Vermont Day 3: Our final day

We pulled into the Killington Ski Lodge parking lot around 5:30, and we were the only car there!

The ski mountain opened at 8, and we wanted to beat the skiers. It was the last day Killington was open for Winter sports. Yes, you can ski/snowboard in Vermont during May, people were out in shorts and a tank top, if only I knew how to ski it would make the descend faster.

I am happy and relieved to announce that we did not hike up a ski slop this time. Especially since my legs were already trembling from two days of them.

We took the K1 overflow to Killington Peak. We used the All Trails app for a map. (Click here for map) All Trails’ maps identify your location on the trail so you can follow the map accordingly. This makes following the path pretty easy. It’s a great feature if you have cell service and are looking for nearby trails

We started up a work road, which had a nice gradual incline. Along the trail you can see all the snow board obstacles without snow. I might need to go back this winter to see them with snow! I’ll probably take the ski lift up, though, if I do.
As we passed the first obstacle, I realized I was walking with everyone else instead of behind them! YES!… AND, I was actually navigating!

I somehow got us off trail. Turns out the All Trails map only works if you follow it. Whoops! That means we had to go back to the ski trail, but this was the steepest yet. One look, and being the spaz that I am, I knew I would fall and go sliding down. So I figured I might as well just start off “crawling.” I’m not trying to impress anyone, just trying to get to the summit by any means necessary.

After getting to the top of the slope, we got back on the trail and headed to the summit. It was pretty smooth the rest of the way. This was one of the easier 4,000 footer; it’s great for hikers just starting out or a great way to end a weekend of non-stop hiking like we did.

This was my most intense hiking weekends yet, and I am so proud of myself!!! I am not going to lie going in to this weekend I was nervous, worried I wouldn’t be able to do it. But I DID! I pushed past the shaky legs and the self-doubt, and summited 3 of Vermont’s 4,000 footers!

Don’t worry- I’ll be back soon to summit the two that I missed … Mount Mansfield and Camels Hump!! Stay tuned.