Date: 2014-08-16
From: VT 103

To: US 4 / Inn at Long Trail
Miles today: 17.4
Weather: clear sky

We had an awesome day slack packing. It was even better because we made it work without an actual vehicle to help us out. Rock and I were up by 6am. Ponds was up shortly after us. Maverick looked like he was not planning on getting up anytime soon with his head face down in the pillow. I packed my gear and took a quick shower before going to the main dinning room for the breakfast we received with the room. The Inn is an amazing place and I believe it is a "must stop" for anyone in the area. After my spinach and cheese omelet, I left the room and brought my gear across the street to the free camping area. It is a nice grassy area next to a parking lot. It is very flat which makes it that much better. The wind was blowing pretty quickly which did not help the colder temperatures due to the cloud cover. It is supposed to clear up soon though so Killington should have a beautiful view today. It was just after 8am by the time Rock and Pond got set up. The three of us walked down US 4 to the trail and set out south bound over Killington just as the sun was starting to come out and warm things up. It was a good seven mile climb from the road up to the summit of Killington, but it was worth every step. I checked out the Churchill Scott Shelter a few miles in. The last time someone has signed the log book was four days ago so apparently it does not get used since it is so close to the road and probably because of the free camping next to the Inn. The forest is very cool in this area. It again reminds me a lot of the Great Smokey Mountain National Park near Gatlinburg, TN. Rock was in front of us all day since I did not run into him until I got to the Cooper Lodge Shelter. I planned to stop for a snack before getting here, but it went by so quick that I forgot to stop. The grade was not that bad today which made it a pretty easy hike. Ponds hiked in shortly after I did. This was obviously a big party spot. We heard from a few day hikers that you can ski right up to it, therefore skier I'm sure use it for a "hide out" every now and then. We did not stay there long since it was cold and windy. The summit was a .2 mile side trail straight up. It was a blast! The view was unreal and made my day today. We took pictures, looked around for a bit, and remembered a local telling us there was a gondola free for thru hikers if we could find it. We checked out the weather station then found a ski trail. I said if the gondola is anywhere, it is down this trail. About .1 miles later, sure enough I could hear it. I came around the corner and boom, there it was. There were day hikers, bikers, and travelers everywhere. Also, there was a massive newly built lodge with a 360 degree sky view. We checked the lodge out and ended up having lunch here before using our free gondola ride down to the base and back up. This was Rock's first time in a gondola so he was pretty pumped. We ran into a few people at the base of the mountain that were baffled to hear we started hiking in March in Georgia. I sometimes forget how far we have come. We found out starting at 4pm there was a free Jimmy Buffet cover band concert that was BYOB. We jumped on the gondola back up to the summit after calling Miss Janet to see where she was. We told her what we did today and what was going on after finding out she was on her way to the Inn at Long Trail for the night. She said she'd pick us up at the road and bring us back to the concert along with whoever she had if we hurried. So, we flew down the backside of Killington which happened to be a pretty easy hike like the way up. She was there waiting for us and it was only a ten minute drive back to the base lodge. We got there just after 4pm and the band was rocking. We had around 12 hikers total and we fit right in, minus our smell. It was a great few hours listening to music. We ended the night with dinner and live Irish music back at the Inn at Long Trail. I was in my tent around 11pm as it was starting to rain again. My sleeping bag felt amazing after a day like today! I am loving the fall weather.