Wednesday June 5, 19.9mi/32.0km

Highway 4/Rutland (1703.0) to Winturri shelter (1722.9) (VT)

The day started with a meal that was so good, it can’t simply be called breakfast. But it was morning, and there were muffins and fruit, and all sorts of egg/vegetable/rice dishes. So good!

We caught the 9:15am bus, and it dropped us off at the trail at 9:30am. We saw the forecast was predictung heavy rain for 6pm, so we got moving right away.

After a mile, we arrived at “Maine junction”, where the LT and AT diverge. The LT continues another 173 miles north to the Canadian border.

Despite what this sign says, this is a trail. They just don’t want you to follow it.

And at the same junction, we have an encouraging sign…

After a short but steep climb up, there is a view of Killington peak.

And then, a short steep descent to Kent Brook Falls.

And a quiet view over Kent Lake.

I saw a group of trail maintainers working on this section, they were all way too cheerful to be hauling heavy equipment up a hill. But I know it’s fun! Shortly after that, I came across Thundering falls. Yes, it was really loud.

After the Falls, there was a long marsh with a nice trex boardwalk.

And of course, another climb up, up, up to a high ridge. It was very damp and dark up there in a thick forest.

And then steeply down again, so steep there were ladders!

We stopped at a cabin called The Lookout, a private cabin whose owners allow hikers to spend a night there.

There was a ladder and perch built up on the roof, and the views were actually pretty good!

On a clear day, the White mountains should be visible… but today wasn’t a clear day. Weather is comin! We booked it another hour to the next shelter, and got in at 5:45pm, walking the last 10 minutes in a light rain. There were two other guys there, Badass and The Mayor, who are finishing their 2018 hike. We ate dinner and went to bed, just as the heavy rain started. Perfect timing today!