We made it to the summit of Killington. After this, the Long Trail and the Appalachian Trail divide. The Long Trail, the older of the two trails, continues north through Vermont to the Canadian border. The AT turns east and heads toward New Hampshire crossing into the Granite State at Hanover. We still have many miles to cover, but fewer every day!
On top of White Rock above the town of Wallingford, Vermont, is a sculpture of white rock in the middle of the woods. I thought it was a pretty cool discovery on the trail. Some people might see it as forest graffiti. In either case, it was unexpected and diverting!
We have had a great time passing through southern Vermont and a large part of that has been due to the generous hospitality provided by the Foote family. They graciously provided us warm beds, showers, shuttles, and family dinners which meant we were able to slack pack across several peaks. Awesome, and a huge thank you!
The picture above shows Farsight on Mount Baker. The beautiful white rock is mined from quarries visible across the valley to provide the famous Vermont marble in monuments and structures like the Jefferson Memorial, the US Capitol, and the the US Supreme Court.
This beautiful scene is not the opening shot of a science fiction video where Farsight has emerged to save Earth from disaster, though that may appear to be his spaceship! We are actually on top of Bromley Mountain here in Vermont ski country, and that is the mountaintop lift. The AT passes over several peaks in Vermont with well known resorts including Stratton, Bromley, and Killington.
When you want to slack pack as much as possible, you need a vehicle that can climb the mountain forest roads that take you to the trail on the ridge line and deep in the woods. That's why we bought the "Trail Rated" Jeep. We got to try out some of the off road features today. Lots of fun!
Honestly, you can also pretty successfully slack pack with a Honda Civic or any other reliable vehicle, but it's still fun to own the Jeep and imagine other cars can't get where we can.
Farsight successfully negotiated the latest in a long series of famous mud slides, pits, and holes throughout Vermont. Luckily, we are here in later summer when the ground is dryer, and it's been a reasonably dry week until the afternoon thunderstorm today. For those readers who really enjoyed learning about healthy soil at Farm Aid, or anywhere else for those who didn't go to Farm Aid, I will say the mud is impressively black and rich. If the soil on the farms is like the soil in the forest, it makes sense that Vermont is so fertile!
From the peak of Stratton Mtn, you can hike a short side trail to the Stratton ski resort scenic gondola ride down to the village and various lodges where you can eat, shower, go to a concert, play cornhole or ping pong, frisbee, get an iced beverage, and sleep in a bed! I'm here with Farsight ready to head up to the mountaintop and our hike on the AT.
We decided to flip direction after it became apparent that bug season (and tough mountain climbs and descents which will take more than a day or two of conditioning) wasn't quite over yet in Maine. The drive took almost 8 hours and would have taken a shortcut through Canada if I'd brought my passport. Maine is a big place. We took advantage of the downtime to see a few local sites, and to visit friends near the trail. This included a great time in Bennington sharing dinner with the Foster family!
Engineering is just plain impressive, especially when you are terraforming with your teeth. Maybe we need to figure out how to adapt beavers to Mars?
Litchfield Beach, South Carolina won't be the only white, sandy beach that we visit this summer. The AT through Maine offers some great swimming along the ponds. From the air, and I guess from the right height in Google Earth, you can see just how much water there is throughout the truly vast forests in northern Maine. The day before this hike, we took a swim with half a dozen loons. Unfortunately, we have to skip this nice sandy beach on East Carry Pond to continue to the next lean-to and get our tent pitched. Later that night, we heard the loons on West Carry Pond calling to each other in otherworldly clarion songs.
Then, we heard the thunderstorm beating down on our tent for several hours. We were dry, and continued southbound the next morning.
Of all the rivers, streams, and muddy puddles that seem as wide as rivers, only one truly requires a boat - the Kennebec River south of Caratunk. Farsight utilizes his rowing expertise to power us across the current.
