I reveled in my hiking roots with a solo climb of Hunger Mountain in central Vermont via the Waterbury Trail on a gorgeous September morning. It's relatively short at 2 miles - but with more than 2000 feet of elevation change with some severe rocky terrain, it earns a "very strenuous" rating from the Falcoln Guide to Hiking The Green Mountains by Lisa Densmore (great book). Loved the hike. Got there before others and had a very Thoreau-esque walk in the dimly lit forest to begin my morning .. then uphill hit .. Half way up is a burbling waterfall .. Then it gets entertainingly steep .. With 2/10ths of a mile to go, it becomes an aggressive scramble up boulders for a fantastic finish. The bald rock summit has gorgeous 360 views, including Camel's Hump and Mount Mansfield. Brilliant. As a remnant of an old injury, my knees don't go downhill well, so I tried strapping on both knee braces and handled the descent with good results. What a wonderful hike. Reminds me of how in awe I am of my sister who is an Appalachian Trail end to ender - this would have been a walk to the mailbox for Cleo. :-). Leaving a king-sized Payday bar in the car for a treat for surviving was a stroke of genius.