MOUNTAINS PEAKS AND RIVERS
2024 RECAP
We started up the Long Trail. It was hot and humid, but we had lots of cold refreshing streams, shade of the forest, and great company. We made our camp in a magical spot, halfway up the mountain, and fell asleep to the singing of birds and frogs.
On Monday, we had an alpine start and reached the summit by 10 AM. It was a gorgeous day, and we could see all the way to the Mad River Valley and Lincoln Peak to the South, Mount Mansfield to the North, and Lake Champlain to the West. On Tuesday, we stayed at our mountain base camp, carved wooden spoons, swam in the lake, and explored with the map and compass.
On Wednesday we came off the mountain and set the camp below the Bolton Dam. As we were learning the canoeing skills it started to rain and thunder. We decided to wait out the weather at our camp high above the river, It continued to rain hard and by midnight we had to evacuate our camp to the upper parking lot. Shortly after we moved our tents and boats the sight of our former river camp was a boiling eddy and big waves!
In the morning, the Winooski River was a torrent of current, so we dried out, packed up, and moved to Waterbury Reservoir for Thursday and Friday, where we had a lovely paddle and camp by a waterfall. It was a great week of adventure and camaraderie: when the storm hit, we had water, food, shelter, and each other!
