bignslow
Active member
I had to burn some vacation prior to the end of summer so I decided to take the entire last week before Labor Day as a long vacation. Nicole and I wanted to spend some time in VT doing some more touristy things instead of hiking constantly so we decided this was the week to do it.
Thurs 8/25/11 (Drive & Camp):
Left Syracuse after work, because I have a bike addiction I decided to take the long way to VT (via Watertown) to buy a new bicycle. We drove up and across NY 3, taking the ferry at crown point before heading into Vermont and finding our campground for the night (Branbury state park). The park was OK, we stayed on the opposite side of the road from the lake and the campsites were not very tent friendly (lots of sharp hard packed gravel). During the night we discovered our air mattress had a leak (when I say we, I mean that I was on the ground, while Nicole was still on a pillow of air...).
Friday 8/26/11 (Hike Breadloaf & Wilson, 10.4 mi, 2700' gain):
We drove to the Skylight Pond trailhead where we were greeted by a GMC trail crew coming off the trail after a week of work. We thanked them for their hard work and then began our hike. The trail begins on an old woods road and after crossing a few streams it begins to climb. The trail (like most GMC trails) is very well maintained with lots of waterbars and switch backs, and in no time it seemed like we were on the ridge (There were a few clearings in the woods that gave us some false hope of arriving on the ridge earlier than we did, but other than that it was a nice climb). We paid a visit to the Skylight pond shelter which is a beautiful cabin style shelter with a deck overlooking a high mountain pond. After the shelter we began our climb of the peaks. These two mountains reminded me a little of the Catskills where you would have a steep climb followed by a long flat summit ridge (with no well defined summit).
Following the Long Trail north we crossed over Breadloaf before descending down to the view point. The peaks were in a foggy cloud so there wasn't any real view to be had. We made our way back to the LT before descending down to the Emily Proctor Shelter (leanto style). Here we enjoyed some food before climbing Wilson. Wilson had me a bit confused as the topo showed the highest elevation on the southern bump but the "x" with the higher elevation was on the northern bump. After climbing both, I'm pretty certain the southern bump is the higher of the two (it looked and felt higher, and my altimeter agreed). However; it is worth going to the northern bump as there is a viewpoint only 20 yards off the LT.
After bagging both of the peaks we reversed our route back to the car. The mileage and gain don't include side trips to the shelter and views.
While we were at the Skylight pond shelter there was a sticker for Otter Creek Brewery on the door which mentioned that it was in Middlebury, VT. I remembered seeing signs for Middlebury so rather than heading straight to our B&B we made a detour and stopped in for a sampler and to purchase a pint glass. As expected the beer was delicious and we made good use of their free popcorn.
After our snack and beverage we made our way to our lodging for the weekend. Friday & Saturday nights we stayed at a really nice B&B in Stowe, VT (Three Bears at The Fountain). This place was great, the rooms were really nice, and the owners were a former professional chef and baker so the food was delicious as well.
Saturday 8/27/11 (Hike Mansfield, 5.8 mi, 2800' gain):
After an amazing breakfast at our B&B Nicole and I headed out to re-climb Mansfield. We had climbed it as part of our 115 years ago, but it was in a cloud and therefore not very fun. We ascended the same way as last time, climbing up the LT from smugglers notch. We took our time (mostly because we were still digesting our breakfasts) and eventually we reached Taft Lodge where we took a break. After taking in the views from the deck we continued our climb eventually reaching the fun scrambles to the summit. When we had climbed last time, I had no idea we were so exposed (we had next to no visibility). I vaguely remembered the chimney, but I didn't recall all the other scrambling. Nicole and I really enjoy that type of hiking so it made the final ascent all the more fun.
When we arrived at the summit we were disappointed to find it crowded with tourons all talking so loudly they were practically yelling. Rather than hang around and get frustrated we just continued down the mountain a little ways until we found a rocky outcrop to sit on (while avoiding the vegetation). I never realized Mansfield had such a nice rocky ridge traverse available so rather than descend the LT we decided to traverse the ridge and take the Hastleton trail back to the ski area. The walk along the ridge was wonderful and gave you that fun alpine feel. Eventually we reached the auto road and we knew our fun was about to end. The descent down the Hastleton trail is steep but fast, and once we were off the ski trails we made pretty good time to the ski area.
When we arrived at the ski area it was filled with people and event staff, apparently we were hiking on the day of "Race to the Top of VT" where bikers and runners ride/run to the top of the auto road (http://www.catamounttrail.org/news/new-records-set-at-the-fjg-race-to-the-top-of-vt/). It seems like something fun to do some time, but not on this trip.
We were hoping to relax at the B&B for the rest of the day, but with the hurricane coming in on Sunday we had to compress our schedule and do our entire weekend's events all on Saturday. To finish our day we went to Ben & Jerry's for "lunch" and did the tour followed by a trip to Burlington to do some shopping at OGE, followed by a trip back to Waterbury for dinner at the Alchemist brew pub. The food and beer were absolutely amazing. This was one of those places where picking dinner off the menu was almost a depressing event because there were so many good looking choices.
Sunday 8/28/11 (Visit friends, run away from Hurricane):
Unfortunately the hurricane business threw a wrench into our weekend itinerary but we made due. After another delicious breakfast we packed up and bid farewell to our fancy lodging (we're planning on going back though) and went to visit our friend who moved to the area (the one and only procook). After hanging out with Dave for a while, shooting the breeze about hiking Nicole and I decided we better hit the road before things got too bad. Our original plan was to do some tourist stuff Sunday before going to a VT campground Sunday night, but with everything closed for the storm and not wanting to tent out in a hurricane we decided to make a run for it and head for my Grandparent's house in Keene, NH.
We lucked out on our drive as we only got hit with a few torrential downpours, but other than that there weren't any major issues until we approached Bellows Falls, VT when there were suddenly cars driving the wrong direction (on I-91) on the shoulder. We slowed down but before we reached whatever caused the people to turn around we met with another group who was using a U-turn to head north on I-91, we followed suit, using US-5 to make our way down to Keene.
Monday 8/29/11 (hang out, avoid weather):
The house in NH had no damage and managed to keep power so we just sat around and let VT have a day off before we returned. There was 1 tree down in the yard (the top half of a sugar maple fell onto a smaller red maple) so I did what I could with a bow saw to hopefully save the red maple.
Continued...
Thurs 8/25/11 (Drive & Camp):
Left Syracuse after work, because I have a bike addiction I decided to take the long way to VT (via Watertown) to buy a new bicycle. We drove up and across NY 3, taking the ferry at crown point before heading into Vermont and finding our campground for the night (Branbury state park). The park was OK, we stayed on the opposite side of the road from the lake and the campsites were not very tent friendly (lots of sharp hard packed gravel). During the night we discovered our air mattress had a leak (when I say we, I mean that I was on the ground, while Nicole was still on a pillow of air...).
Friday 8/26/11 (Hike Breadloaf & Wilson, 10.4 mi, 2700' gain):
We drove to the Skylight Pond trailhead where we were greeted by a GMC trail crew coming off the trail after a week of work. We thanked them for their hard work and then began our hike. The trail begins on an old woods road and after crossing a few streams it begins to climb. The trail (like most GMC trails) is very well maintained with lots of waterbars and switch backs, and in no time it seemed like we were on the ridge (There were a few clearings in the woods that gave us some false hope of arriving on the ridge earlier than we did, but other than that it was a nice climb). We paid a visit to the Skylight pond shelter which is a beautiful cabin style shelter with a deck overlooking a high mountain pond. After the shelter we began our climb of the peaks. These two mountains reminded me a little of the Catskills where you would have a steep climb followed by a long flat summit ridge (with no well defined summit).
Following the Long Trail north we crossed over Breadloaf before descending down to the view point. The peaks were in a foggy cloud so there wasn't any real view to be had. We made our way back to the LT before descending down to the Emily Proctor Shelter (leanto style). Here we enjoyed some food before climbing Wilson. Wilson had me a bit confused as the topo showed the highest elevation on the southern bump but the "x" with the higher elevation was on the northern bump. After climbing both, I'm pretty certain the southern bump is the higher of the two (it looked and felt higher, and my altimeter agreed). However; it is worth going to the northern bump as there is a viewpoint only 20 yards off the LT.
After bagging both of the peaks we reversed our route back to the car. The mileage and gain don't include side trips to the shelter and views.
While we were at the Skylight pond shelter there was a sticker for Otter Creek Brewery on the door which mentioned that it was in Middlebury, VT. I remembered seeing signs for Middlebury so rather than heading straight to our B&B we made a detour and stopped in for a sampler and to purchase a pint glass. As expected the beer was delicious and we made good use of their free popcorn.
After our snack and beverage we made our way to our lodging for the weekend. Friday & Saturday nights we stayed at a really nice B&B in Stowe, VT (Three Bears at The Fountain). This place was great, the rooms were really nice, and the owners were a former professional chef and baker so the food was delicious as well.
Saturday 8/27/11 (Hike Mansfield, 5.8 mi, 2800' gain):
After an amazing breakfast at our B&B Nicole and I headed out to re-climb Mansfield. We had climbed it as part of our 115 years ago, but it was in a cloud and therefore not very fun. We ascended the same way as last time, climbing up the LT from smugglers notch. We took our time (mostly because we were still digesting our breakfasts) and eventually we reached Taft Lodge where we took a break. After taking in the views from the deck we continued our climb eventually reaching the fun scrambles to the summit. When we had climbed last time, I had no idea we were so exposed (we had next to no visibility). I vaguely remembered the chimney, but I didn't recall all the other scrambling. Nicole and I really enjoy that type of hiking so it made the final ascent all the more fun.
When we arrived at the summit we were disappointed to find it crowded with tourons all talking so loudly they were practically yelling. Rather than hang around and get frustrated we just continued down the mountain a little ways until we found a rocky outcrop to sit on (while avoiding the vegetation). I never realized Mansfield had such a nice rocky ridge traverse available so rather than descend the LT we decided to traverse the ridge and take the Hastleton trail back to the ski area. The walk along the ridge was wonderful and gave you that fun alpine feel. Eventually we reached the auto road and we knew our fun was about to end. The descent down the Hastleton trail is steep but fast, and once we were off the ski trails we made pretty good time to the ski area.
When we arrived at the ski area it was filled with people and event staff, apparently we were hiking on the day of "Race to the Top of VT" where bikers and runners ride/run to the top of the auto road (http://www.catamounttrail.org/news/new-records-set-at-the-fjg-race-to-the-top-of-vt/). It seems like something fun to do some time, but not on this trip.
We were hoping to relax at the B&B for the rest of the day, but with the hurricane coming in on Sunday we had to compress our schedule and do our entire weekend's events all on Saturday. To finish our day we went to Ben & Jerry's for "lunch" and did the tour followed by a trip to Burlington to do some shopping at OGE, followed by a trip back to Waterbury for dinner at the Alchemist brew pub. The food and beer were absolutely amazing. This was one of those places where picking dinner off the menu was almost a depressing event because there were so many good looking choices.
Sunday 8/28/11 (Visit friends, run away from Hurricane):
Unfortunately the hurricane business threw a wrench into our weekend itinerary but we made due. After another delicious breakfast we packed up and bid farewell to our fancy lodging (we're planning on going back though) and went to visit our friend who moved to the area (the one and only procook). After hanging out with Dave for a while, shooting the breeze about hiking Nicole and I decided we better hit the road before things got too bad. Our original plan was to do some tourist stuff Sunday before going to a VT campground Sunday night, but with everything closed for the storm and not wanting to tent out in a hurricane we decided to make a run for it and head for my Grandparent's house in Keene, NH.
We lucked out on our drive as we only got hit with a few torrential downpours, but other than that there weren't any major issues until we approached Bellows Falls, VT when there were suddenly cars driving the wrong direction (on I-91) on the shoulder. We slowed down but before we reached whatever caused the people to turn around we met with another group who was using a U-turn to head north on I-91, we followed suit, using US-5 to make our way down to Keene.
Monday 8/29/11 (hang out, avoid weather):
The house in NH had no damage and managed to keep power so we just sat around and let VT have a day off before we returned. There was 1 tree down in the yard (the top half of a sugar maple fell onto a smaller red maple) so I did what I could with a bow saw to hopefully save the red maple.
Continued...
