Date: 2018-12-05
From: County Roaf

To: VT route 9
Miles today: 11.2

We went back to County Road this morning. Papa Big Swig dropped it into low gear and drove me the whole way up to the trail. It was exciting and fun doing some real 4 Wheel Driving!  During our 4WD adventure we saw a woodpecker. It was one of those grey and black ones. He would peck a tree until we got up to it, then fly to the next tree. He did that several times until we finally passed him. When I got out of the SUV there were visible little shimmering ice particles floating in the sunlight. Papa Big Swig took a video of it.  It reminded me of dust dancing in a ray of sunlight coming through the kitchen window.  I went northbound today. My hike started out going UP. It was my biggest climb of the day at 3050ft elevation. I was equipped with much needed snowshoes again.  The hike UP took forever, but I had a great time looking at the bajillion animal tracks! Wow that hill must come to life when the sun goes down. I saw the most moose tracks I¢ve ever seen in one day. I bet there were 10 or 12 different sets of moose tracks. Hundreds of rabbit tracks! Bird tracks, deer tracks, and coyote tracks! I really had a fun morning! Just as I summited that climb my mind went to Lorax. I haven¢t heard from him in a while. I hope he¢s doing ok. On the way down there was a clearing for power lines. While I never enjoy seeing things like power lines on the mountains I was grateful for the clearing. It gave me my first beautiful view of the day. While I was enjoying my view I heard gunshots. The first and only time today. My original tramily(Daddy Shakira, Flower Boy, Feathers, & Texas) and I have been texting a lot lately. They are great people! I¢m the oldest and the slowest one of the bunch, but they cheer me on every day. Texas has a love for winter hiking. His words made me realize just how much I love it too. Winter is a particularly peaceful time in the forest. I think it¢s my favorite season to hike. I hiked around a pond today. It was Beaver Pond. There was also a run-off area called Beaver Pond Outlet. Each of them had several single lane boardwalks around them. I mastered those things like a snowshoe pro! No bog for me today! About 7 miles into my hike was Congdon Shelter. I¢ve noticed Vermont rarely has shelters right on trail. So my lunch reservations were made. I was ready for a break by the time I got there. As a matter of fact I had started looking for it 2 miles in advance. I love hiking in the snow, but it¢s physically exhausting. I couldn¢t sit down fast enough.  Lunch was a chicken salad sandwich, chips, and a Twinkie. I was re-energized and ready to go after my nice 20 minutes rest. I¢m only moving about a mile in 45 minutes on this terrain. Speed has never been my thing anyway, but I¢m usually much faster than that. I found myself bushwhacking a good bit today. So many trees are bent over and frozen to the ground. I was forced to make my own trail a lot. That cost me time. Needless to say, it was going to be after dark again today. My last mile of the day was a steep down to Rt 9. I had a rough down when I came there on a southbound hike before Thanksgiving. If this side is anything like that side it would not be fun in the dark and now in the snow too.  It was horrible! The grade is so steep, I couldn¢t stay on my feet. I had about 6 falls. Most of them were a soft landing in snow, but a couple of them hurt. I landed on a rock with my tailbone once. Somehow I hurt my wrist, and my ankle. I¢m bruised on both legs.  The last one mile took way more than an hour, but I made it, and Vermont is behind me now. There was Papa Big Swig. I was so happy to see his face. Until Next Time Blue Raccoon (2018) Where¢s your faith?