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
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