Mileage: 6.2

I woke around 5:30 this morning and started a slow and beautiful descent down Killington. The air was so cold and it smelled strong like pine. The springs were ice cold and the water I stopped to get tasted amazing. I hit the 100 mile mark and had a mini celebration alone. I’d made the decision to hike the blue blazed trail to the Inn at Long Trail because it was the quickest route for me to get to Killington where I had my mail.

When I reached the road I realized that the post office closed at 11am and I had less than 30 minutes to walk 1.4 miles. I’m not sure why I rushed but I walked as fast as I could and I knew I would regret it. Nobody stopped to give a hitch either so I pushed on and made it with two minutes to spare.

At the general store next to the PO I ran into Queen Diva. She told me that Faithful had broken her foot in two places and unfortunately had to call it quits. I felt crushed for them. Renegade in Faithful had started on March 2nd and remained on trail the entire time. They were in their 60s (my best guess) and had just about 500 miles to go and had to call it. I can only imagine how they felt.

I was able to get a hitch with Sting toward Rutland. The man who gave us a ride brought us most of the way. I was hesitant to take it because I didn’t know if it would be helpful or not to have a ride part of the way. Despite that we had a second hitch within minutes of him dropping us off. The gentleman was driving an Audi and I thought there was no way he’d give us a ride. I was wrong. He was happy to stop and take us. He brought us to his 110 acre property where he had a pond and he released some trout he’d caught earlier in the day. He showed us around and said they make and sell maple syrup. It made for a fun side trip. He brought us into the Days Inn.

Riley met us there later and him and I went out to do a minor resupply and get some dinner. It felt great to be hiker trash again and to be around other hikers. I feel thankful and happy to be here.