“Sasquatch Lodge”, the slope side ski-in ski-out house my
brother has rented for several ski seasons on the lowest run on the east side
of Killington Mountain is now all his, he recently having bought the property
when it went on sale . I’m now making it my home away from home for two summer weeks
in Vermont to beat the heat in New Jersey.

I’ve only been here once before in winter when the leaves
are off the trees and you can see out to the road and down to the ski run and
sometimes hear the chatter of skiers as they slide by on the low grade slope or
stop to babble. With the thick green forest canopy coming up almost to the
sides of the house and the back deck, though, in summer it could hardly feel
more secluded or serene. Except for at night when I hear weird animal sounds.
Is that a bear? Or maybe a Sasquatch? I’m
sure it probably just something like an owl or a frog, but Doug did warn me
about putting the garbage out to be collected. “Put it in your trunk and take
it somewhere to a dumpster so the bears don’t get into it,” my brother warned
me. You know you’re in a good place when you have to be concerned about bears
getting into your trash.

The place is actually quite rustic, and I’ve decided pretty
much to just use the main level . I could sleep downstairs in a bunk in one of
the bedrooms, but being here all alone for two weeks I’ve decided to just couch
surf and let the morning light of the east-facing windows wake me naturally.

I suppose there’s a fair amount to do right around
Killington and some people do come here for vacations in the summer. It’s not
like ski season, though. Many of the restaurants and other businesses are
closed through the summer or only open for three or four days around the
weekend. There’s mountain biking and slides and things like that on the
mountain, but that’s a bit much adrenaline for me. Vermont’s also great for
hiking, including right around Killington mountain, but even Vermont is on the
hot side for hiking for me in July and August. It’s not as if I can’t do it – I
just don’t find it pleasant. I’ll return for some trekking sometime in the
fall. Nope, this is going to be a mix of relaxing and exploring around the
region.

I don’t know the elevation of Sasquatch Lodge but estimate
it to be somewhere around 1,600 feet . It’s well above Route 4 at it passes the
Skyeship Goldola base at 1,150 feet but also well below Killington’s base
village. And the mountain’s summit at
4,241 feet is the second highest peak in the state of Vermont.

Having lived in Colorado for a long time I’m used to
mountain passes of 9,000 to 12,000 feet, so each time I drive over Sherburne
Pass on Route 4 on my way to Rutland and see the 2,150-foot altitude marker, I
can’t help but chuckle a little. But that
is where the Appalachian Trail and Vermont’s Long Trail cross the road.
Actually, the Appalachian Trail technically follows alongside Route 4 for about
two or three miles, the trailhead to the south being that distance west of the
trailhead to the north. On several
mornings people trekking the trail were out with their thumbs stuck up for a
ride between the two. As someone who’s done treks myself and has sometimes put
his thumb up for a ride on a road, I was happy to be of service to a young duo
one morning and then a young single guy who wanted a ride into Rutland for a
feed and some supplies on another. Of course, people who have been hiking on
the Appalachian Trail don’t smell too nice, but the odor doesn’t last long once
they get out of the car.

I somewhat coordinated my time in Killington to coincide
with that of an old friend of mine. I
worked with Sarietha for about five months in 1994 on the staff of the Joint
Budget Committee at the Colorado General Assembly where she was an
administrative assistant for over 20 years, now retired . We’ve kept in touch
over the years. Sarietha told me she’d be in Killington for four days for her
husband’s family reunion, so I figured we might be able to get together. I was coincidentally at the Long Trail
Brewing Company’s pub in Bridgewater Commons as she posted on Facebook about
entering Vermont in route from the Manchester, NH airport. “Hey, stop by on the
way and join me for a beer,” I commented. And fifteen minutes later she and
Tony showed up.

We enjoyed Long Trail Brewing so much that we decided to
make it the venue for the lunch date we had planned in three days when she’d
have a break from the scheduled family reunion activities. Supposedly Vermont
now has the highest number of microbreweries per capita in the United States,
although I recall places like Montana and Oregon making similar claims over the
years. Anyway, there are lots of little brewpubs in Vermont, and Long Trail
(about 10 miles east of Killington) is one of the bigger and better known of
them. It’s right along Route 4 and also alongside the Ouattaquechee River with
a nice outdoor beer garden . I had some great beer samplers, a good
fish-and-chips platter for lunch, and we shared a divine plate of artisanal Vermont
cheeses. That’s something else Vermont does well on a small scale; there are
small dairies and cheese factories all over the state. Luckily I have my cooler
and ice packs with me so can take some of the local specialties back with me to
New Jersey.