Catamount Motel in Bennington, Vt.

And I slept on the strange pillows of my wanderlust

Appalachian Trail 2017

Day 122, Zero Day in Bennington

Thursday, August 10, 2017

When a long distance hiker takes a zero day, the idea is to not just hike zero miles. It is also to do as little as possible.

Truth is, there are tasks that must be done on a zero day to prepare for the next section of trail. The day is usually filled with a to-do list of laundry, resupply, and loading up on extra calories. The intent may be to rest, but stuff has to get done.

Still, it's important to let your body recover after the days and days of physical exertion, and I did my best today to achieve that goal.

Weather Partly cloudy with a high temperature in the low-80s
Today's Miles 0.0 miles
Trip Miles 1,610.6 miles

For this zero day, I was mostly successful in the morning of doing nothing. I slept until almost 8 a.m.

Stick was keyed up about meeting his daughter, and Homeward Bound was preparing to get back on the trail, but they kindly did their best to not disturb me. I woke up just before Homeward Bound was about to leave.

Stick took our laundry down to the motel office. The manager did the washing and drying for just four dollars. For handling toxic substances, that's a small price for us to pay.

There was one slight problem, though. When we got our laundry back, one of my socks was missing. Fortunately, after I asked the manager about it, he found it stuck inside the washing machine.

Late in the morning, Stick left to pick up his daughter, Becky, at the bus station downtown. The room we had shared with Homeward Bound was now my room, and I stayed there to rest some more.

After Stick picked up his daughter, they moved to a different room.

Downtown Bennington, Vt.

When Becky and Stick were settled in their motel room, we left to run a series of errands. First was a trip to the post office in downtown Bennington, then came lunch at a local Mexican diner called Cilantros.

Boarding bus in Bennington, Vt.

We then walked to the bus station, the same one where Stick picked up Becky this morning.

Vermont has a well-developed bus system. In addition to the intercity system Becky used to get here from Burlington, Bennington has a regular line of intracity buses. We rode one to Walmart, which was located on the edge of town.

I was able to find everything I needed for the next section of the trail except a replacement for my water filter.

That was enough running around for one zero day, so except for making phone calls to my dad and my wife, I didn’t do much else.

When it was time for dinner, Stick, Becky, and I walked back downtown and found Madison Brewing Company. Though te beer there was good, the food and service were only just okay.

I didn’t care. I needed a day to relax, and for the most part, I got it.

I pulled into the Cactus Tree Motel
To shower off the dust
And I slept on the strange pillows of my wanderlust
I dreamed of 747s 
Over geometric farms
Dreams, Amelia
Dreams and false alarms

From “Amelia” by Joni Mitchell

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