The weather is weird. We’ve gotten a total of mayyyybe 1 inch of snow in SW Connecticut over the last few months. It’s WEIRD. This weekend we decided we needed snow and space, vistas, mountains, and adventure. I love hiking in the Hudson Valley near where we live but I realized recently that I really miss the expansive views we had of the Blue Ridge Mountains from all of our hikes out of Charlottesville, VA, something Vermont offers. We set out for Vermont on Saturday and stayed at a fabulous, pet friendly AirBNB in Guilford, just outside Brattleboro.
On our drive up we stopped at Atkins Farms in Amherst, MA for their infamous (to me) apple fritters. Pro tip: If you want to try these world class pastries, make sure you call in advance to reserve because they fly out of the bakery department. Hopefully for you, you’re not going up on the same day as me because I reserve a half dozen within minutes of them opening up. They freeze fantastically and are perfect for days when you’re jonesing to feel the magic of the Pioneer Valley.
On Sunday morning we made our traditional pre-adventure feast of bacon, eggs, avocados, and sesame bagels before heading out to hike Mt. Wantastiquet. I put Olive’s snow booties on when we arrived at the trailhead thinking I would take off running immediately afterwards so she could chase me, making it a fun time. Within seconds of her feet hitting the ground three of them flew off in different directions and she started attacking the fourth. I think they might be a bit on the small side. *face palm*
We ran into one group of hikers coming down near the trailhead on our way up the mountain, and another on our way down, but aside from that we had the place to ourselves. It felt like magic in a way that only a quiet, snowy forest can.
We got to the top of Mount Wantastiquet around 11:50am and Brattleboro’s annual ski jumping competition was scheduled to start at 12:15. We decided to wait it out because we had an awesome – albeit distant – view of the ski jump.
After many photos and lots of shivering, the first jumper dropped into the chute at about 12:18. We knew they would look like ants from where we were standing but we were not prepared for the tiny specks of dust that all but disappeared with the blink of an eye.
Our trek down the mountain was beautiful and Olive led the way.
We followed our hike with sour beers at Hermit Thrush brewery in Brattleboro where Olive slept on “place” for a solid hour before we headed out.
Have you been to Vermont? To Mount Wantastiquet? What did you think of the views?
This is us these days. 