.July 3, 2006 Lynn and Snoopy walked with me as we left Cold River Road. About 10 minutes into the hike, Lynn headed back. After yesterday's long hike of 20 miles, Snoopy needed a rest so I sent him back with her. He didn't want to go, but I knew it was for his own good. A few minutes later I crossed Gould Brook.
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After crossing Upper Cold River Road, I came across some more trail magic. It was too early in the day, and the cooler hadn't been refilled yet. There was a plastic garbage bag tied to a tree filled with empty soft drink cans. No matter, I wasn't looking for a drink, I try to save trail magic for overnight hikers.
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I thought this sideways growing tree was interesting. At first I thought it was dead but on a second look I noticed it was quite alive. I checked the stump area of the tree to see if it was damaged, but it wasn't. Looks like the tree just grew this way.
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I reached a dirt road with this bridge across a stream. There was a flier in a plastic bag stating if hikers needed a place to stay, they could follow the road a quarter mile and stay at a shelter on private land. After I crossed the bridge the trail went to the right.
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Next I came across the Governor Clement Shelter. This shelter is too close to ATV and jeep roads. As a result, it gets a lot of use by non-hikers and is abused. It's too bad, this shelter had a fireplace and everything. I noticed inside some of the boards for the bunks were missing with a sign stating "Stop using the shelter for firewood." What a shame.
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The trail following the shelter follows an ATV road. When I am on a dirt road or wide trail I get lazy watching for the blazes. As a result I missed my turn. I realized there were no white blazes but blue diamonds stating I was on a cross country ski trail. I jogged back to where the the trail cut back into the woods. I only lost a few minutes. The trail gets very steep after this as I begin my ascent of Killington Peak. The trail gets pretty rough in some places.
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I came across the sign below and checked my map to see how far I had come. I had a ways to go to the top, but the steepest part of the trail was over.
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Notice on the sign that there is an "LT" before the "AT". This represents the Long Trail and is the first sign I have seen for it. The Long Trail goes the length of Vermont and is 265 miles. For roughly 100 miles the Long Trail and the Appalachian Trail are the same trail. The Long Trail is considered the oldest long distance trail in the country. It's even older than the AT.
I neared the top of Killington Peak where I would have to take a short blue blazed trail to reach the top. I recently decided to expand my list of 4,000 foot mountains to include all the 4,000 footers of New England. At 4,235 feet, Killington Peak qualifies. I ditched my pack in the woods and headed up. The trail was only .2 miles but was extremely steep with scrambling required in some areas.
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Here's a view from the top looking towards Pico Peak which I will be climbing next.
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I met a family at the top. There are ski lifts and a gondola on the other side of the mountain. Maybe even a road. Seeing they had small children, they must have come up one of these routes. The father took a picture of me on the summit.
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There is a tower at the top, but the bottom level was enclosed and locked. I was kind of glad, otherwise I would have forced my self to climb it.
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I headed back down, rejoined the AT, and continued north when I came across the Cooper Lodge.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ As you can see from the picture, it's not a lodge, just another shelter. I stepped inside and met a woman who was thru hiking. I only talked a minute and didn't get her name. I continued on my way and forgot to check out the privy. I know checking out privies sounds a little ridiculous but they often have funny signs. I knew there was a funny sign on this one from reading 'Runtrails' journal, but I forgot to check it out. Bummer. Here's a picture of the sign that I borrowed from her website. If the shelter is the 'Cooper Lodge', it only stands to reason that the privy would be the 'Cooper Pooper.'
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Here's a stone staircase I came down.
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After hiking a while, I could hear hiking poles behind him. I am competitive by nature so I quickened my pace. I could still hear the hiking poles against the rocks. I ran a little hoping to stay ahead of them. I got a glimpse of who was behind me. It was the woman from the shelter. It's not that I mind being passed by a woman, it was the fact that she was a thru hiker carrying a full pack. I am definitely not one who believes that women are the weaker sex. After all the hiking I have done, I personally only know of two people who have completed the entire AT. They are both women and both of them did thru hikes. The first is Beth Damon who works in the Physical Therapy Department of the hospital where I work. She is the one who has motivated me to complete a section hike of the AT. The second is a woman who I have corresponded with named Sue Norwood of 'Runtrails' fame. Sue is the one who has motivated me to keep a journal as I section hike the AT. Anyway, this woman behind me was gaining on me when I reached the sign below.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ I was planning to take this side trail to hit the top of Pico. The woman caught up to me.
"Hello again," she said.
"You're moving right along," I said.
"So were you. I'm trying to get to the Post Office before it closes. Is that where you are going?"
"Nope, I'm just out for the day. I'm taking the side trail to Pico."
As she continued on her way, I realized this sign saved my pride of being passed by another thru hiker. I was taking the side trail so she didn't really pass me, although another minute or two on the trail and she would have.
I ditched my pack in the woods and headed up to Pico. This would be nearly a two mile roundtrip detour, but it was great to hike without my pack. Even though it only weights 10-15 pounds, it makes such a difference having no pack. It is called 'Freedom Hiking' and I understand why.
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After half a mile I reached the Pico Camp.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ When I opened the door I was startled by this guy as he slithered across the floor.
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Another .4 miles and I reached the top of Pico. It's not a 4,000 footer but it is close at 3,957. It does qualify for the list of 100 tallest mountains in New England. Although I plan to hike the first 67 mountains on this list (4,000 footers), I probably won't hike all of the remaining 33. I plan to hit most of them but about a dozen of them do not have trails to the top.
Here's a chairlift for the skiers, but obviously no skiers today.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Here's a look back at Killington Peak.
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I made my way back to the AT and began the long descent of Pico Peak. Here's a view from Mendon Lookout.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ I continued another couple of miles when I crossed this bridge just before U.S. Route 4
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I met Lynn at the AT parking lot here. I was able to drop off my pack with her allowing me to do some more 'freedom hiking.' Snoopy was well rested now so he would join me for the remaining 3 miles of today's hike.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Green, green, and more green.
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I met the section of the trail where the Long Trail and Appalachian Trail split.
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Just out of curiousity I went up the Long Trail a little bit. Now that it was no longer part of the AT, I wanted to see how the trail was marked. I couldn't believe it, they still used white blazes. The split in the trail was adequately marked but if someone did manage to take the wrong trail, they could be following white blazes and think they were on the AT. I went back to the junction and headed north. For northbound thru hikers, Katahdin is less than 500 miles away.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ One last look back to Killington Peak.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ With less than 1 mile to go, I began the steep descent down to Gifford Woods. Lynn met me coming from the other way and we finished the hike together.
Lynn's Day
Lynn had a great morning visiting the Norman Rockwell Museum of Vermont on US 4 outside of Rutland. There are no original paintings here, just reprints. The museum in Stockbridge, Massachusetts holds many of his originals.
Lynn's afternoon wasn't so great. She spent it at our leanto and was eaten alive by bugs. She hates bugs, but is willing to put up with them for me. Thanks Lynn.
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