Vermont!

Wow!

       So its been a few hundred miles since I was able to last post, but its been an amazing last few!
I have stopped counting up miles and am instead counting down miles, which means that I have 535 miles left to go! I am currently in the Green Mountains of Vermont and will be in New Hampshire by the week's end. Since my last post I have stayed with some truly awesome people who have given selflessly to the trail!
       I am currently at the Green Mountain House which has been by far teh best hostel on the trail. They have a full kitchen in which to prepare food and a fridge packed with Ben & Jerry's and Cokes!
       I recently stayed with Tom LaVartie in Dalton, MA and he gave us showers, did our laundry, gave us a free place to stay, let us watch TV in his home and slack packed (drove us north and let us hike back to his home without a full pack, then he drives back north the next day) us all for free!
       And the Mayors house! Think fraternity house here. The previous mayor of Unionville, NY started a tradition of letting hikes stay in his basement while in town and now he has expanded to giving showers, doing laundry, making breakfast and dinner! It definitely about the hospitality and atmosphere and less about the accommodations!
     I am certainly glad to be out of the rock of PA, the bugs of New Jersey and New York, and happy with a few "good" trail miles. Now the new challenge of the trail, here in Vermont, is mud. After heavy rain the night before last the trail went from being trail to be a swamp! I guess i should invest in a sled and mud slide down some of the hills!
      I am looking forward everyday now to the White Mtns. the last big hurdle before the finish of my trip! My people are saying that  80 percent of the miles are complete but we still have 75 percent of the work to do! This had been a rather scary outlook on the possibilities of the Whites, but as a Kyndra pointed out 45 percent of all percentages are made up anyways!