It was a cold morning on Killington, making it difficult to get out of the tent and pack up. But with a meet up planned, we had to get moving.
It was a long but nice descent down to Route 4 near the entrance to Pico ski area. We were able to move pretty quickly on the well maintained trail. This section of the AT/LT is actually fairly new. The original AT/LT went down the front of Pico, crossing a few of the ski trails. That old trail is still there, but supposedly its not as well maintained.
Soon after crossing Route 4 we diverged from LT, and continued east towards NH. We passed through Gifford State Park, and took a a lunch break at thunder falls, which was really just a trickle due to the dry summer. After lunch we had 5 more miles to get to Stony Brook Road to meet Bear Bell’s mom, where we found her doing trail magic. She was able to make a few hikers’ days. I was impressed that her car was able to make it as far as it did on Stony Brook Road, as its a pretty rough road where the AT crosses. I can imagine that it’d be really tough if there had been any rain.
We hung out for a bit, then headed back to the Inn at Long Trail, which was back on Route 4 near Killington and Pico. We got cleaned up, then headed out for drinks and dinner. Naturally, beers were had at Long Trail brewery in Bridgewater Corners, VT. I’d have to recommend the Space Juice IPA as another good example of a Vermont style double IPA. We had dinner at Worthy Kitchen in Woodstock, VT. It’s an interesting set up there where you order from the counter then pick up your food when it’s ready, but they do really high quality local food. And really interesting dishes too, like the Korean beef burrito, which I’ll be thinking about for the rest of my hike. Their beer selection is also impressive, with many local options available, including the Hill Farmstead Pale ale known as Edward. We headed back to the Inn and had one last beer in the pub… a nice way to finish a good day off.
