king tut
New member
Jay Peak had been a peak that I had been interested in climbing for quite a while, but I had just not climbed yet for no particular reason. Friday evening I went out to UVM and watched the premier of the newest Meathead ski films movie, Snow Gods. It was a pretty good movie, and it got me excited to go check out Jay Peak and see the land of the big snow falls. I was also looking forward to driving across the northern kingdom of Vermont, as I love the gently rolling fields, the cows, and the slow pace of life up there in the small towns.
I woke up Saturday morning and as Bob Marley would say, "The sun is shining, the weather is sweet". I got in my car and headed up 89 and then got off in St Albans and took rte 105 over to the Jay Peak area. The drive was gorgeous, and I saw tons of cows on the side of the roads. There are also many nice little towns along the way that were made picturesque by the fall foliage. After about an hour and 20 minutes of driving, I arrived at the trailhead. The trailhead was not immediately obvious, but after a minute of searching, I spotted it on the opposite side of the road.
The trail to the top was 1.6 miles and about 1600+ feet of elevation gain, so it was a pretty easy hike. The weather was absolutely perfect, not a cloud in the sky and temps around 60. I arrived on the peak a little after an hour of climbing and there were a ton of people on top. There were a lot of people out hiking and the tram was also bringing tourists to the top today. I looked down on the parking lot and it looked pretty full. Jay Peak is only a few miles south of the Canadian border, and the crowd up top was about 50-50 mix of Americans and Canadians. I had to bust out my French a few times today, but luckily the Canadians speak better English than I do French.
After spending 25 minutes or so on top of the peak and taking in the amazing views, I decided to try to find where the trail to Big Jay started. I had no idea where it might be, but I decided to take a look over near the ridgeline and see what I could find. So, I headed down the ski trail towards the Long Trail and I heard a couple talking in French on the side of the ski trail. I decided to try my French and asked them, "Parlez-vous Anglais?" They replied "Francais". Zut Alors! I tried asking them about Big Jay in French, but luckily they responded in English and told me that they did not know about any trail, but that the Long trail started off the ski trail next to us. So I headed onto the Long trail and about 100 feet down the trail, it divided into two trails, one that was unmarked. I took that trail, and about a mile later of trudging through mud I arrived on top of Big Jay. Not many views on top and no real summit, but at least it was another peak off of a list.
I returned back to Jay Peak and then headed back down the mountain. All in all, it was about a 4 hour hike, probably a little over five miles and a little over 2,000 vertical. The views were stunning, the weather was great, and the foliage was...a little past peak, but I had some great views while I drove back home just north of the Mansfield region. Here are a few pics if anyone is interested. http://www.parazz.com/albums/kingtut
I woke up Saturday morning and as Bob Marley would say, "The sun is shining, the weather is sweet". I got in my car and headed up 89 and then got off in St Albans and took rte 105 over to the Jay Peak area. The drive was gorgeous, and I saw tons of cows on the side of the roads. There are also many nice little towns along the way that were made picturesque by the fall foliage. After about an hour and 20 minutes of driving, I arrived at the trailhead. The trailhead was not immediately obvious, but after a minute of searching, I spotted it on the opposite side of the road.
The trail to the top was 1.6 miles and about 1600+ feet of elevation gain, so it was a pretty easy hike. The weather was absolutely perfect, not a cloud in the sky and temps around 60. I arrived on the peak a little after an hour of climbing and there were a ton of people on top. There were a lot of people out hiking and the tram was also bringing tourists to the top today. I looked down on the parking lot and it looked pretty full. Jay Peak is only a few miles south of the Canadian border, and the crowd up top was about 50-50 mix of Americans and Canadians. I had to bust out my French a few times today, but luckily the Canadians speak better English than I do French.
After spending 25 minutes or so on top of the peak and taking in the amazing views, I decided to try to find where the trail to Big Jay started. I had no idea where it might be, but I decided to take a look over near the ridgeline and see what I could find. So, I headed down the ski trail towards the Long Trail and I heard a couple talking in French on the side of the ski trail. I decided to try my French and asked them, "Parlez-vous Anglais?" They replied "Francais". Zut Alors! I tried asking them about Big Jay in French, but luckily they responded in English and told me that they did not know about any trail, but that the Long trail started off the ski trail next to us. So I headed onto the Long trail and about 100 feet down the trail, it divided into two trails, one that was unmarked. I took that trail, and about a mile later of trudging through mud I arrived on top of Big Jay. Not many views on top and no real summit, but at least it was another peak off of a list.
I returned back to Jay Peak and then headed back down the mountain. All in all, it was about a 4 hour hike, probably a little over five miles and a little over 2,000 vertical. The views were stunning, the weather was great, and the foliage was...a little past peak, but I had some great views while I drove back home just north of the Mansfield region. Here are a few pics if anyone is interested. http://www.parazz.com/albums/kingtut
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