AntlerPeak
New member
So today we took one of those half day hikes to a minor summit on the Long Trail. Last fall I had noticed on the new Long Trail map they had done a reroute in the section north of Wallingford. I had asked Poison Ivy as she had recently done the Long trail if Bear Mountain was worth a trip in its own right. She said no not really it was basically a wooded high point along the way. As I respect Ivy's opinion I dropped that idea in favor of more interesting peaks.
Why now, why a change of mind? Simply put it is a route of just under six miles round trip with an ascent of 1140 feet and a short distance from where I live. Also when I hiked the Long Trail the route bypassed Bear Mt climbing over a really worthless hill and had the added "joy" of walking several miles over a hard scrabble dirt road which was no fun at all. We sort of figured with the leaves down there may be something of value there.
What we found was a very nice trail through a hardwood forest in the lower portion turning into a mixture of evergreens near the summit but still including some hardwoods. There is also a parking lot above rte 140 for Long Trail hikers but you will need a four wheel drive to access it as there is a short steep dirt road leading several yards up to it. The road and lot was not plowed though there was only four inches of snow on the ground.
We bare booted the entire length of trail as there simply was not enough snow to need snowshoes. In fact there were several areas that were bare showing both earth and rocks. Plenty of views were available to the south in a western arc to the north. Most impressive were the cliffs on White rocks mountain directly south. The summit as Ivy said was wooded and viewless, but the trail is excellent. Its grade was moderate pretty much in a steady range of what you would expect with a four hundred foot per mile grade.
The views open up after less than a mile of hiking and stay with you to just below the summit. This hill offers a nice half day moderate hike.
Why now, why a change of mind? Simply put it is a route of just under six miles round trip with an ascent of 1140 feet and a short distance from where I live. Also when I hiked the Long Trail the route bypassed Bear Mt climbing over a really worthless hill and had the added "joy" of walking several miles over a hard scrabble dirt road which was no fun at all. We sort of figured with the leaves down there may be something of value there.
What we found was a very nice trail through a hardwood forest in the lower portion turning into a mixture of evergreens near the summit but still including some hardwoods. There is also a parking lot above rte 140 for Long Trail hikers but you will need a four wheel drive to access it as there is a short steep dirt road leading several yards up to it. The road and lot was not plowed though there was only four inches of snow on the ground.
We bare booted the entire length of trail as there simply was not enough snow to need snowshoes. In fact there were several areas that were bare showing both earth and rocks. Plenty of views were available to the south in a western arc to the north. Most impressive were the cliffs on White rocks mountain directly south. The summit as Ivy said was wooded and viewless, but the trail is excellent. Its grade was moderate pretty much in a steady range of what you would expect with a four hundred foot per mile grade.
The views open up after less than a mile of hiking and stay with you to just below the summit. This hill offers a nice half day moderate hike.
I don't remember that Bear Mtn. too fondly... but it was a super hot day and I was tuckered at the end of a long trip when I hiked it. Perhaps I should go back and take another look! 
