Day 144-A Long 9.4 Miles!

Aug 9-9.4 trail miles-Cooper Lodge Shelter to Gifford Woods State Park-AT mile 1707.1

Happy 23rd Birthday to my youngest son, Nolan! I texted him this photo this morning. 

Early morning on the top of Killington Peak. 

Here’s a few others from the peak. 

Going up. Thankfully, no pack. 

Pano view

LB of course

Flat Will found the climb easy. 

Did not climb this fire tower (actually, you couldn’t anyway). 

The descent back down was slow slow slow. I had to set my poles down and use my hands on the rocks. 

We put our packs on back at the shelter, and began the climb down from the mountain. It seemed to go on forever. Just when I think my knees are getting better, I have a sustained downhill that makes them hurt more. As usual, it was slow going. 

I caught up to Sure Foot, thinking it was snack time. Well, it was, but it was also the 1700 mile mark!

We had to make the marker again. I guess people don’t care at this point. Sure Foot, Flat Will, LB, and I care!

We finally made it to the bottom. We crossed VT 4, and headed up for a gratuitous climb of about 2.2 miles, then another mile downhill to Gifford Woods State Park. One mile in from crossing VT 4, we said goodbye to the Vermont Long Trail. 

Now back to just the AT. We have spent 153 miles in Vermont on the AT/Long Trail. The general consensus is that we are glad to leave the Long Trail. There will be less people now. 

At Gifford Woods there are 4 campsites for AT hikers. It’s $6/person. They have hot showers here, so I enjoyed that. We had to walk another mile or so to the Killington Deli and Market to get our resupply for the next three and a half days. I tried to get us a ride back to the park, but no one was willing. Oh well...what’s another mile or so of road walking...

Mosey and Irish are here. Mosley’s wife is coming on Friday. Mosey said we won’t need to worry about getting a ride at any point on our way to Maine. I have Loris’ number, and I’ve been told by Mosey to call her if we need anything! How nice is that!!!

Red Baron is also here. He came up while I was at Mosey and Irish’s campsite, and said, “Hi Two Wheels.” I thought, that can’t be Red Baron. He should be way ahead of us. Turns out he has been off trail for 11 days due to a bad shin splint. He’s going to the same place the guys, Sure Foot and I are going tomorrow. 

So, we’ll do 14.2 miles tomorrow. We were going to do less because of where the shelters are (either too short or too long). We’re going to a place called The Lookout. It’s a private cabin. Loris makes the guy’s itinerary, and Mosey texted it to me. At least until Norwich, we’ll probably hang with them. 

Now I must go to sleep...I am very tired...even after just 9.4 miles.