Tuesday September 29, 17.0mi/27.4km

Prospect Rock (223.0/1020ft) to Spruce Ledge Camp (240.0/1516ft) (VT)

We packed up camp early, aiming to make it to a shelter before the forecasted rain started at 4pm this afternoon.

It was a nice morning for walking, and in an hour we reached the viewless summit of Roundtop.

A mile later, we took a break for 2nd breakfast at Roundtop Shelter. We met the caretaker, Howard, who was an older gentleman with a very interesting and varied life.

After 30 minutes of food and caffeine, it was time to move on. The next stretch of trail was riddler with maple syrup lines, which was fascinating to me.

We hiked up to Laraway Mountain, a long sustained climb, though not steep. Near the top was a neat cliff formation that we followed under for awhile.

Laraway Mt had a viewpoint that looked to the south.

And looking east:

The actual summit was viewless, but I took a photo anyway, ha!

We descended the 2.5 miles from the summit to Corliss shelter very quickly on a nice smooth trail. It was 12:20, a perfect time to stop for lunch.

The next climb was up Butternut Mountain, a short steep half mile climb. Another viewless summit!

At least the trail coming down the mountain was nice.

We stopped to fill our water bottles a few miles before our intended camp, being unsure if that source was dry.

I’m not sure why I took this photo, but I like the colors.

We climbed up to another ridge, and the forecasted storm was starting to move in, as the cloud ceiling dropped.

It was a foggy descent to Spruce Ledge Camp, and we made it to the shelter just after 4pm. It had a nice view spot with a bench!

We met the 5 other people we would be sharing the shelter with, and had a fun social evening at dinner. I went to bed at 8pm, in a nice dry shelter.