Our destination was the Naumann tent site, which is just below the Mizpah Spring Hut near the summit of Mt. Pierce. It is a great location (easy to get to, near a hut, great hikes nearby, etc.) and we are glad we chose it over a few other options. The hike up went quickly, we set up our tent, took a nap, and then tried to make ourselves busy for the remainder of the day. I ended up hiking to the summit on my own but Caleb had a great time playing with some new friends at the hut. We ate dinner in style (macaroni and cheese) and did our best to sleep through the noise of the rain. We woke up early and broke camp in a bit of a drizzle (a light rain, really) and then hiked the few miles down the mountain to our car in time to make it to the Highland Center for an awesome breakfast.

As anyone would expect a breakfast conversation to go the morning after a backpacking trip in New Hampshire, we decided to head to Vermont for a night to mix the trip up a bit. We drove through the rain to Burlington, explored a little, ate some great Thai food, and checked into a comfy hotel room. The next day we drove south and explored Middlebury and Woodstock before heading home.

We had a great time and love Vermont. Burlington reminds us a lot of Santa Barbara (we were told that it would, but it certainly lived up to our expectations) and seems like a great place to live and raise a family. We took several day trips to Burlington and spent our evenings staying in Stowe (a very cute mountain town southeast of Burlington by roughly 45 minutes). We’re definitely going to visit again soon!