For the remainder of 2021, David and I have planned to go hiking at least one weekend a month, just the two of us.

For the month of July, we headed up to southern Vermont. And thankfully the rainy weather kept away a lot of the crowds. We didn’t mind the rain at all. It wasn’t too windy or cold too, and the fog actually made for some really cool pictures.

We started at the Homer Stone trailhead and headed east to meet up with the Appalachian/Long Trail.

There was no rain when we started, but about a mile in, we had to take out our pack covers. Luckily it didn’t rain too hard.

We hiked up the side trail for about 2 miles before joining up with the AT/LT. We stopped at one of the shelters along Long Pond for lunch and to chat with some thru-hikers. After lunch, we took a side trail up the green mountain trail. It wasn’t the most difficult we’ve ever done, but it did get our heart rate up.

The last few miles to the road were very easy, and we flew, down to where the trail met back up with the AT/LT.

We contemplated which shelter to stay at during the night, but ended up finding a nice stealth site right by the parking lot on Rt. 10. Thankfully we did that, because it ended up raining all night and we found out the next day that the shelters were packed.

On Sunday, the weather was a lot wetter, but thankfully we had some breaks when we were breaking down the tent and for the last few miles back to the car.

The trail was rocky and wet, but it wasn’t any worse than when we hiked Vermont in October of 2018. (For that trip, the trail was a river!)

The breakfast above was a staple for our AT attempt last year: coffee with protein powder, powdered milk, and Breakfast Essential, with a pop tart. Yum-ME!

In total, we did about 12 miles over the two days. The bulk was on Saturday and then the few miles back to the car on Sunday.

Overall, we had such a great weekend. I love that hiking can still be enjoyed even when the weather isn’t ideal. We might go slower than normal, to keep from slipping around, but just being out in nature gives me such a boost. We’re looking forward to the next one we have planned, in just over a week!

What’s your favorite trail to hike?