Vermont Day 2/3 - Equinox Mountain and (not) Dorset Mtn

Saturday, June 30, 2018 - It was a day of triumphs, and a day of disappointments.

You have seen the maps, so today I'm going to do Equinox and Dorset:

The days start early when I go hiking; I actually get up a little later (6 versus 5:15/5:30), but because there is no computer distraction, I hit the day right away. My first triumph was 7:05 breakfast at "Up for Breakfast" in Manchester Center, Vermont:

The restaurant is up on the 2nd floor. An excellent western omelet, home fries, toast and a couple of cups of coffee sent me marching out the door!!

8:10 AM - At the gate for "Red Gate Trail":

which goes to "Blue Summit Trail", which goes to the top of Equinox Mountain:


It starts out pretty nice:

but then starts getting steep when it turns into "Blue Summit Trail":



2 hours into the hike I took the side trail to "Lookout Rock":




with a beautiful view east- the Valley, and the "Ekwanok Country Club".

I headed back up a (different) trail to the summit:

and got my "summit photo" at 10:26:


Nice Summit Views - to the South:


- and to the North:



And then back down the mountain! 7.05 miles in 3 hours 24 minutes:

and that counts as another Triumph for today!

Noon lunch at Subway, then off to the "Dorset Mountain Trailhead". The parking area is just over a bridge, so I took pictures upstream:

and downstream:


Looking back at the car, starting the hike:


The first mile is pretty nice, going alongside a stream:


But the next mile-and-a-half gets really steep:



After 2.4 miles I reached the "trail intersection" (the T):

I knew from reading that I should "take a right". A mile back I had chatted with a woman coming down with her dogs, and she also told me to take a right. She also said take another right, and at the cairn, go straight up the herd path to the top. What she didn't say was that although it had "old fire tower remains", it is NOT THE TRUE SUMMIT - I need to go further east to get to the true summit.

So - path going east after the T:

and the right off of that trail:

(which is actually quite a nice trail, if a bit vertical):


The cairn for going up the herd path:



This is the not-the-summit Dorset Peak picture:

but there is a great view north from the top of the herd path I climbed:


I went down the eastside from the tower, and kind-of-tried to find my way to another peak, but I just hadn't read enough descriptions about where I was supposed to go, so I gave up. This "New England Hundred Highest" is TOUGH STUFF! I finished hiking 6.73 miles in 3 hours 5 minutes:


You can compare my path at the top with another (correct) path:


So that counts as the first disappointment. As the saying goes, "Everybody gets Dorset - sometimes it just takes more than one try."

So I headed back to "Camping on the Battenkill" for some refreshing swimming:



yes, that certainly counts as a Triumph!

And then it was time to drive over to Stratton Resort and see The Marshall Tucker Band! Quite a day of driving:


The Shed:

The Lawn, looking down into The Shed


The Marshall Tucker Band took the stage at 7:35


They played a couple of really good songs ("Take The Highway", "This Ol' Cowboy"), but they also played some bad songs, and I got tired and left at 8:30

Because I really do like a lot of their music, this was a big disappointment. Maybe we should just stick with Tribute Bands.

Got back to the campground just after dark - Thank you God for these wonderful up-and-down adventures!!

Today's driving music was only:

The Marshall Tucker Band - Anthology: The First 30 Years, 2005


until after the concert. I wanted to hear a "real" southern rock band:
The Allman Brothers Band - The Fillmore Concerts, 1971 concerts, 2 cds

Vermont Day 1/3 - Stratton Mountain

Friday, June 29, 2018 - Having completed the "New England 4000 footers" last year, the next list is the "New England 100 Highest", which includes (of course) the 67 mountains over 4,000 feet, plus another 33 - my map of the 33:


Aside from the 2 "Jay Peak" mountains in northern Vermont I climbed last October, I did "Bread Loaf Mtn", "Mount Wilson" and "Pico Peak" earlier this month, leaving 4 other unclimbed mountains in Vermont:

Wendy gave me permission to do 3 days/2 nights in Vermont to hike the remaining 4 mountains: Stratton, Equinox, Dorset and Mendon (and see The Marshall Tucker Band playing at Stratton Mountain Ski Area on Saturday!) So I'm going to do Stratton today:


At a dinner in Boston last week, I heard John Koch, Executive Director of the Barbara C. Harris Camp & Conference Center speak about the Camp. Since I was going to be driving to Southern Vermont, I emailed him about visiting, and he invited me for lunch! Tonight I will be camping at "Camping on the Battenkill" in Arlington, VT, which equals 184 miles driving - 4 hours 24 minutes:


It is supposed to take just under two hours to get to the Camp, so I did my Step Class at the MAC, and left a little after 10 - and got there at 11:59 for NOON LUNCH!! The dining center was busy with counselors getting ready for camp-opening:

There was a nice cross in their meeting building:

and Otter Lake was beautiful:



At some point in Vermont, you take a left off of VT-30 North onto VT-100 South, and cross a bridge over a beautiful river (the West River):

looking upstream:

looking downstream:


I missed taking pictures of two very funky/cool old Post Offices back in New Hampshire, so when I saw this one in West Wardsboro, Vermont, I just had to stop:


7 miles later on "Stratton-Arlington Road" (closed in winter), I got to the trailhead:


This 7.63 miles (round-trip) hike (2 hours 59 minutes, 43 seconds) is on a trail that serves both the Long Trail and the Appalachian Trail, so it is about as good/well-maintained as any trail in Vermont:


It was pretty walking through the woods, but is was pretty wet (we just had thunder storms come through yesterday):



At the summit of Stratton is a fire tower:

WHICH YOU CAN CLIMB!!

If you want VIEWS, this is the place to be:
looking south (at Somerset Reservoir):

looking west (across the Valley of Vermont and on into New York State):

looking north (Stratton ski peak near, Bromley ski trails far):

Looking east (looking down on Forester Pond):


Two hours later I was down at my campsite in Arlington:

I was over at site 1A:


A nice space just waiting for my tent.

I had a steak dinner at the restaurant just over the bridge, and into my sleeping bag as it got dark. - Thank you God for these wonderful adventures!!

Today's driving music started with a new cd I just learned about (and bought):

various artists - On the Mountain Six, 2000 compliation album from Seattle radio station The Mountain 103.7 FM

It includes a live version of Counting Crows doing "Mrs. Potter's Lullaby"

Then, of course, I wanted to hear the whole album:
Counting Crows - This Desert Life, 1999


Time to get ready for tomorrow's concert:
The Marshall Tucker Band - Anthology: The First 30 Years, 2005