Date: 2013-08-04
From: VT103 Rutland

To: mountain Meadows lodge
Miles today: 21.3

8.4.13 Sunday - day 126VT103 Rutland -Mountain Meadow Lodge21.3 miles - 11 hoursSteep climb up rock pile to wake us up. Met sobos Houston & Skurks on the trail, good luck you guys, much respect to sobos for starting at Katahdin & getting past the White mountains to get to here, not an easy task. Good luck to all Long Trail hikers who will be splitting off from from us on the AT now & heading to northern Vermont then into Canada, enjoy! I heard its nice up that way, maybe sometime I can return and complete the Long Trail. Lunch at Governor Clement shelter, 2nd oldest shelter on the AT, with Doc & Nory, father & son team, wow what a blessing that must be to thru hike with dad, vice versa. Summitted Mount Killington thru light drizzle & occasional thunder at a distance. Very green & mossy with lush ground cover everywhere. Mix of light drizzle, cloud mist sometimes sun. Rest at Cooper lodge shelter near summit, this shelter has a heavy door to block the wind, joined by long trail hiker brothers, Wilson, Doc and Nory. Much cooler windy at summit. Ski slopes & facilities on other side away from trail. Descend fast since weather questionable. Again down into the moist lush cloud zone. Near the bottom we pass volunteers working on the trail, always make a point say thank you, every stepping stone, erosion ditch, footbridge, trimmed hedges etc work of volunteers. Hope to return to volunteer someday too. Especially new England after hurricane volunteers did great job caring for large areas in a short time. Cross over route 4, path parallels road. Cool trail midway up the hill, surrounded dense knee high plants cover whole floor tall trunks emerging here & there. Just before reaching state park hail falls out of the blue for a quick minute! Pencil eraser size, can definitely feel on head shoulders but not terribly painful. Very odd, not even cold at all, first time getting hailed on so far. Forest gives way to large open lawn next to the lake, arrive at Mountain Meadow Lodge, red barnhouse exterior on gentle hilly lawn, lake on low side, animal pen goats pony in high side. surrounded by ridges at a distance. Alice the resident pig roams yard & rests in own house. Horse shoe, corn hole, volleyball, fishing, boating & more. Inside nice big comfy lounging area with bow windows facing lake & mountains. Shelves stocked with books, magazines and boardgames. Large dining area wood furniture country themed with artwork everywhere, including many pig decor, very stylish. Owner Bill does it all. Great place too stay, dinners are very good too. Unique memorable stay, popular with winter sports vacationers during cold months. Surprisingly we arrive at a time when there is no wedding going on so luckily we get in. Indy & Pony Bear there at dinner table, as was Stink Bug & Honey Bun, what a pleasant surprise to see them again, last time was over a week before Harpers Ferry. Ate dinner together and caught up on stories and had a few laughs. Enjoyed a Long Trail Ale during dinner. So much good food, salad, salmon, chicken, vegies and breads, as much as my appetite could handle, quantity and quality for sure. Bill & helpers played volleyball while we ate, after dinner i walked the property taking photos, tried to photograph Alice the pig but she hiding in her house. Light rain ends sun to the west, rainbow in front of mountains to east. Talking with Indy on lake pier while photos of scenery lit by sinking sun. Was invited to play volleyball, even after 20+ miles i couldn't resist. Played a game and said i was done, their response was one more game, which became a second, third, forth. Legs were worn already so not much power for blocking n spikes. Haven't played in a while, my game a bit rusty as i expected, but were some good moments. Very fun to play again but not the smartest decision to risk getting injured at this point. Luckily no harm done. I feel like I really needed that, nice to mix in another sport after doing so much hiking. What a fun day, good night.