A very different day today with Team Hustle and Flow split up. Thanks to my tired day yesterday Miranda and I had a big day ahead of us. Luckily we were able to get going pretty quickly, Landon is always the one that takes the longest to get ready in the morning. Once we were underway it wasn’t long before we encountered a road crossing where there was a major detour. Sandy had done a lot of damage to the trail and they are still working on repairing it. We glanced at the sign for the detour and headed off down the road expecting to see more directional signs. After a while though we started to think we were on the wrong track. I thought I remembered that the longest piece of the detour on the road was 0.8 miles and it felt like we were well over a mile. Finally we decided to pick a house along the road and ask for directions. Turns out we picked the right person to ask but were totally lost. The woman we met was part of the trail club that was working on maintaining the trail; she told us we had gone the wrong way along the road, and that actually they were so close to reopening the trail that we could go ahead and use it instead of taking the detour. After thanking her and starting to walk away she offered to drive us back the mile plus to the trail – we readily accepted.
The trail for the next couple miles was awesome since it was freshly dug in most places and scarcely used for months in others. It paralleled a nice stream for most of the section as well. We stopped for lunch at a shelter and had to spend a couple extra minutes there after Miranda sliced her finger with her knife trying to cut cheese. Once the blood stopped we pressed on, beginning our ascent of Mt. Killington. Killington was a pretty serious mountain, the climb was steep and felt like it went on for miles. The forest at and near the top was magnificent though, I think this was the highest elevation we’ve seen in New England. There were ski slopes on Killington and visible on surrounding mountains.
We ended up that night at a fun place Landon picked out – The Inn at Long Trail. Just a little ways off the trail, the place featured comfortable rooms and an Irish pub. Miranda and I arrived near 7:00, Landon already had the room ready, had showered and was at the pub eating dinner. Indeed, the shower was particularly nice today. got cleaned up and headed over to the pub for a hearty meal of hamburgers, fries, and onion rings.