Date: 2007-07-20
From: Governor Clement Shelter

To: Killington, VT - Mendon Mountain View Resort
Miles today: 4.4

It rained again last night. I was in my tent and it was still raining when I woke up. This is the first time I have not been able to dry my tent out before the next rain. I was happy to find the tent was dry inside even though the tent fabric was soaked through when I put it up. I started packing up my gear and the rain stopped. I saw a little blue sky for a few minutes, but it didn't last long. It was overcast but not raining, when Bugbite, Gadget and I headed out at about 7:00. The trail this morning climbed 2,000 feet in four miles to the top of Killington Peak. It started raining after 3 miles. The skies just opened up and dumped heavy cold rain for about 30 minutes. I reached Cooper Lodge first. Someone had spray painted "LOCALS ONLY" on the door. I guess there are a few unfriendly people all over this country. Cooper Lodge is a four sided building with a door. I went inside and found Michael and Leader of the Pack. They had spent the night there. It was cold up at the top of the mountain. All of the windows were broken out, so the lodge provided little protection from the wind and cold. Gadget, Bugbite, and Walking Cowboy arrived shortly after me. The were all at the shelter, when I decided to climb the steep rocky 0.2 mile trail to Killington Peak to check out the snack bar and gondola. It was very windy and cold and I was soaking wet. I reached the other side and found the Gondola running and the restaurant open. The restaurant did not serve breakfast but had muffins for sale. I asked the Gondola operator about what was at the bottom of the hill. The clouds were thick and you could only see about 50 feet. She said there was a ski lodge at the bottom and the local bus that ran to Killington and Rutland stopped at the lodge. I bought some muffins and headed back to Cooper Lodge. When I got back, Michael, Gadget, and Walking Cowboy had already moved on because it was too cold to stay still. Leader of the Pack and Bugbite were still there, so we ate the muffins. Bugbite asked me if I wanted to hike down or take the Gondola down. I needed to pick up a food box at the Killington post office. I wasn't sure I could make it to the post office if I hiked down and I was very cold and shivering. I voted for the gondola. We took the gondola down to the K1 lodge. (They don't charge thru-hikers to ride). I was surprised the gondola at a ski resort would be running in July, but they actually have mountain bike trails. They hang the bikes on the back of the gondola cars and people ride the gondola up the hill and their bikes down the hill.At the bottom of the hill we found out the bus only runs 5 or 6 times a day. We missed the 10:00 bus and the next one wasn't until 1:00. The Killington post office was still 6 miles away. We tried hitching, but had no luck. After about 2 miles we cane to some shops and another bus stop location. I left my pack their and Bugbite stayed their. I could move faster without the pack and wanted to get to the PO before the next bus came by. I reached the PO around 12:30 and saw Gaiter Girl there. I picked up my food box and went next door to the Deli where the bus stops to ask about the schedule. The girl said she didn't know, but one had just gone by a little while ago. I rushed out and tried hitching back up the hill to get to my pack before the bus came back down. Fortunately a man stopped within a couple minutes and gave me a ride to the shops.The bus arrived about 10 minutes later. We got on the bus and went to Rutland. Bugbite went to the PO there and then we went to a shopping center for resupply. I had all the food I needed. The skies had now cleared and it was sunny and warm. I spread my stuff out and let it dry, while Bugbite went shopping. There were some strange folks around downtown Rutland. I was glad to get back on the bus and head up the hill to Mendon Mountain View Resort. It started raining again while we were on the bus. I got a room there for the AT hiker rate of $25 (About $30 w/ taxes). I spent more than that for dinner in the restaurant there. The food was very good, but smaller portions than a hiker wants.I was glad to be cleaned up and have everything dried out. The staff did our laundry for $3.Breadless Horseman was also at the resort. I updated my yourgmap website with my latest progress and was able to access Little Red and Wolf's blog site. I scheduled out some more of my journey. The White Mountains are coming up in about a week. This area is very remote without a lot of resupply options. It is also very rugged and has a lot of places above the tree line. Others have told me not to schedule more than 8 to 10 miles a day through this area. I finally went to sleep around 2 AM.