Date: 2007-08-14
From: Lower Cold River Road

To: Long Trail Inn
Miles today: 18.5

Today I enjoyed much cooler hiking temperatures and superb views from the summit of Killington Peak, VT's second highest peak (4,235').I awoke to a clear and cold morning. My thermometer read 41, the coolest temp I had seen in a long time on the trail. The cold temp made it a bit more difficult than usual to put on wet hiking clothes but I quickly warmed up and soon was comfortable in just shorts and t-shirt.I took a quick break at Governor Clement Shelter and filled my water containers for the climb up Killington Peak. The peak was 4.4 trail miles and 2,345' above.Just as I was leaving the shelter Black Stallion arrived and I ended up hiking with him most of the rest of the day. He is hiking the Long Trail from MA to Canada. Although he is still in high school and will start his senior year this fall, he seems to be very mature and a sharp guy. I enjoyed his company and sympathized with his being a young hiker on the LT since I was 15 when I did my LT hike. We made good time up the hill and arrived at Cooper Lodge near the summit of Killington in under 2 hours. I left my pack at Cooper Lodge and hiled the final 0.2 mile summit side trail with only my camera and binoculars.The summit of Killington is right at timberline. The spruce-fir trees at the summit are mostly less than 8' tall and all gnarled by the wind and beat up by the snow. In spite of their small size many of them are hundreds of years old. Their small size is the product of severe weather conditions and a growing season that probably doesn't last much more than a month each year. These Krumholz trees are unique to high mt areas at timberline.The skies were clear with good visibility and we could see nearly 100 miles. I recognized VT's other highest peaks, Mt Mansfield and Camels Hump, that the LT will pass over some 75 trail miles away. I also saw peaks such as Stratton, Glastenbury and Greylock that I had already walked over in the past two weeks. To the east, the White Mts of NH dominated the skyline and Moosalauke was prominent on the horizon. This will be my first 5,000'+ peak since VA, and my first above treeline peak of the trip. I'll be in NH's high peaks in only about 9 days of walking, yet they look so far away. The communications towers and summit station for the ski are gondola detracted from the view somewhat and it was a busy place with lots od tourists and mt bikers offloading for their downhill runs.From the top of Killington Peak it was 2,415' and 6.6 miles down to Sherburne Pass and US rte 4. My knees felt the drop by the time I got to the bottom.Rather than walk 1 mile up rte 4 to the Long Trail Inn, I decided to hike another 2.4 miles on the AT as it ran around the back side of a nearby peak and diverged from the Long Trail footpath to head east to NH. I then took anothet side trail a half mile off the AT back to the Inn. Mom and Dad were waiting for me at the Inn and we all had reservations to stay for the night. It had been a long day on my feet and I was tired. We went to dinner after I showered, did laundry and hung most of my gear up to dry in my room. Bedtime was almost immediately after dinner.