Date: 2012-07-27
From: Cooper Lodge Shelter 

To: The Inn At The Long Trail Killington VT 
Miles today: 9.6

Last night it rain off and on but it never got too windy so we all stayed dry and surprisingly, even with the windows open, it stayed warm in the shelter. We did not get up till around 7:00am and we were all very slow to getting out of our sleeping bags and into our cold damp hiking clothes and boots. We finally headed out at around 8:45am and started down the other side of Killington Mountain down to Piko Mountain. It was still very foggy out and the trail was wet, muddy and very slippery so we were taking our time so we did not slip and fall especially with my old worn out boots that have no tread left on them. We made it down to the next shelter which was on top of Piko Mountain but we did not take a break there, we just wanted to get to town. From that shelter the trail went continually downhill for 1200 feet to the bottom of the mountain. We started down and soon we were back into the hardwood forest and out of the clouds and we even started to dry off a little. We made it to the bottom of the mountain, crossed the road and started up the next mountain; I think it was close to 1000 feet up from the road. Once we got up on top of the next mountain, the trail followed the ridge for a little while then we got to the half mile side trail that went to The Inn At The Long Train. We headed down and got to the Inn at around 2:00pm and found that Just John and the weekend hikers were there eating lunch so we joined them and soon after Jersey and Hill Hiker showed up and ate lunch as well. The three of us and Hill Hiker decided to split a room and we ended up getting an apartment type place with two rooms, one bathroom. We all showered and then did our laundry. Hill Hiker had a mail drop there so he did not need to resupply but we did so Big Sky and I headed into Rutland VA to the Wal-Mart while Sugar stayed behind and did the laundry. The town of Rutland is 10 miles west of Killington so we decided to take the bus there. It stoops out in front of the Inn but it was the last run of the day so once we got there we were going to have to hitch back to the Inn. The guy at the front desk said that it is a very easy hitch and he even gave us a sign made out of cardboard that said Inn At Long Trail so we got on the bus and we were on our way. We got to town, did our resupply and walked a few blocks to VT 4 which is the road that the Inn is on. I stood on the corner of the intersection holding the sign trying not to look homeless but look like a nice clean hiker. I even tried doing a little dance but all I got was a lot of stares and a few honks. So we started walking back to Killington and tried to hitch again once we got to the next red light and within five minutes a van pulled over and told us to get in. Here the driver was also a hiker. He hiked the Long Trail last year and he understood our need and was super happy to help us out because we were the first hikers he got to give a ride to. He drove us back to the Inn and we unloaded the grocery¢s and said goodbye...thanks so much for the ride. When we got back we found out that there was a writer for a local magazine interviewing hikers at the Inn and that had already interviewed Hill Hiker and they wanted to talk to Big Sky and me as well. They took all kinds of pictures of us, asked us a ton of questions and then took our information so they could send us copies of the pictures they took and a copy of the magazine when it comes out. They were very interested in my boot that was all worn out and they even wanted to take pictures of them as well, I think they took more of my boots than of me! Then they took pictures of my completely filled piece of scratch paper that I use for shopping lists, planning days ahead, phone number and whatever else I needed it for...it was really cool. Once they had left we headed back to the restaurant below the Inn and found that it was packed so we asked if we could eat in the sitting area and they said we could so we had our own little quiet place to eat supper. A few other sobo hikers joined us and we ended up talking until around 10:00pm. Tomorrow we lined up a 20 miles slack pack southbound back to the Inn so we will be staying here tomorrow night as well. We are heading out early so it is time for bed...night all.