Day 24/April 24 -- tying the ends together in Vermont, 20 miles SOBO

Miles hiked: 20.0 in 8:28

Start: National Forest Road 71, Stratton, VT

Finish: Route 9, Woodford, VT

Elevation Gain: 3,980'

Given that I planned to hike 20 miles today, Colette insisted that I get up early and on the trail no later than 8 a.m., leaving plenty of leeway for me to finish with daylight, just in case I had any problems.

So at 7:45 a.m., after walking 3/4ers of a mile just to get to the AT on Forest Service Road 71, I was on my way. Within two miles, I met the only hikers I would see all day--ChuckARuck and Aviator. These two were doing a Flip Flop thru hike; the started in Harper's Ferry and were headed to Katahdin to complete the first half, then they will head SOBO from Harper's Ferry for the second half.

They were carrying lots of gear, obviously well-prepared for the cold weather. And speaking of cold, it was 28°F when I started, so, yeah, it was cold. That only meant that I had to move along a bit to stay warm.

It may not show that well, but there was ice on the edge of that beaver pond.

There were no killer hills on the way to Route 9, save for Glastonbury Mountain, but there were numerous ridges to climb up and down on the way to Glastonbury. The lower elevations house the deciduous trees and the higher ground is home to the firs. I've decided I like the fir areas more than the bare deciduous areas, at least at this time of year:

Not all the evergreen forest are as nice as that shown above, but this just calls out to be hiked, no?

Eventually, I got to Glastonbury, skipped the climb up the fire tower and headed to the shelter and privy to take a short break. I had been to this shelter some years ago when I ran/hiked there, had some lunch and then headed back to Route 9. My memory said it was eight miles each way, but when I got to the shelter, the Guthook app, said it was still ten miles to Route 9. Oh well, so much for relying on my memory.

The Town of Bennington in the valley below, not far from the end of my hike.

A boot's eye view of the bridge over the Roaring Branch Walloomsac Brook at the end of the hike. No, really, that is the name of the brook. 

Route from my Suunto.