2013 Vermont Trip, Part 2

I'm back home in Toronto, reflecting on how quickly the week flew by.

I'm happy to report that Babe behaved perfectly after the fix for the starter wire, she purred all the way throughout the rest of the trip including the 12 hours driving back on Saturday. I'm glad we pushed all the way home on a beautiful sunny day; it rained on Sunday so being home, sleeping in, relaxing was perfect.

And I spent some time yesterday editing photos and videos. First up, here's the video... I took parts from a number of trails, mixed them up to a great tune, and came up with 8 minutes. These are all fun trails, lots of flow and most of them are descents so you can pick up a lot of speed. I did speed up the video as well, mostly just to get more of the trails in without making it too long but also because I wasn't going that fast. I was riding more than I expected to and loving it but I wasn't going to push my luck. No spills or slips, and I walked the few very tricky parts I came across including some narrow bridges.

Next up are some photos... this blog entry is all about the images and feelings rather than my words :)

These two photos are from the Ricker Pond campsite we had. I can't even guess how long that stone picnic table has been there but it's still really solid so I expect it will be there for a while.

These clam shells on the other hand... they will only last until the next kids come to play on the big rock at the edge of the woods.

Here's what the trails looked like at Ricker CG, they were perfect for me to start riding on.

This waterfall was just off the road, part of Wells River.

We changed campsites for our last night on Burke Mountain, this is the campsite we had reserved (not intentionally but it's the one listed in our reservation). The campground was going to fill up on the Friday evening for the weekend and the site we'd been staying in was booked for the full weekend so it made sense for us to move. And yes, that is another westy in campsite #7 through the trees.

One thing I've found since getting the camper is that firewood is a much different experience that what I'm used to from canoe camping. I've had a great Sven saw for over 20 years (designed in Canada, manufactured in the U.S.) and have used it a lot to cut small trees for evening fires. But much of the camping in Babe is at campgrounds or forests where cutting trees isn't permitted and firewood comes in the form of split logs. Often not split all that well. So I finally broke down and bought a small axe to add to the tool box.

And here are a few more colourful shots to wrap up this entry. I particularly like the vibrant sunset. Not bad for an iPhone photo...