Journal Entries

Cooper Lodge (shelter) at Killington Peak - ‘lodge’ is an overstatement! Old and quite decrepit- large, uneven stones set into the dirt floor; window openings without glass; gaps in the mortar between the stones forming the walls; one of the bottom sleeping ‘decks’ broken and on a tilt- lots of character and history here! The most uncomfortable detail was the rain that leaked through the roof - splashed in about 2:00 AM- albeit a risk taken as this construction detail was noted earlier by builder @hammerhead :)

Creative pitching my TarpTent Stratospire 2 on the wooden tent platform. Thankfully the platform was perfectly sized for the tent making the job quite easy.

While my parents dry out their gear from last nights rain @toesalad pitches our home for the night.

Cooper lodge has seen better days. But we finally reached the top of Killington. One of the most significant mountains on the southern section of the Long Trail.

Leaving snack break at Governor Clement Shelter. And now we really climb.

So much of the trail today was just gorgeous! I just loved it.

Monday Sept 17th, day 10- loving this sequence of sunny days. Our day’s endpoint is Killington Peak; along this stretch the Shrewsbury Peak Trail intersects with the Long Trail -so many places to hike!

Three-backpackers-on-a-log selfie. Hey, look, my eyes are starting to look normal again.

@toesalad @hammerhead @karentogo banging down apples. Today we hiked along the edges of fields, so picturesque, and enjoyed some crunchy, tart apples.

@hammerhead checking his Green Mountain Club Vermont’s Long Trail map (an excellent and accurate resource) as we leave Clarendon shelter. Signage and trail marking was great- @toesalad also had Guthook’s app- all in all, our navigation was well-covered. (For the record- this is the morning after a brief evening downpour that resulted in a wet tent floor :( survived the night okay although we have some discovery work to figure out the source of the problem. Tent was pitched on a hard pack slope which didn’t help!)