Trip to Vermont

In the midst of the craziness of Tropical Storm Isaias, I was actually not in my home state of Connecticut, one of the states most impacted by the storm. Being a weather weenie, I was somewhat disappointed to not be able to experience the brunt of the storm. However, I was lucky to be taking a quick getaway, visiting some friends in bucolic Vermont.

I drove up on Sunday, August 3rd, which was actually a wild weather day in the eastern U.S. Isaias first made landfall in North Carolina, and there were abundant convective storms in New England, one of which produced a tornado in Sharon, CT. The driving conditions were difficult for me, with intermittent downpours occurring throughout the day. I briefly stopped in Brattleboro, VT and again on the Appalachian Trail near Rutland to stretch my legs and get some fresh air.

I arrived at 6:00 p.m. in Middlebury, VT, our home base for the trip. Middlebury is a small near Lake Champlain in Addison County, and it serves as home to Middlebury College, where I will be going in three weeks to begin my senior year of college. We had a nice dinner that first night and prepped for our week of adventures in VT.

My friends and I packed a lot into our fist day, beginning with a hike to the summit of Mount Abraham, which has an elevation of 4,006 feet. We reached the summit via the Long Trail, which runs the length of Vermont from Massachusetts to Quebec. The cool, refreshing mountain air felt fantastic during the hike up, though we did have a few raindrops fall.

The summit was windy and cool, and I'd guess that the temperature was around 55 °F. After experiencing the warm, muggy CT summer this year, it was nice to feel a chill in the air. We descended the mountain and prepped for our next activity: swimming at Bristol Falls.

Bristol Falls is a nice swimming hole in Bristol, VT, popular amongst college students and locals. Being a Monday, it was not terribly crowded at the falls. We did some cliff jumping and cooled off in the refreshing mountain runoff. I've swam at Bristol Falls in the past, and typically the water is bitterly cold. This year, however, the water was not that cold, thanks to the warm summer we've had in New England. No Vermont summer day is complete without a maple creeme, and we stopped at Village Creeme Stand in Bristol to satisfy our sugarfix.

We closed out or first full day of the trip with a yummy dinner and s'mores at the campfire, enjoying the clean Vermont air and the light pollution-less skies.

Tuesday, August 4th, the second full day of our trip, was tropical storm day, as Isaias brought its deluge to the northeast. Luckily, we did get out early that day in a light drizzle, avoiding the worst of the rain which was set to hit later that afternoon. We did a short hike on the Long Trail to the top of the Middlebury College Snow Bowl in Hancock, VT.

Visibility was minimal, though it was nice to get outside and enjoy some time in the woods before Isaias hit. And of course, being at the ski mountain got me really excited for ski season!

Soaked after being out in the rain that morning, we returned home to shower up and prep for an afternoon of relaxation indoors as Isaias struck. 

Our last morning started bright and early with cinnamon buns from Haymaker Bun Co., a new bakery in Middlebury. We then hiked up to Silver Lake, where we were treated with beautiful views of Lake Dunmore below us. This was a nice way to cap of the trip before my drive home.

Vermont is solving the Covid-19 crisis quite well, with few total cases. Everyone I saw in public was wearing masks, even on the trails - that certainly is not the case in Connecticut. I think rural places like Vermont are very well designed for social distancing.

I'm very lucky to attend college in Vermont, and I can't wait to head back in a few weeks!