Not The Usual Stuff

South Burlington, Vermont

When we come to Vermont on Tarwathie, there are things we don't do.   One such thing is to see the famous sunsets from Burlington's hills overlooking the lake.  Usually we are down on the water where we have a good view of the sky but less view of the lake.   Below are some examples of what I mean.  I took them last week from Spear Street in South Burlington.   The mountains visible on the far side are The Adirondacks in New York State.  Behind them is Lake Ontario and Toronto.

Yesterday I tried another unusual thing, I tried to go to the top of Vermont's highest mountain, Mount Mansfield but I was stymied three times.

About 25 years ago, Libby and I found a road that took us from Stowe, up Mount Mansfield, almost to the top.  From there, we hiked the rest of the way up.   I wanted to repeat that yesterday because the air was clear and visibility at it's best.  Libby and Jenny were busy at the Hort Farm Plant Sale.

I located that road again, it is called Toll Road, but this time there was a real toll; $28!!!  Wow, that's far too much.  I tried a second way.  I drove to the gondola ski lift nearby.  No luck.  That would cost $26, and there is no trail from the top of the lift to the summit of  the mountain.   I tried a third way.  On the Vermont 108 road, there are a number of trail heads for state owned land.  But it was a Sunday.  Every possible parking spot along that road was taken, and wannabe hikers were patrolling up and down looking for a vacancy.

One of my favorite themes to write about is that there are too many people on the planet.  Yesterday's experience confirmed that once again.