Double Bow
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- Joined
- Apr 29, 2005
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Following a fun and challenging day of trail work on the Castle Trail (which jmegillon149 and I have adopted) last Saturday, I still wanted to get out on Sunday and get in a good hike. I had been planning to hit The Weeks, but was reminded about potential race traffic so, I headed west to the wilds of Vermont to climb Mt. Equinox on the Sunday before the Autumnal Equinox. I hadn't made any progress on my NEHH list in two months so, I figured that this would be the perfect time and place to tackle another one.
The drive from Manchester, NH to Manchester, VT was long and at times slow. Once out there, Shamie and I parked at the hotel and headed out. However, we had some confusion when we hit the "road walk" part. This resulted in us walking down the wrong street for a ways, backtracking, my running back to the trailhead to look at the map again, running back up and then finally getting on the right track. By this point, since the drive had been long and we had left the house a little late, Shamie was worried that George wouldn't make it up there and back down before dark. It was 1:30pm.
We agreed that I should go on ahead and they would get as far as they could before turning around at a predetermined time. Hopefully, they would meet me on the summit. I headed off on the dirt road, determined to take advantage of the good footing and to go fast. I also was opting to not use my pole. Very soon, the trail/road got pretty steep but I was still moving very well and making great time. I stopped briefly to look in at a private cabin before pushing on to a spot where there was a large boulder with small rock piles on it. I scarfed down a bar and some water as I hadn't had lunch. I definitely needed that boost and that break.
Shortly after that, the trail/road became just trail and I enjoyed it even more. It's very nice open woods and a great climb. I hadn't given this mountain much credit before but, dang, that's a nice climb! Before long, I was out at the outlook. I'd hiked for about 1hr 15min. The blow downs up high slowed me down a little. Out at the lookout, I took some pics of Manchester and then dodged tourists as I made my way across the ridge to the abandoned hotel at the summit.
The hotel is really interesting. I peered through all the windows and took pictures. I said "hi" to my old friend Robohiker. I then walked over to the picnic tables and found trash all over the place. It was disgusting. Continuing on, I checked out the towers and then headed back.
The way down was fun as I tried to go fast there too. It was a little tricky during the parts that are rocky trail but once it turned to road I was able to run pretty well, though my pack made it a little uncomfortable. When I got back to the hotel, I saw Shamie sitting in an Adirondack chair on the lawn reading and George lying next to her. She said she was tired from the previous day's trail work before the hike and so she decided to turn around when she and George got to the spur for the spring. They had a good time, even though they didn't get the views. Then again, maybe the mountain is more enjoyable if you don't see the hotel, the parking lot, the trash, and the towers...
Here are pics.
The drive from Manchester, NH to Manchester, VT was long and at times slow. Once out there, Shamie and I parked at the hotel and headed out. However, we had some confusion when we hit the "road walk" part. This resulted in us walking down the wrong street for a ways, backtracking, my running back to the trailhead to look at the map again, running back up and then finally getting on the right track. By this point, since the drive had been long and we had left the house a little late, Shamie was worried that George wouldn't make it up there and back down before dark. It was 1:30pm.
We agreed that I should go on ahead and they would get as far as they could before turning around at a predetermined time. Hopefully, they would meet me on the summit. I headed off on the dirt road, determined to take advantage of the good footing and to go fast. I also was opting to not use my pole. Very soon, the trail/road got pretty steep but I was still moving very well and making great time. I stopped briefly to look in at a private cabin before pushing on to a spot where there was a large boulder with small rock piles on it. I scarfed down a bar and some water as I hadn't had lunch. I definitely needed that boost and that break.
Shortly after that, the trail/road became just trail and I enjoyed it even more. It's very nice open woods and a great climb. I hadn't given this mountain much credit before but, dang, that's a nice climb! Before long, I was out at the outlook. I'd hiked for about 1hr 15min. The blow downs up high slowed me down a little. Out at the lookout, I took some pics of Manchester and then dodged tourists as I made my way across the ridge to the abandoned hotel at the summit.
The hotel is really interesting. I peered through all the windows and took pictures. I said "hi" to my old friend Robohiker. I then walked over to the picnic tables and found trash all over the place. It was disgusting. Continuing on, I checked out the towers and then headed back.
The way down was fun as I tried to go fast there too. It was a little tricky during the parts that are rocky trail but once it turned to road I was able to run pretty well, though my pack made it a little uncomfortable. When I got back to the hotel, I saw Shamie sitting in an Adirondack chair on the lawn reading and George lying next to her. She said she was tired from the previous day's trail work before the hike and so she decided to turn around when she and George got to the spur for the spring. They had a good time, even though they didn't get the views. Then again, maybe the mountain is more enjoyable if you don't see the hotel, the parking lot, the trash, and the towers...
Here are pics.
