Vermont is Maple Filled Mud Pit

Vermont is a mud pit.

A nasty gross mossy maple filled mud pit.

I know they said it would be muddy. I know they said you will never have dry feet. I should have taken them at their word. There is no trail in Vermont, no blazes, or trail maintenance in Vermont. There is only swamp and cesspools. You know that scene from Never Ending Story where the horse dies in the swamp? Yeah, I’m pretty sure that’s Vermont, but for hikers hopes and aspirations.

It was nasty, soupy, and sludgy going through the Green Mountains. Despite the wet and damp, it is beautiful, covered in dense moss and knotted tree roots. The early settlers of Vermont named it correctly, Ver Mont – Green Mountain. Everything here is lush and verdant, covered in dense pine and soft mosses and liverworts. It looks like fairies or elves should be coming from between the trees, that perhaps instead of worrying about bears I should be far more concerned about unicorns.

Overall, I had a great time in Vermont. I think they have some of the best shelters (Shoutout to camping on Bromley Mountain and Luce’s Lookout Cabin). We also got to go to some fun little mom and pop grocery stores when my Mom visited. I discovered Vermont makes superb fancy ice cream, milk, and beer. Like, I knew Vermont was know for its dairy, but I didn’t know it was this good. Did I mention the Vermont beer is excellent. Dreamsicle and I have a theory that it is due to to the excellent water quality, we noticed that even with filtering the water in Vermont is extra crisp and fresh.

Speaking of, we got to see some family during our time in Vermont. My Mom visited to do trail magic for hikers and she practically ran an underground hiker hostel out of an Airbnb. It was kind of a crazy weekend, slack packing 43 miles in two days and going back to the Airbnb to find “more strays” had been collected during the day. My mom seemed to really enjoy being involved in the thru hiking community. Due to my fathers unexpected death in 2022, her thru hike of the PCT was cancelled and her plans were shattered. She seemed to enjoy being part of the community and helping hikers by spoiling us in food, beer, and laundry.

Dreamsicle’s family came out to visit and took incredibly good care of us. They treated us to amazing food and a fun tour of Killington. It was fun visiting breweries and making new friends on our zero. Dreamsicles family is a hoot and I lived getting to spend time with them.

My favorite part of Vermont, besides the abundance of maple syrup products, was staying at Luce’s Lookout Cabin. This is a privately owned cabin that is maintained as a shelter near the AT towards the end of Vermont. It is nothing as special as the Goose Pond Shelter, but is a simple two story wood cabin equipped with a rickety ladder to a viewing platform on top of the roof. The view from this shelter is spectacular. A view to the west of the Green Mountains and your first view of the whites to the east. I was lucky enough to catch sunset, sunrise, and a glimpse of the stars on a clear night.

As much as I gripe about the mud and the moisture, I loved Vermont. It was an absolutely stunning, the emerald of the AT. I hope to come back in the future and take the time to actually visit more of this state. I think that can be said about every section of this trail, the desire to spend more time in these places. They are all so special and unique to their home states. I wish I could take the time to return and visit, to see all these cool places I missed, but that is a future problem.