Leath Tonino

writer of journalism, fiction, and poetry; born and raised in the Champlain Valley

Seven Lengths of Vermont

The Long Trail: a 273-mile Animal

Day 17 

He’s probably 75 years old, hiking solo. He says his name is Dean, says he spent all yesterday sitting by a mountain pond. “Too great to pass up. I didn’t hike a mile. What’s the hurry, anyway?” he says. Dean is a small man with a towering pack. White hair. Smiles a lot. “I’m out here for the experiences,” he says. “That’s all I want.” 

We part ways; he north, me south. It hits me about 20 steps down the trail that Dean is my hero. That man is Vermont’s answer to the ancient Japanese mountain sage. Later that afternoon, when I reach the pond he’d spoken of, I take the longest lunch of my life.

from The Animal One Thousand Miles Long: Seven Lengths of Vermont and Other Adventures by Leath Tonino (Trinity University Press)