[Fox]

My wife, the pups and I headed up to Stratton Mt in VT with the intent to spend 3 days and 2 nights on the trail. The forecast was for perfect weather. When we got to the trail head we had it confirmed once again that weather-liars are not to be trusted.

It was cold. And gray. But mostly it was cold. We deliberated for a few minutes before we decided to go for it.





A lot of work and effort has been put into this section of trail recently and it is gorgeous. It was always wet for the first 1/2 mile or so and people trying to avoid the mud had widened the trail. This area is very popular with day hikers. The work done in this area has brought the trail back to close to the original width.



We crested the mountain and there were very few people up top. It was just too cold. It had to be down in the 30s and the wind was knocking that back a few more degrees.

We headed down the north side of the hill and soon we were in warmth and occasional sunshine. But it was short lived. The pond was seriously overcast and there was a definite chop on the water.



We hiked around and set up. We spent a very chilly, rainy night snuggled up in the tent. We woke to blue blue skies and glorious sunshine. A beautiful VT morning.








Unfortunately at some point Mrs Fox's Big Agnes air pad had developed a leak. We went over it as best we could and tried to find the leak. We could not.

We decided rather than spend a night without a pad we would cut the trip short by a night, modify our route and head out.

We took our time and had a gorgeous day of it. We only encountered two other people the entire day. It was wonderful. We all had a great time and it was just great to get out as a family.

[Ben Smith]

Good on ya for making the best of a unexpected situation. One of my favorite things camping is to cozy up nice and warm in a tent listening to the rain pattering above, knowing you're warm and dry.