John dropped us back off in North Adams by about 9am (thanks again John and Chris!) and we were back into the woods. The morning was hot and hazy, and of course the trail began with a long climb, culminating in a final rock scramble. Unfortunately there were no rewarding views at the top, but it wasn’t long before we completed the Massachusetts portion of the trail and entered Vermont.
This was an exciting moment, as we both grew up in Vermont, so it felt really good to have walked here all the way from Georgia. We’ll be following the Long Trail for about 100 miles in Vermont, as this was the southern terminus for the 273 mile long trail that runs from Massachusetts to Canada, and is considered to be one of the footpaths that inspired the Appalachian Trail.
The rest of the day we really didn’t see anything spectacular, except for some of that infamous Vermont mud. We ended our hike at Route 9, and got a quick hitch down to Bennington by chatting up some people who just finished up a short backpacking trip.
We had dinner at Ramuntos, a great pizza place with an impressive tap list. We gorged ourselves on garlic knots, salad, and a large buffalo chicken pizza… one of the best we’ve ever had. It started raining while we were eating, so we of course stuck around for another beer. When the rain stopped, we headed down the street and got some frozen yogurt for dessert. Our friend Sam came and picked us up at the Dollar Store where we did a small resupply. We’re going to be staying at his place for a few nights, and slack packing, which is going to be great.
