Some people walk in the rain, others just get wet.
~Roger Miller
July 21, 2021
Hike from Rt 4 to Governor Clement Shelter
AT miles: 10.6
Ascent: 2650’
Descent: 2673’
Weather: pouring rain changing to partly cloudy in the afternoon. Temps in the 70’s
High point: The conversation around the fire at the shelter
We started the morning with a wonderful homemade breakfast at The Yellow Deli. After catching the city bus back to the trail, we started hiking around 8:30.
It was another morning of rain, best described by words like soggy, soaked, sodden, and drippy. The trail consisted of rocks, roots, and mud — lots and lots of mud.
We made our way up Killington Peak (4242’), a tall mountain best known for its ski area. Occasional stone steps made the trail a bit easier, but this ascent was seriously tough hiking, especially with all the mud. Wombat and Pipes, two SOBO hikers we met at The Lookout, joined us for a bit, and the conversation made the miles go by faster.
The wet trail really made for miserable hiking.
We stopped for lunch at a cute enclosed cabin near the top of Killington. I had hoped to hike to the top of Killington to see the view, but it was too cloudy to bother.
We made the mistake of hiking down quite quickly since we were trying to keep up with Wombat and Pipes. I really couldn’t maintain their pace, and I fell and rolled my ankle. I was rather chagrined though thankfully not really hurt. I learned my lesson though — always hike at your own pace or slower if need be! Even though it was still early, we stopped and set up camp at the next shelter.
We had dinner and admired a pesky chipmunk, and around 5:30 many other hikers started pouring in. We have quite the tent village here — 8 tents! This shelter has a lovely stone fireplace, and Wild Man kindly made a fire. It was very cozy, and we spent two hours talking with Yukon Cornelius and three recently minted PhD’s from the University of Chicago and another PhD from OSU and several others. Oddly enough, almost everyone there had lived in Columbus, Ohio, at some point! The funniest topic was wondering why in northern New England lakes (bodies of water that have an atrophic layer) are frequently called ponds (which strictly speaking only have a trophic layer). Needless to say, there were several biology majors in this gathering!
Today is a great day for a long walk in the woods!