Into the mountains of "Vermud"

As we get further & further into Vermont the muddier it gets. The middle of the trail has become one big mud hole. We have to puddle jump or better yet rock hop your way around the trail. We finally had some rain again which brought the temperature way down. Instead of 95 during the day it's down to 75. Night time temperatures are in the low 50's. So, we are sending for some of our cold wearher gear since we are heading back up into the mountains. 

 

PaddyCakes hoping rocks on the trail. 

Cloudy view of a pond we crossed

Later in the day the sky opened up & gave us a great unexpected  view. The sun was shining down into the valley beautifully. Spanky, PaddyCakes & I were climbing some rocks when one of us turned around & saw what we almost missed behind us. 

Big puffy clouds. 

The sun shining through was just amazing. Especially after hiking through the rain for several hours. 

This picture is kind of freaky because Spanky is kind of fading into the background. 

All of the rivers & creeks we passed were super high from all the rain the night before. We were lucky enough to have a hotel room but some of our buddies said the volume of water that fell from the sky that night was unbelievable. The most they had seen on the trip. 

PaddyCakes & Spanky playing on a suspension bridge. 

The next morning was overcast again but we beat the rain & just had a little drizzle. Throughout the day we came across two of the largest caren gardens I had ever seen. One was so large & impressive. The carens were placed up the cracks of the boulders. Some were even in trees. 

Gloomy morning as we walked past another pond. 

PaddyCakes & I both added our rock to the collection. Then we had lunch there. It was truly magical thinking of all the people who had added to the creation & wondering who started it. 

One of the carens in the tree. 

The second caren garden. 

After enjoying all the rocks we hiked down to a nice sized double waterfall. Since we were making good time we crawled around down in the water for a while. 

There were even carens down by the falls. 

PaddyCakes enjoying the view 

Me enjoying the carens. 

Later that day we hit some high points & saw some mountains in the distance. I am sure we will end up climbing some of them. 

To finish the day we came across a river that had cut out these beautiful shapes in the rocks. Some of them most unusual looking. So since we are such water lovers down we climbed to take an evening dip before making it to camp. The water wasn't as cold as I expected but PaddyCakes skip the water anyways. Not me, in I went. 

Some of the interesting rock cut outs from the water. 

Enjoying the water. 

We came to another suspension bridge. This one was extra bouncy & fun. 

As the day came to an end we decided it was one of the best days we had had in a while. So we ate dinner & tucked in. That night we camped right next to a river but the temperature dropped really low that night & we got CHILLY! Also it got so cold that the battery in our phone died. I was a little upset since we were going to have a mountain view the next day. 

That morning we had a long climb up to Killington Mountain, one of the highest peaks in Vermont. It seemed like the miles drug on all day long but we finally made it to the top & enjoyed the great view. The only negative thing was a gondola ran to the top of the mountain since it was a ski resort. This meant there were tons of people up there, and TONS of kids. It sometimes is so deflating to hike & climb all the way to the top of a mountain so you can enjoy the view just to be bombarded by the "weekenders" who rode the gondola up & who's kids have tons of energy since they didn't climb up & are running around like mad children. But, it is what it is & the view was still great. 

View from the top courtesy of Spanky since our phone was dead. 

As the day came to an end we entered a State Park that had a shower house that we got to charge our phone in. So while we were charging we had dinner then moved on. We found a great stealth camping site right by Kent Pond. It was more like a lake though. 

Another small waterfall before we stopped for the day. 

The lake was literally right outside our tent. This was our view from the tent. 

But before we called it a night we were blessed with the most amazing sunset over the water. I just couldn't believe the colors & the reflections off the water. I took a ton of pictures but these were the best. Enjoy!

This morning we are hiking into Killington city where we pick up a resupply box thanks to wonderful Ms. Gail. She has even made special treats for us this time. Yum yum. Also Sleeping Beauty should be back on trail in a few days so that's real exciting too. Alot more mountains in our future with the Green Mountains then the White Mountains coming up. We officially have less than 500 miles to go. That is exciting but also a little sad to know our adventure is coming to an end soon. We have made it four months & only have one to go. New Hampshire is only two days away so I better get going. Hope everyone enjoys the pictures. Until next time. 

-Puddin'