Date: 2018-07-15
From: VT Route 100

To: Chateauguay Rd mile 1715.3
Miles today: 11.2

I was up at 6am as usual and quietly got myself ready. River started our breakfast of scrambled eggs with sauteed vegetables, avocado and fresh fruit while I made Kim's tea. Kim was awake when I delivered the tea to her bedside table, that's a good sign! She had us at the trail head just after 8am. Early in the hike I felt like today would be a rambling scenic stroll past Kent Pond and Thundering Falls. But once we were past that area we started climbing Quimby which Aligator had previously shared was "surprising" to her. Yup. I see why. Once we reached the top of Quimby we were soaked in sweat and bounced down a little to some power lines before going back up to hit another summit. We stopped for a quick lunch at Stony Brook shelter before finishing the descent to Stony Brook and a footbridge where we came across a nice gravel road that is not on any of our guides or maps, but was clearly passable because there was a Subaru parked there with the hatch open and no one around. We noted a very sweet looking campsite near the brook and the area was unexpectedly semi-open and inviting. And then there it was.....one more climb. So many of the climbs in northern VT have been without switchbacks. I was drenched in sweat by the time I reached the top where River and I had the same idea of texting Wind Eagle to let her know about the terrain. Ruth is not experienced and these climbs today may be overwhelming if they don't break them up and perhaps camp at the site near the footbridge. We crossed a couple more streams and finally came out to Chateauguay Road after having enough signal to email Kim confirming the pick up time. We took a right onto the dirt road and began walking and expressing how passable the road would be with my 4 Runner. And then about a half mile down that all changed. We were faced with giant mud puddles that we had to navigate around thru the woods. The conditions continued to deteriorate until the road was completely gone. What remained was a stream bed complete with water and mud just totally ravaged by mother nature and the obvious aid of 4 wheelers. Even some of the old culverts had been moved to the side. So we rocked and mud hopped never able to look up for nearly 1.5 miles until the road appeared again. We agreed that there was no way we could walk back thru that in the morning and we'd need to find another way in. We were really happy to see Kim and her dog Baci who were there to meet us. She had cold soda for us and Baci had kisses! We stopped for snacks at the store on the way back to Kim's. I needed a food reward in the form of a Mounds bar! Kim's friend Lisa came over and we all sat in the hot tub together visiting even though the hot tub wasn't working today. It needed a reset and the electrical panel is locked. The maintenance man did offer to come over but that would be 45 minutes, so we just enjoyed visiting in a lukewarm tub until suddenly we were joined by children. We were pruned anyway...time to get out.While we were hiking today River's friends Pete and Michelle from Michigan who were scheduled to arrive tomorrow texted and said they would be there tonight, a day early.They are coming to Killington for a Jeep Jamboree and they want to slack pack us while they're here. We had a nice salad and burgers for dinner and River and I worked late on Kim's laptop and 2 phones pulling up maps to find another way to get to the trail crossing on Chateauguay Rd. Pete and Michelle would get us there in the Jeep. River even called the sheriff's office to see about the road from the other side. It was really late, around 11pm when we finally had the plan nailed down and I went to bed. Kim will drop us at Michelle and Pete's rental in the morning. The 2nd bedroom has 3 twin beds so we'll spend 2 nights there and be slack packed for 2 days. I'm excited to meet these people, River had talked so much about them and their little girl Jana. Plus 2 more days of slack packs and showers! I will make Kim tea again in the morning and she will only have to drive us 5 minutes away instead of way out on dirt roads.