15 June.

15 June.
From: Cooper Lodge shelter
To: Mountain Meadows Lodge, Killington VT
Mileage: 11
Weather: Cloudy, chilly, and raining to sunny and mild

It was still grey and damp, but Penguin and I left the Cooper Lodge shelter early. Penguin was out before me, and it took me a few minutes to figure out where the trail down started (I went up to where we saw the shelter the previous night, missing the blaze where the trail went down past the shelter. Doh!). I briefly thought about climbing the 0.2 mile trail to Killington Peak and seeing the lodge, but didn't and later was reassured that it was not worth the effort.

After seven miles, we reached Maine Junction, where the AT splits from Vermont's Long Trail, which continues to the state's northern border, and serves as a reminder that we made another 103 miles on the AT since leaving Massachusetts. Penguin and I were amused by a sign at the junction stating "Not a trail" along an obvious trail, just not the AT nor Long Trail.

I got ahead of Penguin as I continued on the AT, and reached the edge of Gifford Woods State Park, where a sign announced sodas and ice cream are available at the park office nearby. Penguin came up and wholeheartedly supported checking this out, and we found the office just off the trail, which followed the park access road. Penguin bought both of us sodas, and I relished every drop! Unfortunately, the park office had an overnight power outage and would not sell us the ice cream (I offered to test it for them). I got my AT Passport stamped there, as well.

Not far away we reached Kent Pond and the adjoining Mountain Meadows Lodge, which I suggested as an option to stay overnight as it offers a hiker rate, and had an access trail to the Base Camp outfitters that had a package for Penguin to pickup.

The Assistant Manager was very nice and extended the hiker rate to us for two rooms for two days (today + zero day), and gave us the tour. The lodge is frequently used for weddings, but our timing was right so rooms were available.

After dropping off our packs, we followed printed instructions from the Assistant Manager to follow the trail to the outfitters and Penguin picked up her package.

We walked down the road to the Killington deli and marketplace. Penguin and I ate inside, where I had a large cheeseburger with bacon and avocado, root beer, and Ben and Jerry's chocolate fudge brownie ice cream for dessert. I also bought a can of deviled ham, Gummi bears, and Welch's grape juice to take back.

When we got off the trail to the lodge, the lodge's goats came running up to greet us, obviously hoping for food. They kept their pasture grass pretty short, and Penguin pushed some grass through the fence and it was consumed quickly. We understand from the manager that the goats get to eat wedding meal leftovers, so they get excited for weddings.

When we got back to the lodge, we were already thinking about dinner. Penguin and I each ordered a large pizza and a calzone, then chatted with the Assistant Manager while we waited for delivery.

We thoroughly enjoyed our pizzas, saving the calzones for tomorrow. Grits and Treeline showed up for the night and we shared some remaining slices of our pizza. It was fun finally reuniting with them!