It was still wet in the morning when our alarms went off at 5:45. We decided to that if we were going to get up and over killington today, we shouldn’t feel the need to rush and we’d give ourselves plenty of time. We were about to eat a quick oatmeal breakfast when I saw there was a farmstead 3 miles ahead. We agreed it’d be best to eat a power bar and see what they had for us there.  

The first mile out of camp was steep. Kate said something about moving slowly and not being sure killington was in the cards. I assured her that I would not push her, but also showed her the elevation map. This would be the steepest part of the day and, with no warm up befiore it, it was tough for me too. With that we powered on.

And so we made it out of camp and soon found ourselves at the farmstead owned by two hikers who had purposefully set up near the trail. We only learned this later when one of their fathers came out and told us the story. When we got there, we were greeted by a sign that said it was the honor system. We were told to grab what we wanted and then check out / pay at the iPad up front. No one was around to the run the operation. 

We got a maple goats cheese and some fresh sourdough rolls to eat. I then added a large, fresh chocolate milk and a can of cold brew coffee to round out my healthy breakfast. I then broke my rules. I was sick of wearing wet pants. I changed into dry shorts and immediately felt so much relief. The day became just a bit brighter at that moment. 

The climb up killington was long. We agreed that I would go first and try and set a steady but doable pace. And so that’s what happened, with both of our audiobooks playing, we slowly climbed up the mountain that I’ve so frequently skied with my high school friends. 

It wasn’t an easy climb but it wasn’t steep. It was just never ending. But then the monotony broke when we saw first the sign that said 500 miles to Katahdin and then the sign that said I’d walked 1700 miles. I was filled with joy at both of these. There’s still so much to go (still a full Camino!) but it is really starting to feel like I’m in the home stretch. For the first time, I realized that if I could walk 500 miles, then I wouldn’t have to walk any more. I was excited. 

By the time we made it to the top of killington we were way over due for lunch time. But unfortunately the AT, doesn’t actually hit the top of killington. To get there you need to take a 0.2 mile side trail. We didn’t realize this trail was a rock scramble straight up hill. Starving, we climbed up to eat our lunch at the peak. 

The walk down was long again but we knew that when we got to the bottom there would be beds and showers awaiting us. And so we more or less rolled our way down the mountain. We stopped a mile from the end to celebrate the milestone – Kate’s 50th mile! When we finished she had logged 51 miles – averaging 17 miles over 3 days. Wow! 

After a quick hitch into town (yes, mom, Ive got my little sister hitch hiking now), we found ourselves at a hostel that may be run by a cult. Ok it’s definitely run by a cult, but we didn’t give them our real names so we decided it was safe to stay there

I chatted with the one other guy in my room who told me that the cult had been great – they hadn’t even tried to sell him on joining even though he’d had to be there for 4 days. He had stayed so long, he said, because he had gotten Lyme disease and had been to tired to hike. He had gone 5 miles to get here a few days back and even that required two naps. I made a note, no more hiking in shorts. 

Kate and I celebrated her 51 mile adventure at the local Mexican restaurant and agreed on her trail name. Tag Along. Combining the fact that she both tagged along on this trip and knew a ton as a former Girl Scout leader, it only made sense. 

 I was about to head into bed when a very short, very round shape appeared in front of me. “Second breakfast??” I called out.

It was great to see him and we fell right back into it. We stayed up later than I meant to chatting away. He told me about his adventures and misadventures. Sadly he’s had to jump around a little bit as his visa is running up, however, he seems to be having a blast. He told me about all the locals he’s met and everyone who’s helped him out along the way. Eventually I had to hit the hay but we made plans for breakfast in the morning. 

Key stats:

Miles: 17

Elevation gained: 4100

Mile marker: 1709

Tag Along’s total mileage: 51