiveness than ask permission". We headed down the road only to come to another road block - this one was manned - and for good reason. The road in front of us was completely flooded with fast moving water. Jeff explained that he lived right on the other side of the mess and the officer let us through. Honestly, I think we made it because we were in a pick-up truck; a car could not have gotten through. I suspect had it been a few hours later and we may not have made it either.

We got to the house and it was full - more than full. I immeadiately went to task in order of priority: 1. charge phone, 2. color hair, 3. shower, 4. laundry, just as I was getting to #5 a sheriff deputy came to the door. He announced that a recommended evacuation was in effect. There was a creek about 1/4 mile from the house that had swelled to enormous proportions - it had erroded the ground underneath Interstate 7 and was threatening to breach the bank on our side of it. The area residents were being moved to the Town Hall until further notice. After about 5 minutes of discussion the house full of hikers decided we would stay put. If you think about it - if anyone were equiped to ride out a storm, it's a house full of hikers. We have our own stoves, food, method of treating our drinking water. We were ready. Good thing too - the first clue things were going south was the loss of water pressure in the house. We quickly filled all of our water reservoirs, then any bowls or pots we could find. We all ate dinner, and in the middle of our second movie (Troy, with Brad Pitt) we lost power. The wind had picked up so that wasn't completely unexpected. It was 9:45pm, I simply went to bed.

We woke up this morning to beautiful, clear blue skies. I took a walk down to the creek and the water had dropped significantly - the threat of flooding is over for the immeadiate future. One problem now. Apparently the road to Rutland that we came down yesterday morning is not passable today. I'm not sure if it's simply water that needs to subside, or if there was more permanent damage to the road. I can only imagine the condition of the AT! So for now I stay put, happy that I had the forsight to pick up a quilt magazine at the store yesterday!

Entry 29 of 29
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