Green Mountains Vermont Section Hike
Day 1
The town of Barrington from the bus window. Another town access spot to the AT. I will likely end here if heading southbound from where I started this time.
Manchester Center
Starting trailhead. No buses or taxis. I managed to snag a ride with the owner of a local hostel.
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First view from high elevation of the Green Mountains
After a few miles you ascend to a ski hill and I must not have taken any photos here... but remember it being a very cool place and the ski patrol crew leaves their warming hut open for thru hikers to sleep overnight. I don't think it had any water sources nearby but shelter, electricity, even a plug in dryer lol, and a ladder with elevated viewing platform for a sunrise the next day. There was 1 flip flop thru hikers staying there. He said he usually hikes up to 17 miles per day and averages about 12 each day on average when factoring in zero days
Already seeing what could have been ticks after I had to pass through thick brush after the first of the ski hill descents
Terrain of the shared AT and Vermont Long Trail. The two branch off from each other in another ~10-15 days. I actually crossed paths with more people doing the VLT than the AT
I was planning on sleeping here in this shelter but there was a homeless guy rolling around in his sleep and comments from guthook confirmed there was a masked guy hanging around. I didn't think much of it until it was getting dark and I trudged to another camping spot.
Griffith Lake
There were 4 other people and I think they all had the same initial plan with the shelter and the change of plan with the homeless dude
Day 2
Gaining elevation
The road that merged with Derby turned out to be a major day hike spot with many people out on the Saturday. Afetr turning a corner on the way to Little Rock Pond a naked guy who looked like Santa was hiking southbound. He explained that hiking nude is legal in Vermont and it is a tradition on the AT to hike nude on the summer soltace day. He had a group of about 7 that day and they tried to recruit me by saying that it will be common the next day. I didn't see anyone else besides them following suit. It was an odd encounter but they were all super friendly.
Trail magic. There ended being 2 of these for my section which is pretty good odds for a < 100 km section and earlier than the usual pack of northbound thru hikers
Little Rock Pond Shelter
Site of abandoned village
Trying to hitch into Willingford for dinner at the local pub. Unsuccessful so cold food for me tonight
Colours in bright bloom
Late evening miles under the powerlines
Day 3
High point
Rutland southern airport?
A few guys panning for something on the Clarendon Gorge
AT survey marker
Throwing Stone Farm resupply. They had choc milk, fresh bread and hummus, dehydrated meals, salami and cheese. Heros... and a great business too
More houses off the beaten path and slightly off the AT to take advantage of the road walk miles and less mud
Killington Peak. I think the second highest peak in all of Vermont. 4242 feet
Also summer soltace. There were a few Dartmouth students who day hiked up here for sunset
Day 4
I opted to descend into Killington then take the bus route since the historic inn at Shearbourne Pass was closed until forth of July. This was good initially until the road turned into a very overgrown ski run and I had to hop on an pump track that will be converted into a mountain coaster which seemed to take forever since it only very slowly lost elevation
There was a free bus service of 1 hour from the Ski town to Rutland Vermont. There is a single train per day at 11 AM which I was taking south back to NYC per day. There is a spiritual group based here that offers bunks to hikers and invites you to join their community. Interesting place
