A New Day, A New Decision

 Day 2, We woke up late, as I had decided the night before that I would give up on my idea of linking the Appalachian Trail (AT) to the North Country Trail (NCT) via the Long Trail (LT) due to the snow. My husband had scoped out the trail for Day 2 and said it was straight up and lots more of what we had conquered the night before. So, I decided to simply head into Middlebury, VT and start from what was supposed to be the new eastern terminus of the NCT at this point. 

When we got to Middlebury, we grabbed some brunch, which I had trouble eating due to extreme pain in the roof of my mouth when I tried to chew. So, I finished my chocolate milk, and wrapped up my sandwich for later. After that, we walked around the park a little before making a plan to go see if we could find the eastern terminus of the NCT. 

Based on the interactive map on the NCT association website, the eastern terminus at this point should be around Middlebury Snowbowl, so we headed up that way looking for blazes along the way. As we headed up Hwy 7, I saw what looked to be markers at a trail head on the side of the road. After making it to the Snowbowl and not finding anything that officially said, "Hey! Start here/Eastern terminus for the NCT," we decided to head back towards Middlebury until we found markers and then start from there. 

So, we made it back to where I had seen the markers, and I prepared myself to take off on a 15mile hike. These 15miles were basically what I had planned for Day 3 of the trip, so I was ok in shifting forward a little since I gave up on the connecting idea. Happily, I took off on the trail, excited to see actual NCT markers! 

The trail was extremely well marked through the area, and I knew from looking at the NCTA website that I followed what is called the TAM (Trail Around Middlebury) to get around Middlebury. It took me through a forested park, where I think there were people playing frisbee golf. Again, I was happy to be hiking on the trail. I was feeling some of the pains from the previous day, but knew those would work themselves out the more I moved and built muscle. 

Eventually, I came to a sign directing me onto what I thought was maybe a new section of the NCT being built, and followed signs for the NCT. Come to find out, this was the wrong decision as it looped me back to Hwy7 about a half mile up from where I had been dropped off. Frustrated, exhausted, and overheating, I texted my husband to come get me. 

When he picked me up, he mentioned having gone back into Middlebury, and finding that the College campus is closed to outside people due to COVID. So, even if I had followed the right path, which was the TAM vs the new trail, I would have needed him to pick me up and move me past the college campus. My husband also mentioned he did not see any trail markings for the NCT. This got us wondering and looking more at maps. 

Since it was past 3pm, we checked into the Middlebury Sweets motel, and accessed their WiFi to look at maps. Having found one that could be overlayed onto Google maps, we took off looking for NCT markers. There is something called the Blue Trail. According to the MALT/TAM website, this trail was created in 2012 with the plan to eventually be part of the NCT. It joins the TAM to get around Middlebury, but then breaks away on the northwest side to head for the VT/NY border and the next section of the NCT. We found this break and then decided to follow the trail to see if and how well it was marked for the NCT. 

Eventually, the trail came out and started to follow backroads to the NY/VT border and we found blue blazes at road junctures but nowhere else along the route. We found our way to Crown Point, the old eastern terminus of the NCT in NY. From there, we followed blue blazes into NY a bit before deciding to head back to the motel for the night. All this driving had formulated a plan for the next day to start at the VT/NY border, cross the bridge, and head into Adirondack Park. 

We returned to the motel, relaxed for the night, and I finished the half of my sandwich that I had started in the morning, despite the pain coming back on the roof of my mouth. I reviewed maps and websites until I could no longer keep my eyes open. I knew this trail was going to be challenging due to it still being under construction, but I guess I didn't realize just how challenging.