Vermont in the Fall

Over the summer I had planned a camping trip for the dogs to VT this fall. Abby had been camping before, but this would be JJ's first camping trip since coming to the sanctuary this past April. When Abby was diagnosed with cancer in July I was still hopeful that she'd make it to October since she was still acting like nothing was wrong. A few weeks into the diagnosis I realized that she probably would not be going on this trip hence all of the day trips to VT, NH, and MA over the summer with her. I took her to places that would have been part of the fall trip so she would not miss out...

This past weekend we took JJ to VT in memory of Abby. We (including JJ) hiked over 20 miles and summitted two mountains (Mt. Ascutney - 3,144 ft and Pico Mt. - 3,957 ft). I felt like she was there with us - she always loved to travel and hike. I honestly was not sure how JJ would fare with all of the hiking, but since he get walked all of the time he was conditioned for the challenge. He hiked and climbed the mountains like a trooper and when we had to scale vertical rock ledges we took turns boosting him up. Here are some pics of the trip (more on facebook):

JJ hiking Mt. Ascutney. At the top there is a 28 ft look out tower that we all went up and you could see all the way to NH and MA.

The longest covered bridge in the world! Connects Windsor VT to Cornish, NH. It was very chilly in VT, especially in the morning.

For more pics see next blog.