Heading home from Vermont

2022-10-10
VT, NY, PA

Monday we awoke to a rainy morning. Our plan was to hike Haystack Mountain which is in Southern Vermont, about an hour closer to home. We stubbornly headed out believing that the rain would abate. It was patchy for the drive down, but it was otherwise a great drive with plenty of scenery to enjoy. The lakes and mountains are beautiful this time of year. By now we had driven through a number of towns, and they are all best described as "quaint." We definitely enjoyed seeing them against the backdrop of fall color but it seems like it would be a beautiful place year-round. Also we noted that we had not seen a fast food restaurant since we left Troy. Perhaps there are some in the bigger cities, but Vermont is not the place to go if you're craving McDonalds or Taco Bell.

Once we arrived at the trailhead, we decided to tackle the 4.2 mile (1040 feet of climb) hike because the sun peeked out at just that moment. We decided that meant that the rain had passed and the weather would improve. And if not, this was our only time to hike this trail so even a light rain probably wouldn't have deterred us. The sun didn't last, and we were in and out of our rain gear on the way up and back. However, this was a great hike even with the summit being in the clouds. The trail was really pretty and an excellent walk.

We were surprised at how much green there was here, just an hour or so south of Killington. The band of peak color must be narrower than I had originally expected.

After the hike it was time to head home. Other than sitting in traffic in New York State (despite having chosen a route that would go nowhere near New York City) the trip was uneventful, which is how I like them. The total distance was 922 miles.