Take the Hill!

 It was the year of our Lord 2012. October 20th.

Pittsford, Vermont. The "Pumpkin Party".

 The pumpkins are out! Completely unaware what is about to befall them!

 Kids!

 There were too many kids, so some of them were taken away. Or maybe this was the hay ride.

 General Theory of Human Nature: Rule #547 - Kids always use too much glue. Having said that, perhaps the children were depressed and these pumpkins are crying. So sad.

 Shelly the popcorner. 

 Let's take the hill! The "Hill" going into the backyard, we're taking it back / choppin' down all the crap.

 The whimsical sign at the end of "Deer Leap" Trail.

 Looking west from Deer Leap. I didn't see any "jumpers".

 Deer Leap from the road (Route 4 going to Killington). The building is the Long Trail Inn. You can send your hippie hiker friends packages (containing patchouli, incense or whatever other herbs you can imagine) care of the inn as they hike the Long Trail.

 Vermont Cactus?

 The 2012 Halloween float from Fabian Earth Moving. Ed & Shelly in character.

The float from behind.

 The kids were dressed as birds, creepy and cute at the same time.

 Beads were given out along the parade route. It's tradition.

 This giant bird was part of the float armada. In theory, this is the daddy or mommy of the little birds.

 There were lots and lots of peoples all along the streets of Rutland, Vermont for the Halloween Parade I tells ya.

The freaks were out in downtown Rutland!

Leaf Peepin' & Horse Whisperin'

 Leaf Peepin' and Horse Whisperin' near Bird (or Birdseye) Mountain off Route 4A near Castleton, Vermont.

 Weather's getting colder! This reminds me of my "General Theory of Human Nature": Rule #14 - People like to burn things (everybody likes fire!).

 The owner of the barn in our yard. He enjoys nuts.

 Shelly pretending to order around her Uncle. John put up the textured paint (it was a little messy!) and I painted it the next day. Shelly supervised / did the edging...

 After 2 coats of paint.

 Note the texture on the left... now we just need carpet!

 This is what a new boiler looks like! Unfortunately, it's in our house so we had to pay for it.

What a wonderful view this tractor has. Near Bird Mountain.

The barn's owner. Apparently not thrilled that I was near the barn. At least I don't pee and poo on the floor! Hint hint!

Killington - on the Bucklin Trail

 Something I've been looking forward to for a long time: Hiking the Bucklin Trail to the top of Killington (4,235 feet) in Vermont. It's 7 miles or so round trip.

 Craig "volunteered" to go hiking and picked Killington. He didn't know there'd be bridges!

 This was scarier than it looks... or maybe it is as scary as it looks.

 A relic of the native americans that occupied this area before europeans? Were they too lazy to build pyramids like natives of Mexico and South America? Maybe they had something better to do? Is it just a pile of stones? We may never know.

 Parts of the trail blended into the foliage. I thought that was kind of neat.

 Weather was crappy with a chance of crap. It was cool with heavy cloud cover for most of the trip up. Then it started raining. Yay.

 The signs told us what to do.

 This was the beginning of the "home stretch" to the peak. The rocks are the trail.

 Almost at the top.

 More and more "sunlight" near the peak.

 End of the line at the peak. We won! Normally you get a pretty good view here. Not today, as clouds were all up in here.

 Craig examining his walking stick for stress fractures. There were tons of shoobs at the top that cheated by taking the gondola (or is it gondola?). The shoobs were identifiable because they were eating potato chips and asking directions. You're at the top already! Every direction goes down!

 Going down from the peak was (for me) more difficult! Unfortunately this is when it started raining and the rocks were pretty slick.

 Cooper Lodge near the Killington Peak spur off of the Long Trail.

 Craig said this rock was worth $30 (U.S.), I thought that made it worth taking a picture.

 I call this rock "Weezy" (the Jeffersons?).

 I don't look miserable despite being completely drenched, cold and tired.

Craig sustained several non life-threatening injuries.

Of course, memories of the Chuck Norris videotape cover (seen at the Maclure Library Book Sale in Pittsford, Vermont) sustained us through the journey. Thanks Chuck!

Wild Turkey

 Wild Turkeys... in the backyard.

 Tree Frog? Don't know what kind... on the trail up Mount Hadley (near the house).

 Bobcat track on the same trail. Didn't see it around unfortunately.

 Drums on a pole at the top of (I think) Mount Hadley.

 The view looking south...

 Looking southwest... that's Route 4 on the right.

 And west toward New York (by the way, the left lane is for passing!) over the hang glider ramp...

 A rat snake near Glen Lake...

 The remains of the box spring. RIP 2005 - 2012. So many memories.

A northern pike from Lake Bomoseen.