Date: 2012-07-28
From: The Inn At The Long Trail Killington VT 

To: The Inn At The Long Trail
Miles today: 21.7

This morning we were up and ready to be picked up and dropped off at the trail by 8:30am. We got dropped of north of the trail at around 9:00am and we headed south back to the Inn. Today it is to be rainy once again in the afternoon so we are going to try and get back to the Inn before it gets here. When we started it was still sunny out but that did not last too long, soon the clouds rolled in but it did not rain.We hiked about two miles and got to the first shelter that we were going to pass but we just kept moving on. The trail went on an old mountain road for a few miles after the shelter it was flat and soft from all the pine needles. We then headed down hill to a road and took a break there because we had a big long climb up and over a mountain. We started up and soon after it started to drizzle off and on but it was not bad enough to make us put on our pack covers. We got to the next shelter which was a third of the way up the mountain and we just took a short water break then continued on.A little further up the trail we ran into Just John going NOBO and we talked for a while then we all decided to meet up in the next town tomorrow night and then we went our separate ways. We finally got to the top and started down the other side which went down steeply and it was really slippery from the rain showers over the last few hours. We got down to the bottom of the mountain and found a cooler full of oranges and bananas so we took a break there and ate some fruit before we continued on.At the bottom of the mountain there was a detour around a boardwalk but we were told from Just John that the boardwalk was passable and long with another detour further down the trail. We decided to skip the roadwalk around the boardwalk and we just went through and it was indeed fine. After the board walk we got to a lake and went around it and on the other side was the other detour around a washed out bridge but we just rock hopped to the other side and continued on. We crossed a road and got to a State Park Camp Ground and the trail went right through the campground. We took a break there, used the restrooms and refilled our water bottles then continued on.From the state park we only had 3 mile to go but there was a 1000 foot climb up and over another mountain between us and the road to the inn. We slowly made our way up because it went up a 1000 feet in one mile so it was steep but we were soon at the top and the other two miles were all downhill to the road. Right as we started down the mountain there was a close rumble of thunder and it got really dark and windy so we picked up our pace to all but a run to try and beat the storm. We went another mile and got to where the Long Trail and the AT split and that was when it started to rain so we just gave up and put on the rain covers finished out the last mile in the pouring rain.We got to the road and started up to the Inn and I saw a day hiker that was also caught in the rain. He was headed to his car and I asked him if he could take the four of us a mile up the road to the Inn and he said he could. We all piled into his little car, it was very cramped but it was dry and he dropped us off at the inn. We all took our wet and muddy boots off outside and headed back up to the room to shower and get into dry clothes. Once we were all in dry clothes we headed down to the bar for supper and watched the Olympics for the rest of the evening then called it a night. Tomorrow at around 9:00am we are going to be picked up again and dropped off at the same place then we will continue north so it¢s time for bed...night all.