Summary: the ten miles of the hike to the car were very tough. First, hike to touristy Prospect Rock, then to inconspicuous Spruce Mountain and finally to AT parking on routes VT-11 and VT-30.
05:58 I am starting to wake up and at 6am I heard an alarm from someone’s bank. I woke up several times (22H 2AM) and heard the pounding on the drops on the roof, but sky was clear with tons of stars. The sleep wasn’t particularly well -with a lot of tossing and turning. It wasn’t cold, but I didn’t want to sleep. Strange?
07:03 Only one other hiker woke up at this point. Here is not very talkative but he knows a lot about foraging, and he gave me one piece of chaga from his bag. It is a hard grayish fungal growth on birch trees, used in folk medicine and mentioned as a remedy in Solzhenitsyn’s “Cancer Ward”.
With a signal I am sending congratulations to my brother on his 40-year marriage anniversary.
Curiously, I was searching for my hiker clothes everywhere but couldn’t find them. Finally, I realized that I packed it along with my sleeping bag. I used the clothes in a pillow pocket and they stayed inside. No wonder it was so hard to close the bag that hold the sleeping bag.
07:15 start the hike, visit local privy that was not my favorite experience of the day.
07:30 I am resuming at the same spot where I left off yesterday at 16:57. I need to go 10 more miles to the car, and I hope to reach there by 2PM.
08:53 – 09:30 hiked 3.14 mi / remains 7.7 mi. I stopped at an interesting spot where trail makes a 90° turn away from Winhall River. There is a signal here. While sitting under the tree and doing Duolingo, I finally met the first person (09:11) – a NOBO hiker from the shelter that gave me a chaga for tea.
The weather is cooperating – they are promising 15-22°C and sunny. It finally warmed up and dried out. Before proceeding, I am taking the yellow jacket off.
10:21 – I’ve reached William B. Douglas Shelter side trail. I keep going and crossing a brook over a footbridge.
10:33 trail merges with a forest road and goes comfortably down.
10:40 – 10:52 a memorable stop on the side of the road. I know I am making great progress; I already completed 5.4 mi and 5.3 mi remaining. The place is just 10 yards away from the road, I am sitting on trunk of a fallen treen.
10:56 there is gate blocking the road with an interesting sign: “If you are looking for PROSPECT ROCK. . . you missed it. Turn around and go 500 yards back”.
11:04 – I am at Prospect Rock. There are a dozen day hikers here from various places including Germany. The view is good, but I just take 2-3 quick pictures and keep going. The sign shows 4.8 to the highway.
11:52 I am struck with an interesting task – At 9AM the traveler has 7.7 mi more to go. At 12PM this traveler travelled 7.7 mi. What can be said about the time of start and end of the hike?
12:02 I feel a slight pain in right knee, so I must step cautiously. My new estimate to complete the hike is between 1:30 and 2PM. Next landmarks go in a haze.
12:17 Spruce Peak Shelter side trail
12:35 Spruce Peak side trail
12:44 For the first time I begin to hear the noise from the highway as if it is 100 yards away. Today I only met 3 hikers not counting multitudes at Prospect Rock.
13:45 – I am done! Today I hiked 10.64 mi and 40 mi in 3 nights. The exact figure shown by AllTrails.com is 38.71 mi. The car is there, waiting for me. The are some grapes in the cooler. Cool grapes!
14:00 ODO 166.2 +21.5°C – start driving back to the bike using route 7.
14:36 ODO 195.9 +24°C – I arrived at Vermont truck chain-up area on route 9 where I hid my bike. This area is reserved for heavy trucks to pull up and either put on or take off tire chains in inclement weather. Load the bike proceed east on route 9.
15:31- 15:49 ODO 222.5 +22°C – Instead of hurrying forward and forward, I stopped on the side of a road, and I found a perfect swimming spot on the banks of Harriman Reservoir in Whitingham, VT on route 100. There were not too many swimming opportunities on this trip. So it was a great refresher. The descend to the water and ascend back to the car were a bit treacherous, but it was a small price to pay for a refresher.
18:06 ODO 337.8 +22.5°C – arrived home on route 2 in normal Friday traffic. It is raining but just slightly. What an intense trip it was!
Navigate through the List
- 01 2026-08 First August trip to Vermont (2026/08/17)
- 02 2026-08-18 TU First day so full of driving, biking and hiking (2026/08/18)
- 03 2026-08-19 WE - second hiking day - jump over Glastenbury Mountain (2026/08/19)
- 04 2026-08-20 TH - 15 mi day over Stratton Mountain (2026/08/20)
- 05 2026-08-21 FR last 10 mi to the car (2026/08/21)
- 06 2026-08 AT VT trip lessons and overall summary (2026/08/22)
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