After last weekend’s trip to the Trappe Family resort, our collective inner miser kicked in and we decided to exercise extreme economic austerity by spending 4th of July weekend at a Vermont State campground. Since we have all the gear, this put us back about $100 of campground/wood/ice fees for 3 days/2 nights… but as I said to Mr. P, it’s not about the money saved. It’s about the camping experience: disconnecting from devices, television, electricity, any type of creature comfort… connecting to each other, to nature, to mosquitos, and to the bodily foibles of strangers in the communal bathroom/shower.
We left Friday mid-morning in the fully-loaded Subaru, heading to the Mt. Ascutney State Park in mid-state Vermont. We packed lunch so we could stop half-way at Pisgah State Park, to revisit a much-reminisced swimming hole where we took Little Boy when he was four years old. Funny how much more scared he was to jump from the rocks now than he was when he was four.
My boys, getting ready to JUMP
This is this part when my stomach and mind lurch:
Bombs…
…Away!
Me, not jumping
We continued driving north to the campground, where our lean-to awaited. The rest of the day was a flurry of setting up camp, playing games, cooking dinner, and wreaking havoc on ant communities within our site’s vicinity.
Saturday morning I woke up early and, as arranged earlier with Mr. P, started on my “long run” up Mt. Ascutney. Since I was hardly running the gnarly, technical trails, it was more like a fast hike. Still, it’s the type of training I need to start doing more often.
Early Morning Mountain Fog
I tagged the summit and came back after 3 and half hours, only to drive back up with Mr. P and Little Boy after a quick breakfast. There’s a parking lot about a half-mile from the summit; we decided to hike on the trails on and around the summit rather than endure having to force Little Boy to do the whole hike up the mountain. He likes views and technical terrain; he doesn’t like mud, bugs, and endless tree-lined trails. We hiked around for about two hours with relatively few complaints.
West Peak, Mt. Ascutney — hand glider platform
While we were up there, it started to rain, which surprised us. Rain was not in the forecast, yet it continued for much of the afternoon. We returned to the campsite and Mr. P set off on his long run while Little Boy and I colored and listened to the radio.
The rain slowed in the evening. We made dinner and played with sparklers. We were pretty relaxed and content.
Marshmallow
Mommy Photo Bomb
It’s hard to believe we’ll be returning to the campground in two short weeks for the Vermont 100. I have started tapering my running, telling myself that the hay is in the barn and there’s nothing more I can do to get ready. My confidence in my ability to finish wavers from day to day, but these are certainties: I will be walking most of it, if I finish it will take me 27-30 hours, and my ability to finish will depend heavily on the weather. It’s been a cool summer thus far, so if it’s a sunny and humid day I will struggle. (Hell, it’s 100 miles… even if it’s a perfect weather day I will struggle). Bombs away…
