Date: 2013-08-01
From: Lower Cold River Road

To: Inn at the Long Trail
Miles today: 13.5
Weather: light rain

This morning we saw the lingering effects of Hurricane Irene, which hit Vermont with a vengeance in August, 2011. We had to do a road walk because a bridge had been washed out. I think the whole thing actually did the AT a favor because the bridge that was missing was on the road that allowed partying locals to abuse the area around Governor Clement Shelter. This shelter has such a bad reputation that hikers do all they can to avoid having to spend the night there. The road walk wasn't extra mileage and the shelter and it's surroundings looked much improved and little used. Shortly after, we began the climb up Killington Mountain. It was badly eroded so that footing between the rocks and roots was difficult and slow; this is the result of the death of many of the trees from acid rain, the pollutants blowing in from Ohio. I know the sulfuric emissions have been drastically reduced in the Smokies and assume that the regulations that have benefited them are in play here too. It's just a testament to how long and complex recovery of an ecosystem can be. What are the roots of young trees going to use for soil, since so much of it has washed away? We were surprised when we came upon the tent pads at the Cooper Lodge Shelter and had lunch with Fly Away. He had planned on meeting Can Do at the top of the mountain; she was going to ride the gondola up, but the gondola wasn't running today. There was some blasting being done somewhere close and the access road was also closed. We spent some time in the shelter which reinforced our thoughts that this shelter is in a cold location. A local dayhiker and his daughters came up and chatted awhile. He told stories of New Yorkers who would ski down this side of the ridge thinking that it was like a volcanic rim and would circle them back to the slopes. Instead it would dump them into a bowl where he would hear them yelling for help. His very calm and sarcastic response was to tell them to follow his footprints in the snow and stick out their thumbs at the road and everyone would know just what they had done! He also said that the snow got so deep up here that locals could ski down the mountain and right over the shelter roof. That's hard to imagine! We had decided to take the Sherburne Pass Trail down to the Inn at the Long Trail, the old route of the AT. I hadn't been this way before and it was a pleasant walk with good views at Pico Camp Shelter. I laughed at the signs where the trail intersected ski runs which stated that leaving the trail would leave one beyond any rescue or cell phone service and that one might have to spend the night in the woods! Another example of the local attitude toward New Yorkers who did whatever they wanted because everyone knows that they would never want to risk spending a night in the woods! Rain had been forecast for the afternoon and it did not disappoint. Bear Bag and then Can Do met us on the way down and we tried real hard to walk between the raindrops. It didn't really start coming down until we were dining on awesome Guinness Stew in McGrath's Irish Pub. It was definitely a successful day! We had a nice room at the Inn at Mountain View, just down the road a mile or so since the Inn at the Long Trail was completely booked.