Silverfox
New member
We had talked about getting Silent Sam, (Claude) to finish up the NE67 this year so when Sleeveless stopped by and woke me from my powernap talking about doing Vermont on tuesday we set the plan in place..We would meet in Meredith at 6:00 am, take 2 cars and do the classic gap to gap hike along the Munroe skyline bagging Abraham and Ellen along the way. Native Lady, (Ellen) Mary, and I did these peaks with one car last year on a cloudy day.. Looking to take advantage of the forecast perfect day we opted for the longer ridge walk, spotted a car at Route 17 and hit the trailhead on Lincoln Gap at 9:45..
The trail starts off with a fine footbed and gradually gains elevation before reaching the Battell Shelter where we paused a moment and adjusted gear. The climb up to Abraham follows long sections of glacially scarred ledge which offers fine footing..eventually we poked out of the trees and entered a short scrub zone for the final scramble. Immense views in all directions under bluebird skies...it looked like you could reach out and touch the farms down in the nearby valleys...The High Peaks in New York stretched from south to north over glistening Lake Champlain..In New Hampshire Mooselauke anchors the mountains to the south and the ridges spread north with Cannon, Franconia ridge showing clearly.. a thin cloud layer capped the higher summits of the Presidentials.. We lingered a bit in the strong sun then headed north as our day had really just begun..
The next great viewpoint is an observation tower on the top of Lincoln Peak.. while the views are starting to get blocked as trees fill in the spot is excellent and I can remember spending a few times camping out here back in the 70's on star filled nights...
The trail follows some ski trails along the ridge top which afford fine views towards New Hampshire and north to Mansfield which looms over the pointy top of Camels Hump..We could not see the Girrafe Peak from this angle however
A conveniently located picnic table offered a fine lunch spot at the top of the Castle rock Chair..after basking in the sun and views there we lugged back on the packs and continued the hike..There are several ups and downs along this ridge..none more than a few hundred feet but this is classic Long Trail hiking...follow the ridge! The rewards are frequent view spots from varing angles..mossy fern filled glades..lots of interesting rock faces..very nice indeed. After passing the craggy Cutts Peak which offered a wide panorama we follow a contour around to suddenly arrive at the top of wooded Mt Ellen, 4135 and the second Vermont 4k of the day for Sleeveless and Silent Sam.. Thankfully there is cairn in the middle of the trail here and also a sign as this is a very obscure summit.. Congrats all around and we headed over to the single chair at Mad River Glen which has been completely redone and looks excellent!! Our descent begins there at Starks Nest, where one Long Trail hiker was taking a short day and enjoying a book in this fine overnight spot.. Some steep switchbacks, a couple of ladders, a couple of ledgey scrambles and we arrived at the Old Theron Dean shelter which , while in need of some repair does offer a fine new privy and an excellent lookout ledge..
From the shelter the descent begins in earnest as we followed the windy steep and ledgy path..it seems a couple of reroutes have been done here over the years as old treadways head in to the bushes in spots..not as steep here as I remembered though still a challanging bit...After hitting bottem there is a short gradual rise through beautiful woods with changing foliage which offered a great chance to stretch the legs a bit before dropping into Appalachian Gap where we shed our packs and headed home..
Fine day on the trail with Silent Sam, Sleeveless, and Native Lady..This is a great hike, a section I backpacked through several times years ago..it was wonderful to come back and share this place with others..
a few pics below
http://flickr.com/photos/silverfox777/sets/72157607488838333/
The trail starts off with a fine footbed and gradually gains elevation before reaching the Battell Shelter where we paused a moment and adjusted gear. The climb up to Abraham follows long sections of glacially scarred ledge which offers fine footing..eventually we poked out of the trees and entered a short scrub zone for the final scramble. Immense views in all directions under bluebird skies...it looked like you could reach out and touch the farms down in the nearby valleys...The High Peaks in New York stretched from south to north over glistening Lake Champlain..In New Hampshire Mooselauke anchors the mountains to the south and the ridges spread north with Cannon, Franconia ridge showing clearly.. a thin cloud layer capped the higher summits of the Presidentials.. We lingered a bit in the strong sun then headed north as our day had really just begun..
The next great viewpoint is an observation tower on the top of Lincoln Peak.. while the views are starting to get blocked as trees fill in the spot is excellent and I can remember spending a few times camping out here back in the 70's on star filled nights...
The trail follows some ski trails along the ridge top which afford fine views towards New Hampshire and north to Mansfield which looms over the pointy top of Camels Hump..We could not see the Girrafe Peak from this angle however
A conveniently located picnic table offered a fine lunch spot at the top of the Castle rock Chair..after basking in the sun and views there we lugged back on the packs and continued the hike..There are several ups and downs along this ridge..none more than a few hundred feet but this is classic Long Trail hiking...follow the ridge! The rewards are frequent view spots from varing angles..mossy fern filled glades..lots of interesting rock faces..very nice indeed. After passing the craggy Cutts Peak which offered a wide panorama we follow a contour around to suddenly arrive at the top of wooded Mt Ellen, 4135 and the second Vermont 4k of the day for Sleeveless and Silent Sam.. Thankfully there is cairn in the middle of the trail here and also a sign as this is a very obscure summit.. Congrats all around and we headed over to the single chair at Mad River Glen which has been completely redone and looks excellent!! Our descent begins there at Starks Nest, where one Long Trail hiker was taking a short day and enjoying a book in this fine overnight spot.. Some steep switchbacks, a couple of ladders, a couple of ledgey scrambles and we arrived at the Old Theron Dean shelter which , while in need of some repair does offer a fine new privy and an excellent lookout ledge..
From the shelter the descent begins in earnest as we followed the windy steep and ledgy path..it seems a couple of reroutes have been done here over the years as old treadways head in to the bushes in spots..not as steep here as I remembered though still a challanging bit...After hitting bottem there is a short gradual rise through beautiful woods with changing foliage which offered a great chance to stretch the legs a bit before dropping into Appalachian Gap where we shed our packs and headed home..
Fine day on the trail with Silent Sam, Sleeveless, and Native Lady..This is a great hike, a section I backpacked through several times years ago..it was wonderful to come back and share this place with others..
a few pics below
http://flickr.com/photos/silverfox777/sets/72157607488838333/
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