Mount Wheeler, Vermont

These poisonous mountain plants, Kalmia latifolia, are scattered along the region where Mount Wheeler stands. They were originally imported from Europe for their decorative use. Although pretty to look at, you wouldn't want to ingest them, unless your name was Shine or another one of various household pets, such as dogs and cats, which apparently are not affected by it.


We found these plants on the hike Sabbath afternoon, during my weekend jaunt to Vermont. The hike was easy going, and perfect for the day. A big slab of rock marked the south and west side. I wasn't thinking when I grabbed the telephoto lens (or maybe I was too excited to want to change lenses to the wide angle. So you all are stuck with these shots.

The guys I stayed with, Nick and Damon, share a house in Barre, Vermont. One can sit, as they have, on the rock slab overlooking the valley and see the whole east side of the Northeast Kingdom, with Lake Willoughby.

Below, the Eurbin family and Jim Warman were kind enough to find this hike for us, since we were in their backyard and didn't know any place to go spend the afternoon. So after a quick lunch, we took a couple mile trail up to these rocks.

The view was beautiful, and the valley seemed to open up wider than in other places. We didn't make it to the other side to see the Lake.

It made for a perfect working (speaking/teaching) vacation. Conversation was great, and nature was beautiful, and the food was filling, and the walk was brisk.