July 11 - 17.4 / 1,691.2

I woke up to breakfast being cooked. On the menu was blueberry pancakes and pineapple. The blueberries were from his aunt and uncle's land. They were delicious. I followed that up with some strawberry rhubarb pie and ice cream. Again, that was hard to beat.

Eventually, we packed up and headed towards the trail. Sam's mom gave us a ride. We stopped for a quick resupply at the grocery store and were then at the trail. We said our goodbyes to his mom and were on our way. It was 11:30 by this time and later than we expected. However, it was worth spending the extra time with his family. The morning started out with a good climb.

We stopped at the Governor Clement Shelter for a snack before making the climb up Killington Peak. Chewy was at the shelter along with Squeeze Cheese. The climb was about 2,000 feet over 4 miles. It wasn't too bad, but I felt like it wasn't going to end. We made it too the top and decided to drop our packs and walk 0.2 miles up a side trail to the peak. Good thing we didn't have our packs; the trail was all rock and straight up. The peak houses a restaurant and a gandola for the Killington Ski Resort. It also offered a spectacular view. Wanting an ice cream and coke, we headed to the restaurant. To our dismay, it was closed. Still wanting a snack, we walked to the gandola which was running. We asked the guy if we would have time to ride to the base. Being 4:50 in the afternoon, he told us no. He said we could ride down but would have to walk the ski run back up. We knew instantly that we didn't want to do that.

We walked back down to our packs knowing we still had options. We planned to walk 6 more miles to U.S. 4, which takes you in to Rutland. We had been told about a restaurant and hostel there. We headed down Killington and met some guys southbounding the Long Trail. They told us to head to The Inn at Long Trail instead of going all the way back into town. The Inn was only a mile or so off the trail. Not only could we sleep there, we would be able to eat at its pub. The pub is known for the best Guinness on the trail.

It took us quite a while to get a hitch. Neither of us wanted to road walk for a mile. I was actually able to get a jeep going the opposite direction to pick us up. We ended up splitting a room even though we could have camped for free across the street. Plus the stay comes with breakfast. I think the breakfast menu is what sold us to get a room. The Inn hooked us up with a hiker rate. They were very hiker friendly there. We only had 15 minutes or some to get to the pub before the kitchen closed. I really wanted a shepard's pie, but they were out of it. I went with the stew instead. I also had one of Sam's potato skins, a few beverages, and a brownie sundae. Erin, a Long Trail hiker we met a few days ago, was also there. I got caught at the bar speaking to one of the locals. He was quite amusing. He claimed to have heard a sasquatch before and that they were some form of an alien. He told some other stories too. I also got the chance to speak with my brother, my parents, and Michelle.

It was worth the money to be able to sleep in a good bed and get a shower. I probably spent too much at the pub. Oh well.