A Hiking We Will Go . . .

We spent Tuesday morning (24th) hiking to Hamilton Falls (6 miles round trip). The first 2 miles were an easy walk on the railroad bed trail along the West River, but the last mile in was all uphill . . . Until we got to the falls where we had to go down a path to reach the base of the falls . . .

The path along the river

West River

The base of the falls

 

And then UP again and farther along the trail to get to the top of the falls. In order to actually see the falls from the top, we had to climb over and down some slanted rocks that projected out kinda high above the drop-off to the water, so it was a little dicey climbing out and back.

 

I was tired when we got back to the parking lot, but Mark assured me that was all the hiking we were going to have to do for the day. The rest would be driving.

We went to the Old Rockingham Meeting House which was built in 1787 with "pigpen" box pews and a surrounding cemetery with graves dating back as far as 1776.

Old Rockingham Meeting House

 

From there we drove to Springfield, VT to see the restored one-room Eureka Schoolhouse (built between 1785-1790) and the Baltimore Covered Bridge which was constructed in 1870 and moved to that location one hundred years later. The schoolhouse was closed but we were able to get a good look through the windows and even took a couple of pictures through the glass.

Eureka Schoolhouse

Looking in through the window

Baltimore Covered Bridge

 

We camped for the night at Mt Ascutney State Park. When we arrived, it was still light so Mark wanted to drive up the 3.7 mile road to see the view from the summit. As we started up the mountain, a man about our age was also on his way up . . . on a bicycle! The road was steep with numerous switchbacks. Our truck had to work pretty hard carrying 3,000 pounds of camper up the hill and Mark watched the temperature gauge for the transmission climb to 214 degrees.

View from the parking lot

 

When we arrived at the parking area on the mountaintop we discovered there was still a hike of nearly one-mile to reach the summit. A rocky uphill trail. And when we reached the top of the trail, there was an observation tower to climb above the trees. With lots of steps. Up. Up. Up.

 

I was EXHAUSTED. . . But the view was nice:)

 

Just as we got back to the parking lot, along comes the bike rider! He had made it the WHOLE WAY!! He even had a close encounter with a bear on the road! He was dripping with sweat but beaming with the joy of accomplishment. We congratulated him and took his picture. We could tell that he was pleased to have someone to share his moment of triumph:) Talk about EXHAUSTED . . . He was looking forward to coasting the whole way back down . . .

 

Mark wants me to mention the nice state parks in Vermont. We have now visited several of them and they are pretty parks, well-maintained and reasonably priced. For $18-20 you get a great campsite (no electricity) and the restrooms are clean with good showers. This time of year it is very peaceful with surprisingly few campers.

 

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