Tuesday, May 23, 2017
Governor Clement Shelter to Gifford Woods State Park
13.9 miles
We woke up at 5. Both guys left early with plans to stop in Rutland and go to the Yellow Deli Hostel, run by a Twelve Tribes spiritual group.
After breakfast, we left the shelter around 6:30. Killington Mountain was ahead of us. We had been told that Vermont was fairly easy until you reach Killington. I don't know about the easy part- -if he thought that then I was dreading Killington. It is 4.5 miles to the top of Killington to Cooper Lodge Shelter. The climb up was dark, rooty, rocky, and on the edge with a worn pathway. There was still frozen snow on the ground. It was cloudy and cold, despite the forecast of 70 degrees today. We saw lots of moose scat and fresh moose tracks on the trail. It looked like one had just been there and we wanted to see him, but were not so fortunate. After 3 hours we reached the Cooper Lodge Shelter, which was sitting at the base of a .2 climb to the summit of Killington. We didn't make that trek, but took a short break at the deplorable shelter before starting the downward climb. Cooper Lodge Shelter is without a doubt the most abused shelter I have ever seen. It is a fully enclosed stone structure with a door and windows, most of which have been broken out. Trash and graffiti was all over, inside and out. It probably gets lots of use from locals due to it's location. Killington is a popular ski mountain- -the third one we have crossed in Vermont.
It's another 4.5 miles down to VT 4 from the top of Killington. This side of the Mountain is not as rugged and steep as the south side and we enjoyed the view of Killington behind us as we went down. There is a section where the Old AT and the New AT are both marked, we didn't know the difference, so we took the new.
Governor Clement Shelter to Gifford Woods State Park
13.9 miles
We woke up at 5. Both guys left early with plans to stop in Rutland and go to the Yellow Deli Hostel, run by a Twelve Tribes spiritual group.
After breakfast, we left the shelter around 6:30. Killington Mountain was ahead of us. We had been told that Vermont was fairly easy until you reach Killington. I don't know about the easy part- -if he thought that then I was dreading Killington. It is 4.5 miles to the top of Killington to Cooper Lodge Shelter. The climb up was dark, rooty, rocky, and on the edge with a worn pathway. There was still frozen snow on the ground. It was cloudy and cold, despite the forecast of 70 degrees today. We saw lots of moose scat and fresh moose tracks on the trail. It looked like one had just been there and we wanted to see him, but were not so fortunate. After 3 hours we reached the Cooper Lodge Shelter, which was sitting at the base of a .2 climb to the summit of Killington. We didn't make that trek, but took a short break at the deplorable shelter before starting the downward climb. Cooper Lodge Shelter is without a doubt the most abused shelter I have ever seen. It is a fully enclosed stone structure with a door and windows, most of which have been broken out. Trash and graffiti was all over, inside and out. It probably gets lots of use from locals due to it's location. Killington is a popular ski mountain- -the third one we have crossed in Vermont.
It's another 4.5 miles down to VT 4 from the top of Killington. This side of the Mountain is not as rugged and steep as the south side and we enjoyed the view of Killington behind us as we went down. There is a section where the Old AT and the New AT are both marked, we didn't know the difference, so we took the new.
We made good time going down but my feet began to hurt
unbearably. When we got to VT 4 I had to sit and consider whether I could make
it the remaining 3.5 to our parked vehicle. I said I didn't think so but,
considering the options, decided to make a go for it knowing it would be slow.
One mile in we reached the Maine junction where the Long
Trail and the AT part, the Long Trail going towards Canada and the AT going
towards Maine.
At around 4:00, we finally reached Gifford State
Park headquarters where we were parked after taking several mini-breaks to let
my feet rest. I'm always glad to see the red truck, but especially today. We're going back to the Comfort Inn in Rutland for an unplanned day off tomorrow. 258.9 miles hiked, 42.9 to go to finish Vermont. I do not want to leave it unfinished. I’ll have to figure out what to do about my feet.
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