sweetwilder

Long Trail – Day 13

June 26, 2016

Battell Shelter to Waitsfield, VT

I got up at 5:15 and was on the LT by 6:00. The rock scramble up Mt. Abraham was tough, but best done in the early morning before the sun gets hot. The view from Abraham was stellar, one of the best in the area; a 360 degree panorama of that which we came and the mountains to come in the days ahead.
Abraham was clearly in the alpine, and I stayed above almost the entire day. The high peaks followed in quick succession: Lincoln Peak, Mt. Ellen. So many good views. For weeks we have been slogging through the mud and flies, and the trail has finally opened up to the vistas.

I hiked with Chuck most of the day and we made great time. He really started to loosen up and we had a number of laughs while hiking. From Mt Ellen, there are a series of serious downhill scrambles, some on ladders.

All of us decided to resupply, so after 9 miles we hitched into Waitsfield. This is primarily a ski town, so it is somewhat dead in the off season. I am again surprised at the number of drug addicts in Vermont. If you asked me before of what I thought the state would be like, I would say campy folks and syrup. Throughly am I shocked that there appears to be so many lost people amongst there ranks. This is not only my observation, but that which is said by the locals I meet. At dinner, several old codgers again talk to us about how bad the drug problem is in Vermont. And the crazy part is that hardly anyone is aware that several thousand feet above them is some of the prettiest hiking anywhere.

Total mileage is 9.8 miles.