Date: 2013-08-06
From: Cooper Lodge Shelter, VT

To: Mountain Meadows Lodge on Kent Pond, Killington
Miles today: 10.4

Once again we want to thank everyone for writing to us. We get up every morning and check our messages if we have service. It means so much to us to hear from y'all. It keeps us motivated and cheered up. Sadly as we go North we hear we won't have much service. I am also using the Mophi phone case with an extra batter built in. It's been great. I also have the Mophi battery that gives 4 charges. As long as I can occasionally get to power we can still post. We seem to be headed for a very remote part of the trail very soon. It's funny, I plug in wherever I can find a plug...bathrooms, outside of stores, private homes, motels. I'm a power hog. Forgot to say that yesterday when we were lounging by that magnificent river 2 miners showed up and seriously began panning for gold!! We then noticed lots of flecks in the sand. Cub said she'd find a nugget and finance the trip. She earnestly and excitedly look but only found small flecks. We woke up after a chilly night on top of Mt. Killington. We saw a colorful sunset and then began to shiver. Our newest strategy is to cook a hot dinner around 5pm, clean up and then hike until 7 or 8pm. We couldn't find one single place to stealth camp so we had to go 4 extra miles to get to Cooper Lodge shelter. They had wooden platforms to put our tent on. We got it up in record time, diving into our bags as soon as we could get out of our wet sweat clothes and into our camp clothes. We sent back our winter stuff when it was 100 degrees and now we are freezing. All the hikers are in this predicament. One girl only has sports bras and absolutely no shirts. During the day when we hike we get hot and sweaty, especially when we are going uphill but when we stop we get chilly. Today I felt so gross I bathed in an ice cold river as the girls laughed and refused to join me. Cub has never been much for baths so she's happy to skip them. Her legs are caked in mud and she's as happy as can be. The scenery is spectacular. I know I keep saying this but it is gorgeous. We were higher than the ski runs, as we could look down on them and eventually crossed them. When we woke up it was 40 degrees!!!! This is their summer!!   We stayed in our bags until 8:30 when we decided it was potentially warm enough. It wasn't. We were shivering as we cooked oatmeal and hot chocolate and didn't warm up until we started hiking. The shelter was called Cooper Lodge so the privy had a sign on it that read "The Cooper Pooper". It had about 10 million fly carcasses in it, I don't know why. Maybe the smell, ha ha. Cub hates the privies and avoids them at all costs. She's a real outdoor girl. We are suspicious because she has the same small roll of biodegradable TP she started out with whereas Badonkadonk and I have gone through several. We read about a Mountain House Inn that served lunch and is right on the trail. Our week long supply of food was gone. We are hungrier so we are eating our food faster. We needed a resupply. When we hiked around the serene, glass-like Kent Pond we came upon the red chalet Mountain House. It is set upon a lush green yard with balconies facing the lake. Tomorrow there is a wedding here. We were walking around the building when someone yelled out the window,"Hey Floppers!" Several of our hiking friends were staying here. Grizzly and Fossil Phoenix and Mother Theresa. The owner said she didn't do lunch today but if we wanted to stay she was leaving so let her know now. Badonkadonk's big brown eyes got pleadingly bigger. I sunk. Also a shower and clean sheets plus time with friends is very persuasive. Cub wanted to make more miles and was ready to go on. We got the third floor all to ourselves. The lodge is a ski lodge. There's a bar(not open), grand piano, pool and ping Pong tables and lots of comfy couches. We hiked to a local deli and got so much food the guys made fun of us. I told them these little girls will make it disappear by Friday. They love having the green light to eat as much as they can, especially the fatty junk food and candy. Okay, so it is fun to eat like a kid's dream diet. We stopped by the local outfitters where they were luckily having a coat sale. The girls and I added weight to our packs but we need the warmth. The Whites are ahead and it can snow there anytime. It has snowed every month there at some time. Hopefully not when we wimpy Floridians are hiking through. We plan to wear Ziploc bags on our feet and hands if we get too cold. Grammie, we miss your electric blankets terribly and talk about them every night. To think a few weeks ago we were so hot we literally could not sleep! We sure have experienced every kind of weather. Just want to add that though we suffer through the weather we feel lucky to see the beauty of this magnificent country...both the beauty of its land but also it's people. This is one extraordinary experience. If you do it you will be amazed everyday. My clean cozy sheets are calling my name. Good night. (Thanks Blueberry for fixing all these blasted autocorrects and typos. Cub and I appreciate it. Smooches)