Kingdom Trails

I used to hit Kingdom Trails in Vermont several times per year. The 3+hr drive, each way, wasn't really a problem, and trails are awesome. But, over time, other priorities came up, my schedule changed, and I just haven't gotten up there as much any more. That's a shame, because the riding is amazing. I HAVE been up there a few times over the past couple of years, but I don't think Jean has been up for at least two years... that finally changed this weekend.

Admittedly, we were both pretty zonked on the drive up. I had worked the overnight shift the night prior, and while I had slept for about 4hrs when i got home, I was far from rested. Jean had a stressful week of school and work, and she essentially hopped in the car right after work so she wasn't exactly rested. The drive up seemed to take FOREVER, and rolling in to our friend's house at 9:30pm felt like we had driven 10hrs and were arriving at 3:00am.

We stayed with our good friend Jo, in Newark, VT, which is about 15 minutes from East Burke. Jean and I actually have almost 7 acres of land in East Burke, but it's a mess right now and not even worth trying to camp on... As a side note, Jo runs a B&B, and it's great accommodations with comfortable beds and easy access to the trails!

Anyway, it was great to catch up with Jo, and great to catch up on some of our favorite trails. Day 1 included Harp, Coronary Bypass, Coronary, Troll Stroll (twice), Burrington Ridge (AWESOME new climbing trail), Eager Beaver, Webs, Violet's Outback, Old Webs, and more. All in all, about 15 miles and just under 1800ft of climbing.


Then, after showers, we hit a restaurant in Lyndonville called Sweet Basil, with Jo, and had a great dinner.

We got a good night's sleep and then needed one more ride before hitting the road. We didn't ride long because we were worried about traffic and ensuring the we got home in time to pick up the pooches, so after saying our "goodbye"s to Jo, we hit the other side of Darling Hill with Heaven's Bench, Ridge, Bill MacGill, Widowmaker, Riverwood, Beat Bog, and of course, ended with Kitchel. We climbed the road back up to the car, and pointed it towards home. It was great weekend--looking forward to getting back up there before the end of the summer!


See more pics here (if the slideshow below doesn't work on your iPhone/ipad)...