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

Hiking in the Adirondack's

Link to Adirondack hike

Madonna, Morse, Whiteface 10/24/15

The day started with no expectations or plan. It looked like a nice Oct day so I decided to go somewhere different. The usual mtns, Camels hump and Mansfield, would be very busy on a Sat in Oct. I decided to walk on the long trail North of Smugglers Notch. Parking at the bottom of the ski mountain I went up the tracked road to the left of Sterling lift and followed that up to the top of the lift. After a detour to check out Sterling Pond I headed up Madonna. The long trail comes out near the top and then follows ski trails over the top. Heading down the blue square to skiers right the long trail heads back into the woods just after the left turn to Docs and FIS (ski trails). The trail then crosses the blue square again pretty far down. In the winter it would be possible to ski onto the long trail at this point and head up toward Morse for some woods skiing. There is a cairn and a 4x4 near the entrance. Something to try in a month or two!
The walk over Morse and on to Whiteface takes some effort. Not an easy ridge walk. Multiple ups and downs. It was a nice day though and warmed up from the 30's into the 40's as the day progressed. Windy day but most of the time the trail is in the trees and fairly protected. Good views on the way to Whiteface. The top itself only has a small window facing East. Nice stretch of trail and I saw no one from Sterling to Whiteface and back. There are a number of people who hike from the Notch up to Sterling pond. I was the only car in the lot at the ski area.
~12-14 miles and significant elevation gain over the day (~5000 feet).

Mansfield from Sterling

Sterling Pond

On way to Whiteface

Madonna seen on way to Whiteface

Notch on drive back