Camping Hell Hollow Brook 1613.4

It rained all night, not too heavy but constantly. When I got out of the sleeping bag I saw that the whole feet part was soaked, same the backpack... There was still some water on the tent floor forming a little pond. Definitely way too much water to be caused just by condensation. So we suppose there could be a leak somewhere. But luckily it stopped raining in the morning so we had a quick breakfast and headed out.
After only about ten minutes we reached the border of Vermont, the so-called "Canada of the USA". Our 12th state and mainly known for its mud on the trail, therefore the nickname Vermud. And 20 miles deep (pun intended) into the state can say that it deserves the name. A girl heading south told us some days ago that she made a wrong step and got stuck down to her hips in a mud hole...
More first impressions, we saw a bear - mainly just its back as it was really thick vegetation. Our first bear sighting since New Jersey to remind us why we hang our food. Just a few minutes later we saw a moose walking for a bit on the trail and then turning into the woods. I think it didn't notice us but it was still too late to get a picture or video.
For lunch we stopped at a really dirty shelter, it didn't even have a picnic table. But the sun came out so it was a good opportunity to dry our stuff a bit. Especially the tent gets super heavy when it's soaked. The hike in the afternoon was again slower, mainly because of a tough elevation change but also because we were tired. We found a pretty nice campspot near the Hell Hollow Brook, the sound of the river always helps sleeping better. It's life a meditative white noise.
There I made a super random encounter with a guy who was at the camp spot. We chatted a bit until he asked me where I'm from, then he said in Swiss German that he is from Switzerland but lives since ten years in India as a Buddhist monk.Read more