Date: 2007-06-25
From: Home 230 Elm Street, Norwich, VT

To: Home, Sweet Home 230 Elm Street, Norwich, VT
Miles today: 32.0

Never again! Of course, that's what I said last time I did 30+ miles, but this time I mean it. I thought it would be different because I didn't have a full pack on, but it still doesn't feel good now. We started way too early this morning, and ended way too late. In all, it was about 14 solid hours of hiking today. That wouldn't be as bad if it didn't involve a long car ride on both ends as well, but having to drive home at the end of the day, already exhausted, is painful.We left the house early and ate bagels in the car. Professor and I got out at Sherburne Pass and headed south, while Renaissance Man and Hornblower drove my car back around to the road we'd ended at yesterday. Hornblower was going back on the trail for real, but R-Man, Professor and I were planning on coming back to my house again. When we came across R-Man, he tossed us the key to the car so we could get it and drive it back to Sherburne Pass to pick him up at the end of the day.Killington is one of the five 4,000 foot peaks in Vermont, so when we got up to the top, we had to climb the spur trail the last .2 miles (straight up!) to the top, so I could check it off my list. I'm trying to climb all the 4,000 foot peaks in Vermont and New Hampshire, and Maine, too, if I can get up there to do it. After Killington, the rest of the day was a bit easier, although there was still a lot of climbing and descending. Vermont is not easy hiking, and it took its toll on us.At the end of the day, Professor and I stumbled into the parking lot, just as it was getting too dark to hike. The sun had gone down a bit before, and around 8:30, the light started to fail. By 9:00, it was just about too dark. Any later and we'd have needed a flashlight. It's too bad that we had to rush to beat the darkness, because Vermont is beautiful hiking, and today had a lot of places that would have been fun to stop and enjoy for a bit. Right before the end, there was a pond that would have been perfect for swimming. It was clear and beautiful, set in amongst the mountains. We saw fish jumping, as well as a couple of beavers swimming around.Today we ran across trail magic, not once, but twice! First, we found some crackers and sodas left by Mad Hatter (who gave me a ride back from Trail Days), and then a little later, we found some sodas sitting in a stream. Both places I remembered from last fall as having magic then, too. It's wonderful that people do this year after year. The register with the sodas in the stream said that they'd given out over 1,500 sodas last year.When Professor and I ran across Scoops going North, we told him what we were up to, and let him know that if he waited at the Long Trail Inn in Sherburne Pass, we'd pick him up and give him a place to stay tonight. He was waiting there when we got back, as well as Renaissance Man. Scoops came with us back to my house, but R-Man went with a friend of his who'd come by to pick him up. He'll be off for a few days, then start back from there. In the car, the three of us decided that the best course of action would be to take tomorrow off to recover from today's foolishness. Professor's feet were in bad shape, and I could use a rest day. Now, we're all clean, and full with more of my mother's delicious food.The Brain