That was Vermont, next up...

...in less than 6 days, will be England.

I took one last look at the Green Mountains and their state last weekend, having driven up with Danielle to make the rounds, see people's new (and generally pretty awesome) living spaces, climb a mountain and say goodbye to everyone. I knew it'd be a little emotionally tough, and I'd be lying if I said I didn't get a little choked up saying goodbye to the last big group of my friends on Sunday night.

That said, it was a whirlwind (the awesome kind of whirlwind) weekend, and a well documented one at that...

Drove across I-90, up 87, across some combination of 9N, 22, 2 and finally up 7 to Burlington. Danielle (my very able co-pilot and moral manager) had control of the camera during this portion of the trip.

Saw these fine folks (and Charlie, of course, who is behind the camera) on the first night...and yes, Gibby is pretty naked in that picture, with only a towel between us and him. Reminds me of what the Sistine Chapel would look like if Michaelangelo were a 20 year old college kid.

I spent Saturday with Braelyn and went to bed early as Bam, Tomani, Watson and I had a hike scheduled the following day. Now, "hike" implies a leisurely jaunt through some pleasent, chipmunk filled nature trails. But this is Vermont, and Ellison Park is a long way away. We climbed Mount Mansfield which, at 4,393ft, is the highest mountain in Vermont. We decided on taking the Long Trail route to the top (despite the alluringly named "Profanity Trail") and made it in around two, two and a halfish hours.

Mount Mansfield has some of the only remaining Arctic tundra in Vermont, leftover from the last ice age and the receding ice. This is a shot of the summit from oh-so-close yet oh-so-far away.

The view from the top was, as you can see, nothing short of stunning. This is looking West across Lake Champlain and into New York and the Adirondacks.

I'm not positive, but I think this is Sterling Pond, a hike which I did with Brae last year. Labor Day weekend was perfect in terms of weather, with green stretching in every direction to the hilly horizons.

Of course, my group and I weren't the only ones who thought the day was perfect for a hike. There were probably 50 people at the summit and at least one or two people that each of us knew in one capacity or another. Still, for the most part people were respectful, clean and quite careful to obey the signs which warned not to step on the rare tundra flora under penalty of death (as is the tradition in Vermont).Looking South from the peak - somewhere out there is Camel's Hump.

So that was Sunday. I spent the night saying my goodbyes and left Monday morning, not to see Vermont again until sometime next summer. Like I said, a bittersweet visit, but I can't think of a better way to bid farewell to my favorite place in the world (and yes, Vermont has become my favorite place in the world) than to stand on its roof and see it as never before.

Next time you hear from me I'll be 4,000 miles away and 5 hours in the future.