We finally got a bluebird day to go hiking. This was day one of a two day trip to Vermont. My daughter, Hannah and her dog Bella and I set off at 9:30 am to hike up Maple Ridge Trail to the Long Tril to summit Mt. Mansfield. After correcting for a wrong turn: I told Hannah it was a warm-up lap (she didn't believe me) we were on our way.. Although parts of the trail were a real challenge, the views were spectacular. This particular route is pretty lightly travelled so we had the mountain to ourselves for the first half of the day. This was Bella's first real chsllenging hike and she handled it like a champ. It was a treat to have her with us. The hike down via Sunset Ridge Trail with some of the folks we met at the top, and a trip to Ben & Jerry's factory for some ice cream ended a wonderful day.
Oh, and the best part of this day; no knee pain at all. Bring on the next three peaks!