And this, our life, exempt from public haunt, finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, sermons in stones, and good in everything.
~Shakespeare
Hike from The Lookout to Rt 4
AT miles: 17.3
Ascent: 3795’
Descent: 4343’
Weather: humid and slightly sunny with temps in the 70’s
Sightings: the sun — an unusual sight in Vermont this July
High points: the waterfalls and a delicious dinner at The Yellow Deli
Today we saw some great waterfalls! In the morning the trail meandered through a fir forest and climbed a noticeable mountain. Predictably, the trail was very muddy.
We passed our first waterfall, made that much more impressive by all the rain.
Near the top of the unnamed mountain we came across a unique way of climbing up a boulder — a ladder!
Once we climbed down that mountain we crossed Rt 100 and immediately walked through a beautiful swamp full of wildflowers. Thankfully the powers that be had made a lovely walkway.
Then we walked by the most impressive waterfall of the day — Thundering Brook Falls, the highest waterfall in Vermont!
We walked through Gifford State Park.
The park ended at Gifford Pond, a lovely remote body of water. I wanted to sit down on one of those Adirondack chairs!
We passed yet one more waterfall.
Then the trail did a rapid and muddy ascent and an equally rapid muddy descent down to VT Rt 4. After only a short wait a city bus came and took us to downtown Rutland, where we found our lovely hostel. It is run by The Twelve Tribes, which some consider a cult, but it is scrupulously clean and friendly. After being greeted with iced tea and a muffin we found our bunk room and went down for a scrumptious homemade dinner. The local Walmart is only a block away so after dinner we went there to do a resupply. And it started to pour so we got soaked on the way back to the hostel!
Today is a great day for a long walk in the woods!
Wonderful waterfall-kind of day for you both!! Much better than Water Country too! 💦