7/07/06 Friday: AT...Greenwall Shelter to Mendon Mountain View Resort, Rutland, VT (25.2mi)

PICTURES:
1. 0956: Bear Mtn vista
2. 1018: Clarendon Gorge - Mill River Suspension Bridge
3. 1519: Short break at Govenor Clement shelter....( built in 1929)
4. 1731: Long climb up Killington

We both awoke at about 0600 and prepared ourselves and our gear for another day... We had stayed in a rather remote location and had a lovely nights sleep... We awoke to mild temps and partly cldy skies again... :)... We had another big day planned but the map showed lots of "bumps" scattered throughout the day with a rather big bump, Killington Mtn waiting for us at the end of the day... We took it all in stride and set out to accomplish our task for the day... Again we were not blessed with many views throughout this days hike, the "green tunnel" quite apparent in Vermont... The first 8mi flew by and about 1100 we were both sitting at the Whistle Stop restaurant, outside on a picnic table, enjoying our lunch... Our long grueling days on the trail find us burning nearly 6000 calories. As you can imagine, one cannot carry that many calories with them each day, so we often deprive ourselves of nutrients until our next visit to town where we "carb up". After this 90min break we were ready for whatever the afternoon would bring... And that would be a long steady climb culminating with the hike up and then down Killington... We arrived at US4 Rutland, VT at about 2030. I had earlier made arrangements with the Mendon Resort for a room. They mentioned that their restaurant was closing at 2100... At 2040 Dan entered the parking lot closely followed by a couple of runners who had been running on parts of the trail... They graciously offered to drive us the 2mi to the resort. We arrived at about 2050, checked into our room, and quickly made our way to the restaurant, arriving just before 2100... They sat us ab we enjoyed a fine meal fit for a King... After dinner we both retired to our room to clean up. After cleaning up I returned to the bar to watch the Red Sox play oan TV and chatted with the owner a bit... Later and again in the morning, I was able to "blog" a bit on a public computer in the lobby... The resort was beautiful and definately exceeded our expectations at $25pp for 2 queen beds.