Date: 2018-07-12
From: Route 103 mile 1683.1

To: Killington Peak
Miles today: 11.6

I had a fantastic night of sleep getting up to pee only once, but having to walk down to the second floor and into the women's dorm room to use the facilities. A little further then I normally go when I climb out of my tent! Because River and I had planned to take the bus back to route 103 where we departed the trail yesterday we needed to skip the free hiker breakfast which started at 7: 30 and instead went to the deli and ordered a couple of breakfast sandwiches to enjoy there and lunch sandwiches to go. After we eat our breakfast we went back upstairs and packed our lunch sandwiches into our day bags. We thought the Ludlow Bus left every hour so instead of catching the 7 am bus we decided we would catch the 8. Unfortunately when we got to the bus station we learned that the bus leaves at 7 and 4 so we called for a taxi. The taxi driver Greg knew exactly where we needed to be dropped off and brought us right there. Today we would be summiting Killington.Without wasting any time we got right to climbing over Beacon Hill. We stopped for lunch at Governor Clement shelter, passed a sign for Mount Katahdin 500 Miles which was pretty exciting to see, and even snacked on some wild raspberries. Then we got right to climbing Pico which seemed to take forever and had no switchbacks. Near the top and 1. 3 miles from Killington Peak we got our first view of her. so near yet so far. The rest of the ascent was actually easier than climbing Piko itself.We arrived at Cooper Lodge shelter tenting area and promptly took the blue blaze point two miles up to the peak. About two-thirds of the way up I turned around and looked to see the most magnificent view rising up behind me but unbenounced to me as I face the rocks. Finally reaching the top I was in awe and I just stood there drinking in the distant mountains all around me. the lodge had already closed for the day so no snacks or beverages were available and the gondola was going to stop running shortly so we headed on over to the platform to make sure that we wouldn't be faced with our option b which would be to hike down today. We're slackpacking so there's no way for us to stay up here. River approach the gondola attendant and explained that we are through hiking and looking to get down from the summit this evening and come back up in the morning to resume our hike. We were ushered on to the gondola free of charge since the tickets are sold in the ticket office at the base of the mountain. when we departed at the bottom the attendant there told us that the bus would come in approximately 10 minutes not far away from where we were. This was great news! In less than 10 minutes the bus arrived and we hopped on. It made several stops before arriving at the bus station Behind The Yellow Deli but we didn't care because we had great conversation with Them and Poppy two sisters who were up visiting and day hiking together.When the bus dropped us off we went right to the deli and got down to the business of showering and putting on clean clothes so that we could get some dinner. We dined at the deli and I had a delicious salad, chili and Peach matte iced tea. After dinner we walked to the yogurt shop and back climbing the stairs to our oasis and journaling for a few minutes before falling asleep.