July 23, 2018
- Start: VT rt 15
- End: Barnes Camp Hiker Parking mile 63.6
- Total: 14.5
Leaving town is always a struggle, especially when you stay at such a beautiful place with such a sweet dog. Knowing there is a 7 mile climb ahead made it even more difficult. I was predicting it would be close to 11 before we would get back on trail.
The forecasted rain held out for a few hours, but we paid for it with heavy, thick, soupy, humid air. It made breathing difficult, but luckily the 7 mile climb was not as bad as I had expected. Much of it followed either a road or wide gravel path.
We summitted many mountains, and passed many women! I love seeing other women in the wild. We also had at least 5 people imply we couldn’t or shouldn’t go as far as we planned. We were hoping to make it to the parking lot near Stowe so that our colleague and friend Valerie could come and get us.
The route was rough. On more than one occasion I worried that True Friend and I should have heeded the warnings. We trudged along and made it out of the woods just before dark. With little regard for modesty we changed our clothes under a little roofed space containing maps of the area. Our feet had taken a beating and were wrinkled. It felt like I should be able to wring the water out of my feet like I did my socks. I was so grateful that Val was coming to give us a reprieve from the rain.
