Killington Peak: June 15, 2014

Mountain: Killington Peak
Elevation: 4,235 (Vermont's 2nd Tallest, New England's 36th Tallest)
Route: Bucklin Trail
Mileage: 7.2 miles round trip
Arya's Take: Skeptical but Cautiously Optimistic


I suppose to start Arya off on the right foot (or paw), I could have chosen a mountain that I was more familiar with, to make sure I knew what to expect and how to guide her through the experience with as few question marks as possible.  I did not do that.  Instead, I chose a mountain that I had my own eye on and figured that she wouldn't complain (and she didn't).

June 15 is actually one of the earliest dates I've ever gone hiking, and it is by far the earliest date I've hiked a 4,000 footer.  Either because we were at summer camp in New Hampshire over July and August, or my family would go on hikes in the fall and early winter, I never went out in June.  I mean, on the one hand the mountains need a lot of time to dry out after Mud Season, so even if your back yard is nice and clear, there's still a lot of water coming off the higher elevations.  On June 15, though, everything seemed to be aligning for a nice hike.

We piled into my trusty Prius and headed out for the Bucklin trail a little after dawn that day; I wanted to get on the trailhead as close to 9:00 as possible, to avoid a possible rush, and to make sure that we could get home at a reasonable hour.  It was odd driving down to the Killington area, as I'd gone there many times to ski, but had never seen it as green and warm as it was in June.  The Bucklin trail was accessible by a nice pictureseque and out-of-the-way dirt road off of US route 4, and we arrived at the parking lot after a couple of false starts lead us up to people's summer homes (or ski chalets) a few times.

I strapped on Arya's shoulder harness (a godsend for an excited puppy who seemed heart-set on strangling herself when we attached her leash directly to her collar), and got all of my effects together to put in my pack.  I had everything we could possibly need for the day, extra food and water, two differnt trail maps and guidebooks, my cell phone in case of emergency (having a ski resort on the mountain tends to mean excellent cell service), first aid kit, and warm/waterproof clothes just in case the sun didn't hold.  I even had a knee brace and hiking poles for myself, based on a recommendation from my orthopedist.  Arya had an extendo-leash that would allow her to go up to 25 feet ahead of me, as I didn't quite trust her off leash yet.

We hit a bit of a snag to start things off, though, and it looked like we were well and truly screwed for a few minutes, as in my rush to get everything ready, I put my phone and car keys in my pack, and locked the car with it (and them) still inside.  So not only could I not open the car to get my pack, but I also couldn't call AAA to have someone come to the middle of nowhere and fix it.  I may have "invoked the Deity", as my grandfather used to say.

But!  Who should happen up my idiot self and my very ready-to-go dog but another pair of hikers, a very nice couple from New York.  They let me borrow their cell to call AAA, wished me luck, and headed up the Bucklin trail.  Now all I had to do was wait for the mechanic, who said he'd be there around 10:30.  We were going to be OK, though I still debated whether we would actually hike Killington once he arrived, since with such a late start I, having never climbed Killington before, had no idea if we still had enough time to get out comfortably before dusk.  Especially with a dog who might not take to the whole "hiking" thing.

 Well, the AAA guy eventually did arrive, and I decided we'd go for it.  Worst case scenario, Arya decides she hates it and we turn around after a mile or so.  And off we went.

The Bucklin Trail is probably the most popular route up Killington, and one that is recommended in most guide books.  The "Hike with your dog!" book I had described it as "4 paws, very strenuous", which is garbage.  Starting off with a nice little grade, there were some small but curvaceous hills we had to scale before crossing Brewers' Brook on man-made bridges.  It was all very pleasant, in the dappled sunshine of the lower deciduous forest, before following the brook up and beginning to gain our elevation.

Arya blazed ahead most of the time, and seemed to really enjoy sniffing various things by the side of the trail, without bolting into the woods (which is good, since as I was tethered to her via the extendo-leash, I'd have to follow her into the woods and untangle her from various trees and roots.  Not the most fun).  Unfortunately, right after we passed the 1.5 mile mark or so, she began to get pouty, and refuse to keep going in a couple of spots. At first I figured this is because she was tired, hungry, or thirsty, but after several pit stops where she refused to sit, eat, or drink, I thought of something else.

See, where we live in Montpelier is very close to Hubbard Park, a nice little plot of urban wilderness that got me thinking that Arya would like hiking in the first place.  However, at least when we first got her, both my fiancee and I were with her, and I think she got used to both of us being there when we went on hiking-type walks.  So on our first real hike, I think Arya kept looking for her, turning around and whining and being confused about why my fiancee wasn't there as well.

This made me nervous, since we'd gone far enough that it'd be a shame to turn around, but at the same time I didn't want to drag Arya up the rest of the mountain.  I resorted to the chunks of hot dog that I'd kept in my pocket for just such a situation, and held them out in front of her to entice her to keep going.  I didn't have to do this more than a couple of times, thankfully, and we steadily gained elevation.

Unfortunately by the time we reached the intersection with the Long Trail/Appalachian Trail at 3.4 miles, the sun that had accompanied for most of the day had disappeared and a heavy fog obscured most everything.  The lodge itself was full of people having lunch (including our parking lot saviors!), though considering that Killington Peak was only 0.3 miles from the lodge, we weren't going to stop now, even if Arya realllllllllllly wanted to help people with their lunch.

The summit was kind of an anti-climax, to be honest, since the fog obscured all the views, and the ski area infrastructure (towers, lifts, and the like) made it feel a lot less like wilderness.  Arya and I hunkered down behind some rocks to shield ourselves from the wind, and at a hasty lunch.

The trip down was also a lot less interesting; Arya did turn around and look UP the trail a couple of times, whining, which really made me think that she was looking for my fiancee.  Also, in perfect fashion, as soon as we dropped below treeline again, the sun came out and remained out for the rest of the day, so that it was hard to convince people that we couldn't see anything at the top.  On the whole, a nice pleasant climb, one I would do again with anyone who was interested, and a good pilot to see if Arya was in fact going to be a mountain dog.  It really wasn't as difficult as we were led to believe from the guidebook, and it remained to be seen whether Arya would be up for some of the larger mountains.  But she slept the whole way home, which was a good sign.

-M