“Scour” is a good word to describe what last August’s Hurricane Irene did to the Cold River valley, where we hiked today. She did wash away trail and take out a large bridge, but the overall appearance is that the hurricane floods just scraped away everything in their path. Rootballs piled up in the middle of the stream. Metal bridge beams tossed about like kids’ toys. Vegetation and dirt all gone down to the bedrock. Things must have been popping and snapping at the height of the storm.

Since early in the year, this area has been posted as a major road walking detour for the AT. However, work by trail maintainers and a season’s worth of intrepid hikers passing through have pretty much created a useable route going by most of the old white blazes. That was the update we were getting from southbounders we met, so when we reached the detour signs, we just barreled right ahead.

In fact, we saw more people we knew in this “closed” section today than you could shake a stick at! We met Poppawolf and Crocadilly back at the hydro plant in Falls Village, CT. They were sending their two golden retrievers home and were going to be joined by their niece. Well, today both of the dogs were back, and the niece was back home. 30-Pack had had a go round with an abscess on his butt (to which N could certainly relate!), but was back today and hiking strong. Joe Fore we last saw in PA. Since then he’s had a bout with Lyme disease, but is back and going strong (his wife had made a scheduled visit to get up with him, but instead of helping him slack, she wound up doing mostly nursing). GOMan had also had a visit from his spouse and now seems to have a much better outlook on his hike. The list just goes on and on…

Besides seeing all these old hiking friends, we had another reason to celebrate today as we passed a sign in the woods that read: “500 miles to Katahdin”.

After being on the trail a little over 4 months it really was very exciting to see tangible evidence we are getting close…

The main order of business for the afternoon was a long climb up Mt. Killington (1,400′ to almost 4,000′). We were joined by Castaway, who we also re-met in the closed area. His company helped the climb go much easier than it would have otherwise. When we reached the venerable old Cooper Lodge Shelter we were ready to call it a day. This large stone structure is designed to hold 16, but there are more folks tenting nearby on what looks like a clear but cold evening.

Tomorrow marks the 75th anniversary of the AT’s completion. We can’t think of a better place to wake up to observe the date. Happy Birthday, dear AT!