Saturday, April 23, 2016

Day 23/April 23 -- from Stamford to Bennington, VT

Miles hiked: 10.92 in 4:24

Start: County Road, Stamford, VT

Finish: Route 9, Bennington, VT

Elevation gain: 2,060'


Colette and I departed Manchester and drove to Route 9 east of Bennington, where I parked my car. While that is where I would finish today, it is also where I will finish tomorrow, but I'll be hiking south from Arlington Stratton Road then.

Most of today's hike was fairly boring, which is something I usually don't say about any trail. There was one minor hill, Consultation Hill, in the first couple of miles:


There was a nice large beaver pond after that, but overall the woods were just cluttered with lots of blowdown--mainly small branches everywhere. Fortunately, most of them had been cleared from the trail, but they were still unsightly:



As I neared Bennington, there was one last hill, Harmon Hill, which has a fantastic view of the town. There were a couple of tents set up where the hikers were hoping for a nice sunset.


From Harmon, there is a nice section before one begins the very steep and rocky descent to Route 9. There are many rock steps that severely tested the flexibility of my knees, but I did make it. The hiking poles help a lot on those descents.

Route from my Suunto.

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