I have been doing a lot more walking and hiking for the last year (at least when the weather is bearable) and feel more in shape physically than I have in recent years.
Thursday tested that. We went to an area called Boyce Hill, in a small VT town called Fayston.
Boyce Hill is a 91-acre high-elevation forest. The investor who bought it in 1981 was a commercial Realtor from Massachusetts who cleared about 75 acres, put in a road partway up, built a pond, and went through a permitting process to put in a 7-lot subdivision with 20 shared acres plus the pond. He met with lots of opposition, and eventually sold the property in 2013. The new owner sought to reduce the number of developable lots down to 4, but also met with opposition from close neighbors. While it was ultimately approved, the owner chose not to build. In 2019 she donated it, through the Vermont Land Trust, to the town.
The change in elevation from the parking area (already part way up the hill) and the top of the hill is about 350'. That might have been fine if it wasn't just constantly uphill. Some parts a little steeper and some a little less steep. But always uphill. I found out that while I may be able to walk miles on a relatively flat or up-and-down path, the constant uphill was more than I had bargained for.
Of course, the views along the way, and at the top, were breathtaking and made the climb entirely worth it! I have added some pictures below.
And then came the descent, in some ways even worse. I, in a fit of apparent unreasonableness and maybe senility, hadn't taken my walking poles. Apparently I had forgotten that I have 2 bad knees and 1 bad ankle. Silly me. In any case, I don't really like walking downhill. We made it, but as we came in sight of the parking area I wasn't sure I was going to be able to take those last couple of hundred steps. Of course, I did - but I was absolutely happy to be able to sit down in the car.
The recovery was quick - driving back to our place, drinking some water, feeling sorry for myself (well not really the last) - although I did take some Tylenol when we got home. And I have no regrets, because foliage was pretty close to peak, if not at peak, and everything was stunning. It was one of those days where one feels like every picture opportunity is greater than the one before. It makes me so thankful to live in this part of the world.
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