I made it! I reached the Canadian border at about 4:00 PM. Here's a photo of me at Line Post 592 at the northern terminus of the Long Trail in North Troy, Vermont. What an adventure this has been. I'm relieved that it's over but I'm also a bit sad too. I'm very proud to be a Vermonter, and am extremely thankful to all of my family and friends who have supported and encouraged me on this trip.
Along the way I had an idea. I could shave a little off the days trip, but still log some serious miles by getting off the trail at Route 242 at Jay Pass. I thought to myself, "I bet Liz would like to meet me, and maybe we could stay in a little bed and breakfast somewhere near the trail." One call is all it took and Liz was booking the honeymoon suite at Phineas Swann B&B in Montgomery Center.
On this Sunday I was joined by the two Kathys (Murphy and Hollandsworth). They brought magic homemade cookies and offered to carry my pack. We had fun hiking up Belvidere Mountain.
This was a nice shelter and beautiful location. Spruce Ledge Camp is a couple of miles south of Route 118 between Belvidere Center and Eden.
Some say that hiking the Long Trail is a religious experience. Well, on this day you might say that getting to the trail head was just that. Pastor Cal Briggs-Harris volunteered to give me a ride to Plot Road in Johnson so I could resume my hike. Is that a cross in the photo or just the sign for the trail?
Today I started at the Whiteface Shelter, which is perched above Beaver Meadow near Morristown and Stowe. After a short steep climb to the top of Whiteface Mountain, I began the long and mostly easy descent into the Lamoille River Valley and Route 15 in Johnson. My parents met me at the road because my mother had been wanting to hike a section of the trail with me. This worked out nicely. Mom and I shared the 1.6 mile hike up to Prospect Rock and Dad drove most of the way there with sandwiches and cold drinks. We enjoyed a nice lunch overlooking the valley below. Then Mom and I continued on for another 2.5 miles over a big hill to the Plot Road., where Dad met us with the car. We headed back to Winooski, which is where I'm entering this post.
Looking south over the Sterling Mountain Range from Whiteface Mountain with Smuggler's Notch Ski trails visible. Mount Mansfield and Stowe Ski Area are in the background.
The waters of Sterling Pond, above Smuggler's Notch. Ahead stand the soon-to-be-traversed ridges of Madonna (right) and Morse (left) Mountains.
The weather was not too great at the top of Vermont's highest peak so I didn't stick around for long.
The Mount Mansfield summit was veiled with clouds as I made my approach from the south.
Here's one of the tricky parts of the ascent up Mount Mansfield. Getting up to the Forehead of Mansfield involved several steep ladders and scrambles over, across, and around ledges and boulders.
A view of the sunset over Lake Champlain from Butler Lodge on the side of Mount Mansfield. The Adirondack Mountains of New York can be seen on the horizon.
This is professed to be one of the nicest shelters on the trail and I'd have to say I agree. At least among the ones I stayed at (which wasn't all that many). Butler Lodge was very cozy and had a spectacular view toward the southwest.
Here's a photo from a nice lookout called Harrington's View, perched above Bolton Valley. Mount Mansfield (Vermont's highest peak) looms in the distance.
One neat thing about today's hike was the vantage point I had to look back at Bamforth Ridge, the six mile decent from Camel's Hump. This photo shows Camel's Hump (on the right) with the ridge line running left (north) toward the Winooski River Valley. Yes, I hiked that sucker, and it was only 1/3 of the distance I covered yesterday!
Here's a photo of Camel's Hump from a spot on the trail near the Appalachian Gap early in the day (Camel's Hump is the pointy mountain in the middle of the photo). It's about 12 miles away at this point. This was one of the tougher sections of the Long Trail. I would be standing on the summit in seven hours.
More fun with mirrors from the top of Camel's Hump. My parents used a mirror to send a signal from their home in Charlotte to me on the top of the mountain. I signaled back using a little mirror I was carrying. Click on the image to view the enlarged version and see if you can spot them.
Left Route 17 (Appalachian Gap) at 8:30 AM. Stopping for lunch at Mount Ethan Allen, which is about half way to Jonesville.
Louanne and I had some great views from Mount Abraham. Here's a photo looking south across the Lincoln Gap toward the Breadloaf Wilderness Area. The distant ridge line (up the center of the photo) is where the Long Trail tracks from Middlebury Gap.
Hiking from the Emily Proctor shelter to Lincoln Gap was a drenching experience. It had been raining off and on for about twelve hours at this point. I spent about four hours getting wet and pushing onward. In many areas the trail had become a small stream. I had to totally give up trying to keep my boots dry.
Breakfast at Sucker Brook shelter with Sara, Peter, and Daniel who were from Germany.
Today I was joined by my friend Jim Cross, who met me at Brandon Gap at noon and hiked about 6 miles with me. Here's a photo of Jim with the Brandon countryside below.
For several hours I hiked along the ridge above and to the east of Chittenden Reservoir. Only ocassionally did I get a good view it.
You Can't There From Here:
Craftsmanship:
Bridges:
By about 9:30 AM I was back under way. I hiked a little over 6 miles, during which it rained very hard off and on. Despite having a pack cover and rain gear, I still got pretty soaked. Stuff in the bottom of my pack got wet too, including my sleeping bag (on the next leg I'll be sure to bring a couple of extra trash bags to line my pack). Somewhere along the way down I passed the 100 mile mark of my journey on the Long Trail.
Liz and I went to the Inn at the Long Trail for some food and a couple of Guinness beers anyway. We even helped to shuttle Craig, Gina, and their dog Max up to the Inn. I had encountered this hiking trio from Los Angeles a couple of times on the trail. They are hiking the Long Trail northbound too. The pub at the Inn is definitely a cool place, though it was pretty quiet. We got home by 6:00 PM. Liz helped me wash all my clothes and hang everything else out to dry.
One of the more bizarre things I have come across (so far) was this sculpture garden, located in the White Rocks National Recreation Area east of Wallingford. After walking through what seemed like miles of pine forest, I came upon two of these communal art projects. It appeared as though passing hikers had continued to stack rocks in various formations around these little sections of the woods.
Baker Peak was a bit of a surprise. This was my first "scramble," which is when you basically have to get down on all fours to get up, over, and around rough, rocky, and uneven terrain. The view in this photo is looking south. Though it was hazy, I could see Emerald Lake in the distance and a locomotive train passing through the valley below.
At Griffith Lake near Danby, I had a guest join me for breakfast. Next time I'll have to remember to bring a smaller spork.
After spending the night in Manchester with my brother and his family, I started back on the trail and began the three-mile hike up Bromely Mountain from Routes 11 and 30. My sister-in-law Hope and my nephew Nathan dropped me off.
Here's a view of Manchester Center nestled in the Battenkill River Valley as seen from Prospect Rock, which is east of town. I used my cell phone to call my brother Eric, who happened to be on his lunch break down below. Using small mirrors we were able to signal each other across the valley at a distance of about 4 or 5 miles.
Although it's very secluded, Stratton Pond is described as one of the most heavily used areas on the Long Trail. I would not have guessed this at all. I was the only one in the tenting area. There were some hikers staying at the nice, big shelter about a mile to the southeast, but I never saw them after I passed the shelter on the way in. I managed to take a quick dip in the pond before dinner, then got up to see the sunrise over Stratton Mountain and the pond (see photo).
Here's a photo of me making breakfast at my campsite.
The summit of Stratton Mountain includes a fire tower and a caretaker's cabin. I had a great conversation with Jeanne (see photo), one of the caretakers. Jeanne and her husband Hugh have been at this post for eighteen years. Before that they actually worked for the U.S. Forest Service and were among the last people employed to maintain an active watch for forest fires from the tower here. Jeanne and I knew some of the same people (Jeanne says hi to Sylvia P.).
After some lunch and drying out I began the 3+ mile descent to my next camp spot at Stratton Pond (see photo with Mount Equinox in the distance).
My brother Lars met me at the top of Glastenbury Mountain and we climbed the steep stairs of the fire tower for some spectacular views. Lars, who lives in Shaftsbury, followed a series of logging roads and snowmobile trails near his house to reach the Long Trail about a mile north of the summit. Unlike the northern green mountains, most of the southern peaks are tree covered so this was an unusual opportunity to get a 360 degree view of the surrounding area. The Long Trail Guide proclaims this to be "a view that includes more wild forest than can be seen from any other point on the Long Trail."
