Vermont (July 17-25)

July 17.

In the morning I hiked by many beaver bogs, pretty with yellow grasses and rich with life.  Vermont, which hikers often refer to as “Vermud”, was living up to its nickname, with many large mud puddles that I did my best to skirt.  The trail was also often narrow with untamed hobblebush crowding in on both sides.

  

On the other hand, it was convenient that water sources were frequent, with abundant opportunities to filter water from creeks or springs.

July 19.

When hiking through the intense humidity of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York and Connecticut, I had often looked forward to reaching Vermont, where surely we would hike in cooler temperatures.  Just as I’d hoped, I started this day hiking in a coat.  It was a relief to leave the worst of the humidity behind.

I hiked up Stratton Mountain in the morning, a steady upwards hike over 5 miles to the summit.  A lookout tower at the summit offered a neat birds-eye view of the forested mountains below, with some patches of pines at the highest elevations.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I had been told by several locals about how nice it was to camp up on Bromley Mountain, a mountain with a ski slope and an observation tower.  I hiked several miles to the peak, where the trail opened out into a cleared downhill ski run, then climbed the open slope to the actual summit area.  I was amazed when I turned to look behind me at how the view opened up to reveal mountains and valleys surrounding.  It was a very scenic area. 

There was a mix of thru hikers and locals who had set up their tents on the grass of the summit.  I didn’t know any of the hikers there, but all the same, it was a nice atmosphere, with many hikers quietly chatting, and one family lying in the grass, reading books.  

I set my tent up, then climbed the overlook tower and spent a long time looking out at the shadows on the mountains and basking in a cool breeze that felt so good after days of humidity.

I came back down to eat dinner in the grass, then climbed up again with many others for the sunset.  Watching the mountains and the sun all evening was kind of like watching the eclipse a few months earlier.  I loved that everyone cared enough to climb up the tower and spend time watching the sun set.

It was a shared experience, with people often overhearing and laughing at one another.  A group of hikers laughed at their friend, a girl who laughed ruefully as she complained, “I’m so cold.  I think I’m gonna head down now”, before the sun had even set.

An older man pulled out a dehydrated ice cream bar, apparently a tradition, and passed it around to his family.  They each took a bite and laughed at themselves and the quirkiness of their own ritual.  “Mmm, good!” 

Later I laughed along with many others when people started heading down after the sun set, and one hiker said, “Well, that was good.  Now back down to my anime and Jersey Shore”.  From something wholesome and awe-inspiring to reality tv.  (The hiker must have been able to watch shows on her phone.)   

As people filed down to their tents, a few hikers lingered behind.  I chatted with them about how our hikes had been going lately and plans for hiking the next day.

Bromley Mountain was a neat place to spend some time camping and taking in the views, and I enjoyed meeting some of the locals and other thru hikers that evening.

July 21. 

I hiked several miles in the morning before reaching a road and following it to a nearby farm stand.  Stone’s Throw Farmstead sold flowers from multiple pretty flower beds, as well as several locally sourced specialized food items.  The hiker comments on my phone raved about the chocolate milk sold there as the best chocolate milk to ever be made.  I enjoyed a snack of pricey delicious chocolate milk and shortbread cookies.  

The owners of the farmstead had created a space for hikers to rest- two picnic tables under a canopy, with a trash can and outlets with multiple ports for charging electronics.  Though it would seem a small thing, I always appreciated when I could empty my trash bag somewhere and no longer carry the trash with me.  

The Appalachian Trail in Vermont overlaps (for 100 miles) with the Long Trail, a long distance hiking trail that spans the state, from the border with Massachusetts to the border with Canada.  I met hikers on several different journeys at the farmstead: two hikers hiking the Long Trail, and two hikers hiking southbound on the AT.  Southbound hikers notoriously tend to have more solitary hikes, as fewer people choose to hike the AT southbound compared to northbound.  

One of the southbound hikers implied that he’d been feeling lonely lately, and had been spending a lot of time listening to audiobooks as he hiked.  Apparently there is a program that offers some of the classics for free, if their copyright has expired.  Through the program he used (LibriVox), volunteer readers would read the book aloud, and a long book would use more than a single reader.  This hiker described listening to “War and Peace”, and how he’d really enjoyed the first reader, then the next chapter was read by a new voice.  It was a let-down after he’d gotten used to the first narrator.  Another hiker chimed in, saying, “Oh yeah, I really like Emily what’s her name”, and he said, “Oh yeah, I know, she’s great!” 

 

I enjoyed learning about this free program, as well as hearing that other hikers were listening to some long classics out in the wilderness.  I was currently working my way through “Crime and Punishment”, which sometimes felt like a slog.

After a refreshing break, I started hiking up to Killington Peak, another steady ascent of several miles.

July 22.

The trail passed through Gifford Woods State Park on this day, which I found to be a nice retreat.  The park allows hikers to use their quarter machine shower facilities even if they are just passing through and not camping.  I spent a couple of hours at the picnic table there, snacking and sitting after taking a shower.  

I walked by pretty Kent Pond in the afternoon, then on a boardwalk near Thundering Falls.  The surrounding area was pretty with milkweed, and lush meadow surrounding the boardwalk.

An older Austrian-American man stopped me on the boardwalk and asked if I were thru-hiking.  He and his wife were nice, laughing easily at my answers to their questions.  They asked some day hikers behind me, “Are you two thru-hikers, too?”  The hikers said, “Through here!”, then joked, “We’re something, I don’t know what you’d call it though.” 

It was a beautiful afternoon and people were in good spirits. 

July 25. 

One of the things that stuck out to me on this final day of hiking in Vermont was hiking through meadows of bee balm, black-eyed susans, milkweed and Queen Anne’s lace.  It was pretty to be there in later summer to see the wildflower blooms.

 

 

 

 

 

 

In Vermont, I appreciated the cooler weather, a few trailside features like the Stone’s Throw Farmstead and Gifford Woods State Park, wildflowers and funny comments and conversations with other hikers.