Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Through-Hike Eve

Well, after spending the better part of 12 hours in the car today we are finally ready to start hiking. We were up at 7 am today. When I opened the door to the Willows Motel to put the rest of our stuff not going on our hike into the Jeep the sun was already climbing over the mountains. Bathed in warm sunlight, the Green Mountains looked friendly and inviting. We visited the organic bakery and grocery store next door for coffee and fantastic chocolate croissants. Next we drove to the post office to mail one of our food drops. The nice thing about mailing it out here is that the postal worker knew what we were doing because other people do this. Back home the exchange definitely would have brought a "your doing WHAT?". The postal worker was friendly and also a Georgetown basketball fan that likes Michigan State due to Magic Johnson. I think he was happy about the opportunity to talk sports for a change.

At 9 am we picked up the rental car and started our very long shuttle. Our path took us thru Bennington where we could visit Papa Pete's for a robust breakfast. In addition to being a great breakfast joint, this place is famous for being a frequent hang out for members of the band Phish. A healthy helping of French toast with real Vermont maple syrup provided fuel for our long drive.

We stopped at the Inn at the Long Trail to drop off another food drop for ourselves and continued north. The Quechee Gorge provided another rest stop a little while later. Below is a picture of the Gorge. After another three hours of driving we finally reached the small rural community of North Troy. We met the host of the B and B and parked the Jeep for its monthlong rest.

On the drive back to Williamstown we stopped for dinner at the Mainstreet Grill. The grill is a New England Culinary Institute restaurant, providing a training location for their students. This means you get gourmet quality food and service at below market prices. I had a cheese plate featuring all Vermont-made cheeses and a wonderful mushroom risotto. I'm sure I'll be thinking about this meal when I'm eating tomorrow night's dehydrated dinner!

As a write this we are finishing our drive back to Williamstown. Tomorrow our adventure will finally begin! We are both nervous and antsy to get hiking! Driving the entire length of Vermont today really helped to reinforce how completely crazy this hike is. That said, I'm really excited! I'll post every day that I have cell service on the trail. Wish us luck!