I left the shelter at 6:15am and headed downhill for five miles to VT Hwy 140, then uphill to Bear Peak. After heading downhill for 3.5 miles, I got a view of the Rutland airport. Wow! North of VT Hwy 103, the Appalachian Trail ascended a ridiculously steep 'rock scramble' for a quarter mile. Awful! In four miles, I reached Gould Brook and ate lunch. From there, the trail began its ascent of Killington Peak. Initially, the trail wasn't too steep but it changed into a narrow path over and around spruce tree roots. Hard, slow going. I met two other hikers who mentioned getting to the restaurant at the peak for dinner before 5pm. That sounded good to me but the timing would be close. I hiked as fast as I could for two hours and reached the turnoff to the shelter at 4:37pm. The steep quarter-mile scramble to the top wore me out but I arrived at the restaurant at 4:54pm. I bought a deluxe hot dog and drank a quart of soda. The panoramic view from the restaurant was perhaps the best of the trip. Back down to the turnoff at the Cooper Lodge shelter where a friendly lady gave me a cold Gatorade. Then downhill for 4.5 miles to the Churchill Scott shelter. I arrived at 6:45pm, exhausted. But I rinsed off at a spring to get rid of the day's sweat. Today's miles - 23.6. Total miles - 1698.9.
