On Friday, September 12, I took a half day of vacation to get out on a couple of trails. This weekend is the Tunbridge World's Fair so I did not want to do an overnight hike as I am taking Kim and Jon to the Fair tomorrow.
I arrive at the Sunlight Pond trailhead (1,960 ft above sea level) at 1:00 pm and start my hike in a steady rain. The canopy of trees overhead helps to limit how much rain I get hit with, but every now and then the wind blows and the trees release a downpour. Combine that with my body brushing up against wet branches and ferns and it's going to be a wet hike. It is 58 degrees as I start the ascent up Breadloaf Mountain to a rendevous with the Long Trail.
I cross several small streams on the way up, climbing a total of about 1,500 feet before I reach the LT. On the way up I pass a couple climbing down and the man tells me they gave up getting to the top as it was taking too long. He describes the point where they turned around. I come to that point in about 20 minutes and, wouldn't you know, another 100 yards past their turnraround I come to the end of the trail (3,420 ft). 
I've climbed for 2.5 miles and it has taken 70 minutes. The trip down is faster of course, and I arrive back at the car in 60 minutes for a total of 5.0 miles in 2 hours and 10 minutes.
I'm soaked but decide I should do another short trail before heading home. It takes less than 15 minutes to get to the Sucker Brook Trail, a 2.0 mile out and back trail that also climbs to the LT. This one has less of an incline and is muddier but I find I can manage. 
The road to the trail has washed out in recent weeks because of flooding in the Middlebury Gap region so I have to park about 0.2 below the trail, cross a creek that has washed out the road, and hike up to the trailhead (2,020 ft.). I reach Sucker Brook Shelter (2,420 ft.) after a fairly short climb, take a photo and head back down. The rain picks up during my descent and I arrive at the car sopping wet.
On Saturday, September 13, I get up at 8:00 am and head out to tackle two more trails. As Hurricane Ike pounds Galveston, it looks like the day here may clear after a while and become sunny. I arrive at the Middlebury Gap intersection with the Long Trail (2,144 ft.) at 10:00 am and start to climb north. The first 0.4 tenths of a mile is on a section of previously covered Long Trail but near the top I branch off onto the 0.8 tenths out and back Silent Cliff Trail. The trail is not very steep and I arrive at the cliff (2,750 ft.) in short order. 
I can see 600 feet down to Hwy 125 and can even see my car parked off in the distance. My trip back is an easy descent. I've climbed 600 feet while covering a total of 1.6 miles. In my car I crack open a cold one - diet Brisk Iced Tea - that is - and head on to Burnt Hill Trail. 
Burnt Hill Trail (Trailhead 1,640 ft) at is a 2.2 mile uphill hike to the Long Trail and to this I add a 0.5 mile hike north on the Trail to Bryce Shelter (3,020 ft). I slept here on my last hike but forgot to take a picture of it so I'm doing the extra mile to get a photo. The climb is steady but not too difficult. 
The sunlight has started to dry out the trail making the hike even easier as I don't have to worry as much about slipping on roots and rocks. I take it easy and enjoy the hike. On the way up I startle a tribe of sleeping Turkeys and watch about 20 of them scramble off in flight. I arrive back at my car at 1:45 pm so I have covered 5.4 miles in 2 hours and 30 minutes.
So, in two days I've covered four trails and a total of 14.4 miles. This has been an enjoyable two days of hiking.
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