It was already pretty late in the day when we pulled out of the parking lot at the Adirondack Loj. All three of us were starving but we also knew that we needed to get across Lake Champlain and if we didn’t get there soon we missed the last ferry. Being that we didn’t want to drive all the way around we hauled butt eastward. As we pulled into Essex New York we noticed the Essex ice cream café on the corner. We drove over to the ferry docks to make sure that we could get tickets and we hadn’t missed the last boat. It was all good, so we parked there and walked the half-block back to the café.

The options are minimal: there were a million choices of ice cream, milkshakes, and hotdogs. Since we didn’t know when or where we would have another chance to get food we loaded up on hotdogs and headed back to the car. Despite not wanting to drive at night catching the last ferry across Lake Champlain in the summer had its benefits. As we rode across we watch the sunset and turned not just the sky but the link itself shades of purple, pink, and fiery orange.

The ferry took us over to Charlotte Vermont where we had to then jump on the Ethan Allen highway north toward Burlington. Just south of Burlington we intersected with I-89 and headed east again. We wanted to get as close to Mount Mansfield as possible so we started looking for hotels near the Green Mountains. The ski town of Stowe had a bunch of hotels that were deeply discounted because it was the off-season so we looked for one that came with free breakfast. We also are looking for a large room because all of our gear was still soaking wet from the night before and we need to dry it overnight.

The Commodore Inn right on the main drag just before Stowe fit the bill: price was good, it had free breakfast, and the room looked pretty big. We pulled in after-hours and our key was waiting for us taped to the front door. We unloaded all of our gear and carried it up to the second floor and into our room.

It took all the energy we had in us to set up each of our tents across the floor of the hotel room before we climbed into bed and passed out. In the morning we woke up and headed downstairs for breakfast and man were we in for a surprise! It had to have been the best breakfast buffet ever. Not just the best breakfast buffet at a hotel. The best breakfast buffet. Ever. There were eggs and there were sausages and bacon and hash browns and fruit and grits and not the stuff that you find in the pans at most breakfast buffets. Fresh cooked waffles and pancakes with real Vermont maple syrup. We had hit the jackpot.

After we had stuffed ourselves with way more food than any of us needed to eat we headed back up to the room to “break camp”. Then it was off to Mount Mansfield. That meant heading north on Route 108 up to where the Longs Trail intersects the highway in Smugglers Notch State Sark. We pulled off to the side of the road and we had to have a discussion. Big Bird was still having trouble with his knee from the hike the day before in New York and wasn’t sure how it was going to react to getting back on the trail so soon. We decided that we would all hike together from the start and if his knee started bothering him he would hike back to the car and meet us at the top.

Mount Mansfield is unique in that it has a road to the top ridge-line where you can then walk about a mile to the highest point on a relatively flat trail. This seemed like the best kind of compromise. So into the woods we went. Unfortunately, it wasn’t long before Big Bird decided he needed to turn around and it was just Dash and I making our way up the trail. The hike was mostly below the tree line. But when we did finally emerge we are greeted with a fun little climb up to the top ridge and then an easy walk to the summit. As we approached the summit we recognized a friendly face. Big Bird was already sitting up there eating a sandwich waiting for us to arrive.

We spent a while up there snacking looking at the views and as I listened to Big Bird & Dash discuss whether or not the valley we were looking at was glaciated. Then we walked around along the ridge-line to where a Big Bird had parked the car and rode back down with him. Not far from the trailhead back down in Stowe is the Blue Donkey. It’s a quaint little place where you can grab a burger and some craft beer. I wasn’t really into craft beer. I wasn’t really into beer at all. I think maybe in my entire life I had had five beers before this point so the craft beer part was more for the guys and for me. But I compromised and got a craft seltzer to go with the massive guacamole burger that I ordered. We talked about the hike and we talked about what was next…