Day 2 was jam packed with interesting activities and events. After breakfast, we drove a few kilometers away to the Vermont Icelandic Horse Farm, run by Luc's wife. We took a 3-hour horse ride on the famous Icelandic Horses with their unique and unusually smooth gait, called the "Tolt". The tour started on some of the side roads along and through the hills, before dipping in and out of the trails. My bum became quite sore after an hour, but was easily set aside when the horses got going, charging up the hills as allowed. My horse "Scarp" is actually quite a bit overweight after taking a few months off but still eating, so his mind was going fast up the hills even as his body started to get tired. Overall I quite enjoyed it, but it was Elizabeth truly appreciated these horses, most notably their toughness and bravery as we went up and down steep, rocky hills that were very muddy and slippery in places. I shot quite a bit of video from atop my horse, which I'll post as soon as I can. In the meantime, here are a few photos of the farm and the horses we rode.

Vermont Icelandic Horse Farm

Vermont Icelandic Horse - Elizabeth on "Fiefel"

Vermont Icelandic Horse - Bryan on "Scarp"

After the horse ride, it was time for lunch, so back to the Sweet Pea where we stocked up on vegan dumplings, some fresh bread and other tasty treats. Next on our agenda was a nice high hike up the Long Trail along the Lincoln Gap. As we started the drive up towards the trailhead, our car's engine started to get warm, then suddenly as we rounded a steep corner, the temperature gauge shot up and as we pulled over steam started to roll over the hood. Yes, on a late Friday afternoon, up a mountain on a single lane road and out of cel phone range, our engine overheated.

After giving the engine a few minutes to try to cool down, we managed to turn our car around and coasted downhill, but as soon as we hit a flat part and had to press the accelerator, the engine spiked up so we just pulled aside and tried to figure out what to do. And this is where we had several counts of good fortune: first, two different cars stopped for us and offered to drive us into the next little town, which we accepted; then a little body shop took us in and called in a repair service that has a towtruck and works on the weekends; finally, Andrew from Sugarbush Car Service picked us up, brought our car back to their shop, and said they'd have the small (inexpensive) part purchased and installed by the next morning. Phew!

So we took a taxi cab back to the Mad River Inn, and decided to still make the most of our day so had another 8 kilometer hike, this time up Fayston mountain along some gravel roads and dirt paths. We came home tired and hungry, so finished off our lunch leftovers on the back deck in the sunset before watching more Olympics on television before falling asleep. Here's a photo of our deck view.

Mad River Inn at dusk in Vermont

08/19/08 by visitEarth
Tags: Vermont, Icelandic horses, Icelandic horse, horse riding, Vermont Icelandic Horse Farm