To New England...23 Oct

The weather was not so good as I headed east from Syracuse & made my way through the Airondacks, a mountain range in northern New York State. The small towns here, smothered in the bleak weather, seemed so remote and enclosed - by the woods, the hills & the dark lakes. Previously when you mentioned New York, I immedietly thought of New York City and not too much else, but I knew there was a whole state out there somewhere as well. This region put that into perspective as I truly felt that I was out in the sticks.

Having read Bill Bryson's A Walk in the Woods, I leaned that you could see 5 States and all the way to Canada from the top of Killington Peak, Vermont. Therefore, one of my goals was to hike up Killington on this trip & take in the fall colours from this all-encompassing perspective. Coming out of the Airondacks State Park on the east put me pretty close to Killington, & as it happens a reasonably priced hostel in White River Junction, Vermont. After checking in and settling into my room, I prepared for the next day's hike by drinking at one of the 2 bars in the town & watching Monday night football.

The fall colours in this region were probably past their most colourful phase due to the unseasonably cold weather that the Northern U.S. had experienced recently, however the whole drive over from Chicago to Vermont had been picturesque for me.

The weather the next day was awesome -perfect for this time of year, except that Killington seemed to be smothered in cloud. It was, because it was lightly snowing. At the base of the peak there was no one about & it was getting quite chilly. I now had a few doubts as to my venture, and the American breakfast I'd had earlier was weighing quite heavily in my abdominal regions, but I soldiered on regardless and was rewarded with what seemed to me like a hike through Narnia with the snowfall hanging on the branches like xmas trees. The higher I got, the more bloody cold it got, and the visability was almost zero. But it was worth it.