MOUNTAIN CLIMBING

Another day dawned hot and sunny and Ben’s good form of the previous evening was clearly going to continue. He probably likes Pat and Walter’s house in particular because the stairs and most rooms are carpeted and that gives him good grip. On hard floors he is liable to slip over easily now the hip is so bad. Getting up wooden stairs is now very difficult for him.

In a previous life I once lived here in Killington. I took up mountain biking to get fit after breaking my leg in a ski accident and was soon bitten by the bug. It was not too long before I was riding virtually every single day and my life revolved around time spent in the saddle. Rocky my border collie at that time was typical for the breed and a tremendous athlete so I would very frequently take him with me on cross country routes. While I would puff and wheeze my way across the steep and unforgiving terrain he would run blithely on ahead and cover many more miles than I did with his zig zagging antics. Most of the rides were over 30 miles while rides of 60 or 70 miles were not uncommon. He lapped it up and when I allowed him to choose which trail we might follow he always chose the longest. We would load up my backpack with his collapsible bowl and plenty of water and be gone for hours. It was a special time and a very special relationship.

Yesterday I decided I would take Ben to the top of the mountain to show him where I had ridden so often with his predecessor. With his bad hip Ben is in no shape to run up the mountain beside my bike, come to that I am not currently in good enough condition to pedal up anyway. Killington runs its main gondola lift year round so we headed for the base lodge and after explaining that he is a registered service dog I was allowed to buy a lift ticket. It is not every day that one sees a dog on a ski lift but I was pretty sure he would take it in stride. He did, of course. Jumped into the little cabin and settled down to watch the view with interest.

The lift carried us up out of the hot humid conditions at the base to the clearer cooler breezes at the 4241’ summit. Not exactly nosebleed country but decent enough you can see for miles and on a good day Canada be visible. So many times I had ridden up here with Rocky and now here I was again but with Ben.

Green Mountain Coffee is roasted here in Vermont and I lived on the stuff when living and riding here, I find the blends to be particularly to my liking. When riding in Vermont on the road all those years ago I knew the location of every little coffee shop and would ride from one to another drinking the GM coffee and trying the oatmeal and raisin cookies. It was then not a surprise that I popped into the peak lodge and came back out with a Green Mountain medium blend and an oatmeal cookie for me and a large bottle of water and a bowl for Ben. We sat in the chairs and took in the view together, it was a perfect moment.

BEN AND I READY TO TAKE THE LIFT

BEN ENJOYING THE RIDE

ENJOYING THE SCENERY

I CAME OUT FROM THE CAFE TO FIND BEN SURROUNDED BY ADMIRERS! THE PINOT FAMILY FROM SPAIN, CHILE AND VERMONT