Finishing Vermont's New England Hundred Highest Peaks

During my three-week interim between Air Force Active Duty and going back to
the daily grind in Boston, I managed to take some time and hike the
remaining eight peaks on my list for the AMC's Hundred Highest Peaks list. 
For Vermont there are thirteen in all, including the five four-thousand
footers.  I originally began the Vermont list back in January of 2001, by a
fitful ascent of Mt. Abraham with Robin Patton.  It was the coldest day of
the year, and between the cold and us having to break trail in powder most
of the way did much to wear us down quickly.  It didn't help to have wooden
snowshoes not fitted with crampons.

Fast forward to this fall, the hiking began in September with an easy
Tuesday ascent of Mt. Ellen on a warm (thankfully snowless) day.   Thursday
promised the successful ascents of Breadloaf Mountain, Mt. Wilson, and even
Battell Mountain, not on the list.  I met one AT through hiker and one LT
through hiker, both on the Breadloaf/Wilson ascent.

The following week was a two-day backpacking trip up Pico Peak and Mt.
Killington.  After hiking 3.8 miles in two hours, I decided to eat supper at
the Pico shelter.  The shelter seemed rather a dark, seedy place and reeked
of cigarettes.  The overflow tenting area was a ski slope passed on the way
up, so I packed up and hiked over that way to set my tent up.  After
stringing my food supplies up about a hundred feet away, I spent a moonlit
night on the slopes of Pico constantly being awakened by the local deer
population trying to get at my official UMEC (TM) food bag.

I hiked over to Killington the following day and briefly spoke with two
hikers out for a few nights.  While hiking, I noticed the temperature
dropping and the wind increasing--the remnants of Hurricane Lily were moving
in and heavy rains were predicted for the following day.  I decided at that
point to hike to Killington and back out to my car that day.  Along the way
to Killington, I met another N-S AT through hiker--Christian was his real
name.  Christian was a soft-spoken computer programmer for Lockheed Martin
in Georgia and had grown a thick, curly, black beard-- a very pleasant
fellow to speak with.  At Cooper Lodge, the GMC shelter for Killington, I
met "Pacemaker," another N-S through hiker.

Pacemaker--his trail name-- deserves a short paragraph by himself.  Now, one
always meets interesting and sometimes eccentric people while hiking, and
Pacemaker was somewhat out there.  Tall and with a physically imposing
presence, his short gray hair and salt and pepper stubble only added to my
uneasiness. Our conversation revolved around his being a former Army Green
Beret officer--and later Air Force officer.  His military bearing and
nervous/suspicious personality led me to believe he should be in the CIA,
the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, or at the very least, the
Postal Service.  Our conversation was thankfully quick, and I speeded away
the final .2 miles upward to Killington summit.

The summit was cold and windy, so I spent little time up there.  I hiked the
6.3 miles back to my car and eventually the warmth of a shower, dry and
clean clothes, hot cocoa, and a nap.

Mendon Peak was the following week's adventure--a maze of old logging roads
ending nowhere and a trail-less hike uphill until I couldn't go up any
further.  It took two tries to get that one.  The final peaks were Mt.
Dorset and Mt. Equinox--uneventful, but both I would suggest for day
hikes--especially if there's a group that would like to tag along with a
Morris Cave trip that isn't interested in mud, bats, spiders, and
claustrophobia.

Karl Dietzler  -2002