Mountains Beyond Mountains

They heard me singing and they told me to stop
Quit these pretentious things and just punch the clock
These days, my life, I feel it has no purpose
But late at night the feelings swim towards the surface
‘Cause on the surface the city lights shine
They’re calling at me, “come and find your kind!”

Traveling toward Vermont's Green Mountains and through the White Mountain National Forest in New Hampshire made for an interesting car ride. Somewhere passing through New Hampshire, there was a hailstorm so intense we had to pull off the road. Curiously enough, this is not uncommon for the White Mountain region. In the middle of summer at the highest peak and with appropriate wind conditions, temperatures can drop to freezing levels. The White Mountains are considered the “most rugged in New England”. Once the storm let up, we drove through the winding hillside and low-lying clouds. 

We also passed the Mount Washington Hotel, which was in the early 1900’s, the most luxurious hotel in America. Waterfalls lined the sides of the parkway every so often. Crossing the Vermont border, we begin to see signs for local dairies.

     Suddenly I realized, "Hey! Isn't Ben and Jerry's from Vermont?" And then driving around the next bend, there it was...the Ben and Jerry's Factory! So we stopped and got a scoop of our favorite ice cream flavors. Chubby Hubby for Dave and Half Baked for me. We skipped a tour since the rain was threatening again and the last thing we wanted was to be setting up in a hailstorm.
      We camped at a place called Smuggler's Notch State Park. For fear of a nightly hailstorm, we switched our site to the last available lean-to. A lean-to can be used to either sleep under without a tent, or for those less experienced like us- pop the tent up inside. By now, we were getting pretty efficient at assembling the beast. Notice also the blue tarp next to it that we tied off to nearby trees for cooking in the rain....er...hail. Tied tight!

The next morning it was still misty. We walked outside the tent and found these little orange guys crawling out from under the lean-to. They were pretty camera shy and very fast so we did what we could to get a photo.
       We decided to head toward Stowe in hopes that the rainy weather would subside by the afternoon so that we could go hiking. While camping, we try not to carry too many supplies. I know there are coffee makers out t here for camping. But we tend to just boil water for tea. So we treated ourselves to coffee this morning at Green Mountain Coffee. The visitor center in Waterbury gave free samples and we tried all of them. Also learned about the organically grown and Fair Trade Certified methods that Green Mountain uses.
          The rain let up eventually and we ate some carbs before our hike at Piecasso Pizza. Delicious pizza! After that, we grabbed our boots and drove to the top of Mt. Mansfield. This mountain has a lot of history behind it. There are several reason they call it Smuggler's Notch. Since the U.S. government had passed an embargo on English goods, the British shipped their supplies to Canada instead, and the smugglers made their way through Vermont's Long Trail. Prohibitionists used the same area about a 100 years later to smuggle forbidden alcohol. They used the caves to store goods when revenue agents and police were on patrol. Nearby was a "Profanity Trail" and the answer to what you are thinking is yes. It was very steep, rocky, and difficult to climb. I'm sure many foul words came out a smuggler's mouth.
      We hiked to the top of Sterling Pond Trail, enjoying the views of the pond. We took a break before trekking back down at dusk. That evening, we needed to burn our firewood before entering Canada. It made a huge romantic bonfire and made us realize that this was the last night for camping until we reached Michigan. The Green Mountains of Vermont as well as the White Mountains of New Hampshire are both a region of the Appalachian Mountains. Roughly 466 million years ago, these mountains are believed to have been the highest mountains on earth, even higher than the Himalayas are today. It's nice to know the mountains are now within a more achievable hike than Mount Everest. If they can stay the way they are, a wilderness mountain scape, surrounded by small towns of people that appreciate them; than I know we will be back to see the rest. We enjoyed the peaceful night of the woods. Tomorrow, our tour would start to take a different approach as we seek the glimmer of the city life for our few final concerts. But for now, I need the darkness. Someone please cut the lights.

Sometimes I wonder if the world’s so small
Then we can never get away from the sprawl
Living in the sprawl
The dead shopping malls rise like mountains beyond mountains
And there’s no end in sight
I need the darkness. Someone please cut the lights!

We rode our bikes to the nearest park
Sat under the swings, we kissed in the dark
You shield my eyes from the police lights
We run away, but we don’t know why
Black river, your city lights shine
They’re screaming at us, “we don’t need your kind!”

Sometimes I wonder if the world’s so small
Then we can never get away from the sprawl
Living in the sprawl
Dead shopping malls rise like mountains beyond mountains
And there’s no end in sight
I need the darkness. Someone, please cut the lights!

They heard me singing and they told me to stop
Quit these pretentious things and just punch the clock.

Sometimes I wonder if the world’s so small
Can we ever get away from the sprawl?
Living in the sprawl
Dead shopping malls rise like mountains beyond mountains
And there’s no end in sight

I need the darkness. Someone, please cut the lights!
I need the darkness. Someone, please cut the lights!