End of Nov

Last day of sailing for the season 11/22/15:
Pictures by Jill

Sailing is done but skiing isn't ready yet. Some mtns are open with man made snow but no natural snow to speak of.

Bolton: man made snow

Bolton: 2 inches natural snow at the top

Hiking on Long Trail South from Middlebury Gap. Went past Skylight lodge to Bread Loaf Mountain.

Skylight lodge

Skylight pond?

Middlebury snow bowl ski trails (pretty gray)

Camel on Rt 7

Texas Falls

Moss Glen Falls

Moss Glen Falls

Up Bolton ski area to Heavenly Highway (x-country trail) to Ravens Wind to Long Trail North. Over Bolton mountain and ended at Mt Mayo. Nice stretch of the Long trail:

Not a lot of traffic on this trail!

Still green somewhere

Mansfield on way to Mayo from Bolton

Colchester Causeway (bike path):

Lots of ducks

South on Long Trail to Camels Hump

Today was another Camels Hump hike but not the usual trail up. I went on the Long Trail South from Duxbury. This is the long way up. You start out at the Winooski river at an elevation of a few hundred feet. The total elevation gain for the trip is probably close to 4000 feet. It is a very nice trail however and it slowly goes up over a long distance. It doesn't really get steep until the last mile. The trail goes up a ridge where you switch between woods and open rock areas where you can see Camels Hump in one direction and Bolton and Mansfield in the other. Many viewing points. It was a gray Nov day but nice cool hiking temperatures. Some ice above 2000 feet but not too bad since it hasn't rained or snowed recently. The distance is 12.5 miles and it took about 7 hours.

Trail goes up the ridge in the picture from the Winooski river

One of the many open areas on the ridge

Long Trail South from Taylor Lodge

Back to winter today. Windy, cold (30), and light snow. Your basic black and white Nov day! This time the snow started at low elevations. There was snow in the town of Underhill and the trail started with snow. Headed up Nebraska Notch from Stevensville road to Taylor lodge and then South on Long Trail to Mt. Mayo. Cloudy and snowy so hard to say what views there would have been. You could see that it was a nice area with some big cliffs and few ponds. Beyond Mt Mayo would be Bolton Mt. It could be nice to drop a car and walk one way from Bolton to Stevensville Rd. Something for another day!

Taylor Lodge

Taylor Lodge

Lamoille River - 11/10/15

I had a great day last week hiking in the AM and kayaking in the afternoon. This day was looking like the same weather so why not try that again? Different hike and different paddle but another great day. Dead calm again and 55 degrees. The hike was the long way up Camels Hump. Long trail from river road in Richmond. I did not make it to the top since I knew I wanted to kayak in the afternoon. No wind at elevation and lots of views since this trail stays up on a ridge.
The paddle was the Lamoille river starting from the sand bar parking lot. No boats or people the entire time. Multiple blue herons on the river. I am pretty sure they should be South of here this time of year! Also turtles sunning themselves on logs. It is summer? Perfectly calm, sunny, and lots of reflections on the water like last week. Nice!

Summer in November (11/4/15)

Amazing day particularly for November. 60 degrees, sunny, and zero wind. Started by going up Mansfield with the temps in the AM good for hiking. Then out for a kayak on the main lake. I started from the ramp at the end of the Winooski river and headed out on the main lake North toward Colchester reef. The lake is 1 foot deep pretty far out at the mouth of the river and stays pretty shallow in the whole area. The lake was as calm as it gets. No one else out on the lake this time of year and very sunny. Lots of very interesting reflections in the water. Hard to capture with the camera but I tried. This is another good area to keep on the list for kayaking. If it is windy you can stay in the river.

Mansfield AM

Mansfield AM

Mouth of Winooski river. Bridge is bike path.

Looking back at Mansfield from lake