New England Round Trip Sept 9 - 18, 2008

Day 1: Arrived in Boston 3:43pm
Drove to Lanesboro, MA. 90-W to 91-N up to Greenfield (2 hours), exited Mohawk Trail/Rte. 2-W to North Adams (1 hour). North Adams Rte. 8-S to Lanesboro (thirty minutes). Watched sunset over North Adams from mountainside. Checked in Mt. View Motel, where Leeam upgraded us to a cabin (good man). The hilliest and most scenic section of the Mohawk Trail is from Greenfield to North Adams. Appx. Total Trip Time: 3.5 hours from airport to motel. Sunrise 6:26AM Sunset: 7:13PM

Recommended restaurant: O’Reillys on Poontusec Lake. Very yummy, very affordable. Total was about $30 with drinks, not bad.
Day 2: Mt. Greylock State Reservation. Hiked to summit of Mt. Greylock, the highest summit in MA. Started out Roaring Brook Trail from Roaring Brook Road/Rte. 7 appx. 2 rocky miles up Roaring Brook Trail to Hopper Trail at Sperry Campground. Detoured onto March Cateract Trail to Falls appx. 1.7 miles. Back to Hopper Trail to AT to Summit appx. 2 miles. We pass this beautiful pond before reaching the summit then see the monuments of Thoreau and to the War Veterans.

From Driftin' & Dreamin'

Had lunch on the summit. Returned Hopper Trail/AT 2 miles, 1.5 miles down Sperry Road to Stony Ledge Overlook. Beautiful area here. Then down, STRAIGHT down, Stony Ledge Trail which we have renamed TKR Trail or Total Knee Replacement Trail for appx. 2.5 miserable miles to return on Roaring Brook Trail. 7 hours on the trail today. Good news is Park Roads are closed so there’s foot traffic only, not many visitors. Forgot to establish GPS signal so guessitmate by Visitor Center map is appx. 13.5 mile trip today.

Day 3: Drove from Lanesboro to Bennington, VT (1 hour). The plan was to hike Harmon Hill then continue on to Rutland, VT (1.75 hr.)to Mt. Sport Inn, but we did not do this hike today because the hike is mostly up stone stairs and our knees are shredded. I thought I was going to be disappointed by not making it to Glacier NP this year and I thought these mountains were wimpy since they don’t compare at all to those in Glacier but I guess it’s me that’s wimpy. I can’t believe how punishing that descent was yesterday. Absolutely no switchbacks just downhill. The waitress last night said her boyfriend snowboards on it but it's "wicked illegal"; I thought that "wicked crazy". Took a zero day and hung out at at South Street Café. Had a tasty lunch, some good coffee and got online. Gearing up for Killington/Pico hike tomorrow. It was a beautiful drive up to Rutland/Killington from Bennington. The road ran North between the mountain ranges and some pretty farms. It was a gorgeous day, blue skys, with white/grey clouds hanging low, casting shadows on the green mountains. I imagine it’s pretty incredible at height of color change.

Day 4: Did the misty mountain hop today in some pretty soupy conditions. 10AM: Hiked up Shelbourne Pass Trail from Pico Mt. to Long Trail/Appalachian Trail about 3.0 lush, beautiful, gradual uphill miles in a dense white fog. There is moss and ferns everywhere and it smells like Christmas trees. Visibility on the trail is good but no views. Made for some fast time to Killington Peak (appx. 5.5 miles. No good photos; view completely obscured. Rain started as we approached Cooper Lodge. Hung for a few minutes and talked to a guy doing the Long Trail to Canada. He said he had 150 miles to go. We pushed on the .2 miles to the summit in the rain via the narrow rocky staircase.

At the top, I really felt like a drowning rat clinging to the tip of pitching, sinking ship because I'm surrounded by an ocean of fog and I'm being whipped by gusts of swirling, magical mist. I couldn't see the edge; it was pretty freaky and I dare say I was scared. On the descent, finally on the descent, we saw two turkeys (very appropriate) and a huge beautiful owl that flew ahead of us for a time. Not being able to see too far in the distance, and it raining a bit harder now, we veered too far right and ended up at Bear Mountain ski area instead of base of Killington. This ski area is closed by the way, practically deserted since April, so it looked like Friday the 13th fodder.

We finally made it to a ‘residential road’ which is still high on the mountain, mind you, and by this time, my mended knee was shredded again and I was walking like Frankenstein. Luckily, we were able to hitch a ride with Plumb Bob (a local plumber/snowboarder) who was kind enough to stop & give us a ride back to our car. Thanks to Bob for not being a psychotic killer because I would not have been able to run away. Minus the time hanging out with Plumb Bob, estimate is 10.5 miles and appx. 5.0 hours. Despite getting lost, Bob Sardelli, the Innkeeper (another cool Bob) said we made good time so we felt pretty good. The mountain is beautiful and brutal and deceptive and definitely not wimpy. I enjoy this kind of thing.

Recommend: Lookout Bar & Grill (more casual, comfortable, pool table and games, good local beers Long Trail Ale and Switchback), Choices (more expensive, but damn good, esp. Rotissirie Chicken). I had two glasses of Pinot Noir and a Vermont Hot Apple Cider with Southern Comfort, Contreau, cinnamon, and orange with dessert. After dinner, my pain started to subside.

Overnight at Mt. Sport Inn. Sunrise 6:27AM Sunset 7:06PM

From Driftin' & Dreamin'

Day 5: From Rutland/Killington, VT to Adirondacks & Lake Placid, NY. The plan today was to hike the Van Hoevenberg Trail to Mt. Marcy, the highest peak in NY but guess what?!...my left knee is injured so I am wearing a knee brace and popping Advil. This is the first knee injury I have ever had and it’s no joke. It feels like that crazy iceskater, “HardKnocks” took a baseball bat to my kneecap. The Adirondacks are nice but Lake Placid is very touristy. I am bummed today because Alan keeps pointing out every trailhead and there are a ton of them but we can’t hike. It is a zero day in every sense of the term. Walked around the town of Lake Placid and took some photos of Mirror Lake. There is trash and cigarette butts on the shores and I am so glad we are out of here tomorrow. Drove up to Whiteface Mountain but the gate to the summit was closed and they want $18 a car anyway. What a complete ripoff. Sunrise 6:33AM Sunset 7:10PM.

From Driftin' & Dreamin'

Day 6: Took the Port Kent Ferry from NY (1.0 hour) to Burlington, VT. Walked around Burlington today, what a cool, cool town. I love it here. I do not want to leave. Vermonters, in general, seem like pretty contented folk.
Recommended: Sweetwater Bistro on Church Street. The Doubletree in Burlington.

Day 7: On the way out of Burlington, went to Camel’s Hump State Park, in Duxbury, VT which is marked by a spray-painted plyboard sign. What a beautiful place that is. Hiked only 2.6 miles today on Monroe Trail. Weather again is partly cloudy, no real view but trails are beautiful. I have seen no trash on any trails in VT. Arrived in Hanover, NH.

From Driftin' & Dreamin'

Day 8: Hanover, NH, another nice college town, Dartmouth is here but feel of this town is very different. More upscale, ritzy, less earthy, more snooty. The woman at the Co-op Natural Grocery became unnecessarily vocally rude to us and complained to everyone in line because we took 14 items through the 10 items or less lane. She said maybe she should wear the sign around her neck. I thought maybe I should wear a scarlet number 14 on my sweater but I just laughed and apologized for ruining her day. The best thing right now is that the Connecticutt River runs behind this Motor Inn here and the Inn has canoes you can take out for free so that is what we did today. Saw sculling teams training on the river. Nice way to end the day. Sunrise 6:30AM Sunset 6:57PM.
Day 9: We found the most tranquil and serene spot of this trip and that is Trout Pond in Hanover, NH. It is so incredibly beautiful. Also, the forest is a protected bear habitat. We marveled at the perfect echo on the lake and longed for an inflatable raft. Mileage today: a paltry, 3.6.

We left for Boston and had dinner with friends from Providence, RI. Took the subway from the hotel and walked the Freedom Trail from the Park Street station to a “little Italy” section in the North End. Had appetizers and drinks at Lucca’s, dinner at Bacco's, then dessert and cappuccino at a killer sweet shop, Mike's Pastries. The food was so great and apparently you cannot go wrong in this part of town. Boston is incredible.
Day 10: From Logan Intl. Airport, Boston to Atlanta. Pickup Kaya and go home. Alan says if I want to hike Glacier NP, I need to start knee strengthening exercises. I hate to admit that he is right. Total trip mileage approximately 30.2 miles. Not what I had planned but not bad I suppose. All in all, it was a great trip. :)

For more pics go here: New_England#

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