Churchill Scott Shelter: A Night on the Appalachian Trail in Killington, VT

I find myself tonight nestled in my sleeping bag on a tent platform in what is thankfully no more than a drizzle this evening. Vespi and I arrived at the shelter a little more than an hour ago and quickly settled into the business of setting up house and making dinner. The rain has been heavy on and off all day, but thankfully calmed down just as we were getting out of work and heading out onto the trail. Carless for the weekend, I thought it would be more fun to spend the ight on the trail rather than walking home. It's about the same distance and way more fun :)

The hiking has been standard rainy Vermont - which is anything but unglorious. The bright green plants are glistening in the fog and everything just seems to have this glowing quality to it, a cheeriness if you will. Almost the exact opposite of the attitude of rain soaked people seeking shelter in the shop throughout the course of the day. Miserable and with nothing to do. So I went camping.

Not that we're not wet. All my clothes from the day are hanging from the poles inside the fly, in a desperate attempt to have them at least not soaked through by the time I have to put them on in the morning. Bra, undies, shorts, socks, t-shirt and our towel all hanging from the tentnpoles. It looks pretty funny. But V and I are somewhat dry and fairly comfortable underneath our little backpacking fortress. A yummy dinner of smoked salmon, fresh cherry tomatoes, spinach & local goat cheese pasta warmed me up right quick (as does my whiskey).

I wasn't really cold anyways. Right around 6:30 Vespi got hungry. Which at home means we feed her. On the trail, it means that she starts whining at me to hike faster. She pushes me slightly from behind, trying to get around me if she decides I am not showing enough effort toward covering ground. It would be fine I wasn't trying to ascend the backside of Pico Mountain with 28 pounds of my back. But she does love being out of the trail - just not when it forlongs her dinner.

But after a night of feeling drops of water bounce off the tent pad and onto my face, I was more than ready for the blue skies that greeted me in the morning. Not that it was dry, mind you. It takes mroe a few hours of sunshine to dry out the Green Mountains. What we have instead in the sun glistening on the raindrops resting peacefully on just about every leaf in the forest, giving it the feeling of a true secret garden - and giving the green mountains their plush and luscious feeling.

And what better way to end our overnight journey on the Appachian Trail? With a stint on some ski trails followed by basking in the sunshine while having breakfast on the new beachy shores at Kent Pond. A few sun salutations and we are ready to head back into the shop for another day at work...where we ended up walking around with weighted packs all day anyways :)

May You Find the Spirit of the Mountains Within You,
Merisa &Vespi