I wrote this post one of the first weeks we were here. Now I finally remembered to share it:
The First Hike
The first hike was awesome. It was president’s day and Ben, Zack, and I had decided to get some work done. Unbeknownst to us all the places we needed to go were closed.
Seeing that it was a beautiful day and we still had things to talk about we decided to climb Haystack Mountain. A leisurely 2 mile hike to the top to talk about important church planting things.
A little while in we discovered two things. First there was a shack that spray painted on it are the words, “Rape shack.” Creepy. Even creepier still is what is on the inside. You open up the door to this place and there is a bunk bed and nude photos all over the walls. We were and still are a little taken aback but such a strange find on the side of the mountain. Just thinking about it makes me want to wash my hands, and my eyeballs.
The second thing we found was a dead end. We had walked right by the real trail and we had no idea where. Luckily this was the best dead end you could ever find. We came upon a huge and beautiful frozen lake. Luckily we were not the only lost peeps on the mountain. A family hiking behind us had made the same mistake and they had a map.
On the map it looked like the best, and most fun, way to the top was going to be to across a small ridge on the other side of this frozen lake. Sweet.
So, we crossed the lake and the ridge and we met up with a trail that met the trail that climbed up the mountain.
To our benefit, there was a couple in front of us who decided to cross the ridge as well. All we had to do was follow their path in the snow.
Oh yea did I mention the entire forest was covered with snow. It was one of the most beautiful hikes I have ever done. So far we had tromped through the woods, and walked across a frozen lake, and over a ridge near the top of a mountain and yet we still were not at the top.
Once we finally got to the top we saw such an unbelievable sight. I couldn’t believe such a great trail was only 5 minutes from the Presten’s and Caudell’s homes.
We enjoyed the scenery and I heated up/burned leftover potato soup from the other night for lunch. We all squatted around the pot and ate away at the warm food on top of an awesome mountain.
We settled in on an overlook and had our staff meeting. We also were able to pray over the entire valley as we looked down into it from far above. Very awesome experience.
The descent was quick but still interesting. At the top of the mountain was this giant black lab. Apparently it had just followed some other hikers to the top. When we started down it decided to accompany us.
When it got a little ahead of us it would stop, look back, and wait. It led the way all the way to our car. I gave him/her some deer jerky for sticking around.
So, overall this was quite the adventure. Found a weird shack, got lost, walked over a frozen lake, walked around a mountain then up it, ate some food, and made a friend.
I think I will do more of these adventures in Vermont. Also, here is a video of Ben falling. He was born for the north.
They Call Me Crunchy 