Highpoint: Connecticut. Mt. Frissell, South Slope. May 9, 2010

Cut and pasted from http://www.trishalexsage.com
Accompanying pictures can be found there.
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Mt. Frissell Trail, about 3.8 miles roundtrip.
Mt. Frissell, South Slope

For Mother's Day, the girls and I decided to tackle another state highpoint. After a lovely morning with Hugh, the three of us took off for northwest Connecticut.

There are two approaches to the trailhead. Unfortunately, we were forced to take both of them. First, we drove south from Massachusetts along Mt. Washington Road (which turns into East Road). We were forced to stop before arriving at the AMC parking lot, however -- a large tree had fallen across the road. Undaunted, we turned around, drove back up East/Washington Road, turned right on Route 41 and then headed down into Connecticut.

An hour later, we were driving north on Mt. Washington/East Road, coming up from the south.

We finally arrived at the little parking lot and readied ourselves for the hike. For the girls, this meant picking up a large stick and walking around with it for a while.

The trail starts a few dozen feet north of the parking lot. The parking lot is in CT, but the hike begins in MA...here's the state border by the side of the road.

We turned left a few feet north of this marker and began our hike along the unmarked, red-blazed trail.

Sage was quite happy to be out of the car and ran ahead of us for a while.

After a couple flat tenths of a mile, the going got steep as we ascended Round Mountain.

We topped out and beheld some nice views.

We then crossed the top of Round Mt...

...stopping to sit on occasion...

...and running when we felt like it. Mt. Frissell is the mountain just ahead of us.

We descended into the Round Mt./Mt. Frissell col...

...then went back up a bit until we were near Mt. Frissell's summit.

The blazed path leads to a fork very close to the top...here's a patch of trees in the middle of the fork.

From this point, one takes a left and follows the blazed path to reach Connecticut's high point, or one takes a right and walks fifty feet to the top of Mt. Frissell, staying on the Massachusetts side of the mountain. We decided to visit the highpoint first.

Not long after taking the left, the path winds down the somewhat exposed south slope. Views are plentiful here.

We soon hiked into Connecticut and found the green highpoint/border marker and cairn.

Here's my little homemade flag...

...and here are the girls with theirs.

We lounged a bit and ate our traditional summit treats, then decided to visit the actual summit before heading down.

Standing at that previously mentioned fork, one can turn right and see the summit area. In the picture below, the girls have found the cairn while I stand at the fork.

The cairn, with a nearby register:

We signed our names, then headed down. On the way, we saw some nice flowers...

...a tree that Alex decided "looked like scissors" (she took the photo below)...

...and "two trees helping a fallen tree" (Sage's words and photo).

The hike took about 2 and a half hours, including the time we used for breaks.

This was the perfect way to spend Mother's Day. Hope all the other Moms out there had a great day too.

A perfect way to spend Mother's Day

Fran and I enjoyed the photos and narrative of the Ct. High Pt. trip. We are from CT originally and I have never been up there!. Love the girls comments about the trees. You are a great mom building some beautiful memories for all of you!
Karen

This is a neat hike. If you continue on the trail a bit, there is a stone marker, not unlike the one at the trailhead, which denotes the conjunction of the borders of New York, Connecticut and Mass. Further on, Brace Mountain in New York offers lovely views with very little effort expended.

Trish,

I see that you have added highpoints to your menu; they do lead to some fascinating (as well as to some excruciatingly boring) destinations.

May I suggest adding selected county highpoints? A few years ago I spent four very enjoyable days Highpointing in Western Massachusetts. Another very enjoyable hike was up Gillespie Peak, a hike I would almost certainly not have done if it were not a highpoint.

So many destinations, so little time

TrishandAlex said:

Sage was quite happy to be out of the car and ran ahead of us for a while.

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Sage would have enjoyed a trip into her namesake ravine near there. I'm glad you caught the highpoint, but don't hold it against us. Most here consider Bear Mtn on the AT high enough and skip the actual highpoint altogether.

That's a great area, finding it is often confusing so don't feel bad about it!

I often hiked/trail ran throughout the South Taconic Range -- it was just a hop skip and a jump from my home in The Hudson Valley.

<edit> I see from your photos that the mountain laurel are just starting thier bloom -- just in time for my annual pilgrimage to the Hudson Highlands next week!

Chip said:

I'm glad you caught the highpoint, but don't hold it against us. Most here consider Bear Mtn on the AT high enough and skip the actual highpoint altogether.

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We actually thought this hike was quite enjoyable. There are plenty of views to be had while walking along the top of Round Mountain on the way to Frissell, and the spot of the actual highpoint is lovely -- one can look down into the valley below and gaze upon a lake with a little island. It was nice, though I have heard that the views from nearby Bear Mountain are better.

Amantio, I read about the tri-state marker and told the girls about it, but they didn't feel like continuing onward. Kind of a shame...in retrospect, I should have tried to talk them into it since I wanted to see it myself.

Cymbidium, thank you.

Una_dogger -- mountain laurel, so that's what that is...thanks for the info.

Mohamed -- yes, we're now in the Highpointing game. I understand some of the states might be a little underwhelming, but I find the list a great excuse to travel and we are always up for an adventure. I love road trips and the girls like to see new places. The big bad summits will wait until the girls are teens...assuming they want to hike such mountains at that time. If they do not, then we will stop at whatever number we're at when the girls lose interest.

County highpoints...interesting...will look into those.

I have this dream about doing our own version of the Seven Summits -- hiking a mountain of any height in each continent. Would LOVE to do this...another excuse to travel. Maybe with planning it could work...don't know if we'll ever be able to afford that though.

TrishandAlex said:

I have this dream about doing our own version of the Seven Summits -- hiking a mountain of any height in each continent. Would LOVE to do this...another excuse to travel. Maybe with planning it could work...don't know if we'll ever be able to afford that though.

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An absolutely fascinating concept!

Excluding Antarctica, it should be affordable over a lifetime. Europe is not an exotic destination. Africa does not need to be a safari, Morocco is much more affordable. Much of Asia is much closer to the States than the high peaks in the Himalayas. Many of my friends have trekked in New Zealand. I really know very little about South America, but that must be possible.

Antarctica, of course, is in a different league. There are cruises to Antarctica, but I suspect that they do not include any peaks.

Keeep dreaming, there is not much point in a life without "impossible" dreams!

Mohamed Ellozy said:

Excluding Antarctica, it should be affordable over a lifetime.

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Oh, agreed. I want to do it with the girls while they're growing up, though -- so the plane tickets, etc. will be three times as expensive. That's why I'm worried about the feasibility. I know I can get them to three or four continents without much trouble, just trying to figure out how to do all seven...and yes, Antarctica does present a bit of a problem...hmmm.

But heck, where there's a will, there is always a way....so if the three of us (and not just me) want to do this badly enough, then it will happen.

Highpointing

Trish,
An interesting ventue you are beginning. Michael's brother sent us an article several years ago that this might be a goal we might undertake. Maybe some day.

When I read Mohammed's recommendation to consider hiking the county highpoints in your state; coincidentally we found out talking with Michael's brother last evening that he is going to hike the country highpoints (17) in Nevada beginning this summer.

Donna