Double Bow
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Week on the LT Pt 2, things take a turn -- 7/19-20
7/19/05 The naked truth. After having had a fantastic birthday hike and a great dinner the night before, I got up eager for the coming days. We left the wonderful shelter behind (I could have spent a whole weekend there) and soon began our climb up to Cowles Cove Shelter where we saw a naked guy hanging out. As we got closer, he put on shorts but, he didn't seem to be in any hurry to do so. Feeling awkward, we opted not to stop there.
Continuing on, we began our climb up Burnt Rock Mtn which was very cool and was also where we found our first good batch of blueberries for the trip. I highly recommend this peak. It's got a lot of cool ledges and was just very enjoyable, definately worth a day trip. We enjoyed some great views of Camel's Hump and Ellen from the summit and we also saw a snake in a large puddle on the summit!
It being so hot, we breaked off the summit in a nice cooler mossy patch.
After lunch, we continued down before beginning the climb up Mts Ira and Ethan Allen. It was a pretty good climb with some diffinate steepness. The summit of Ira Allen was a little hard to determine at first but, we figured it out before reaching Ethan Allen. These two peaks are very close and the distance between them is a nice stretch. From Ethan Allen, it was a short distance to Mont Clair Glen Lodge where, we spent the night. There was a scout troop tenting there but, it was pretty quiet and we had the lodge to ourselves. The caretaker, Laura, chatted with us for a bit and she was very nice.
7/20/05 The trip goes downhill (after going up first). Nothing like starting the day with a 1400ft climb! That's what we did as we went up Camel's Hump. I gained more respect for the Greens after climbing this summit. This is, in my opinion, one of the top 10 peaks in New England. Wow! I loved it, despite not getting the full effect of the views. We hung out up there for awhile and waited as waves of clouds passed and we got some views, mostly to the east and to the north though we did get a little bit to the south as well. This was also the only summit I think I've even seen that has no buildings but has a caretaker. I wish I could have a job like that (and still make my current salery)!
Alas, we had to keep going and here is where the day started going downhill, literately and figuratively. We had to descend almost 3700ft! You see, we had been thinking for the past couple of days about how on this day we would be hiking into Jonesville (it's on the trail) and how we would go the .6mi roundtrip to go to the country store and feast on sodas, sandwiches, and ice cream and such. This is probably why we didn't enjoy the descent down Bamforth Ridge too much. We were fixated on food plus, it was pretty hot on those slabs though the blueberries were good. It retospect, the ridge was very nice but very long (6.2mi) and we just wanted to get off of it.
As we kept going down and down, we passed a couple of pairs heading up. One was two guys who seemed very tired and were asking if they were getting close. We tried to be encouraging but, they still had about 2.5mi to go. The second was much lower and was a couple of teenagers who only had one water bottle, later in the afternoon asking if they were getting close. We cautioned them that they still had over 4mi to go and that it might be tough to get up and back before dark. They thanked us and kept going.
After stopping at Gleason Brook to soak our bandanas and cool down, we finally reached Duxbury Road but now, we had a 3.2mi road walk! Ugh!! We changed into our Tevas for this but, after awhile even that wasn't comfortable plus, my back was hurting. 3+ miles and a few mean sounding dogs later, we crossed the bridge into Jonesville which brings you right to the post office. Excited we hustled (as best we could) the .3mi down to the store only to find... you guessed it, closed. CLOSED!!!! It was during their normal business hours and there was no note or anything but, that was it. They were closed. We were really bummed out and tired. There was nothing else around and we didn't want to try to hitch anywhere (no place to go) plus, we needed to get to our shelter for the night. So, we breaked on the steps for a bit and then headed back to get back on the trail.
Once back at the PO, we had to go up a dirt road for a ways (great, more road walking) before crossing into an area where you're hiking uphill under the powerlines in high brush where, at times, the trail is difficult to follow. We were very glad to finally turn back into the woods all the while being serenaded by shots from the firing range near by. The trail along this stretch seemed fairly new and not very well cut. Much of it was at a steep sideways angle so you felt like you might roll down the hillside. Eventually, we reached Duck Brook Shelter and you guessed it, we had it all to ourselves.
I went down the steep ravine to pump some water (might fine water it is too) and Shamie cooled off in a pool before we headed back to the shelter. There, I got adventurous. There was a small fairly new looking cooler sitting there. There was also a balloon tacked to the wall. I decided to take a look in the cooler. Both Shamie and I were thinking the same thing, that there would be a head inside. I guess that's what TV does to ya. Anyway, what was inside was much better. Three unopened bottles of Long Trail and an empty. Even better, they were still cool from the water (melted ice) they were sitting in! We looked in the journal and saw that a night or two before, some folks were up there celebrating a guys 50th b-day. This must have been left from their party. No one else showed up by the time dinner was ready (or for the rest of the night) and so, we each cracked out open and enjoyed, leaving the remaining bottle for whoever might come along the next night. It was much needed Trail Magic!!! Happy, we went to sleep. Part 3, the final part, to follow...
7/19/05 The naked truth. After having had a fantastic birthday hike and a great dinner the night before, I got up eager for the coming days. We left the wonderful shelter behind (I could have spent a whole weekend there) and soon began our climb up to Cowles Cove Shelter where we saw a naked guy hanging out. As we got closer, he put on shorts but, he didn't seem to be in any hurry to do so. Feeling awkward, we opted not to stop there.
Continuing on, we began our climb up Burnt Rock Mtn which was very cool and was also where we found our first good batch of blueberries for the trip. I highly recommend this peak. It's got a lot of cool ledges and was just very enjoyable, definately worth a day trip. We enjoyed some great views of Camel's Hump and Ellen from the summit and we also saw a snake in a large puddle on the summit!
It being so hot, we breaked off the summit in a nice cooler mossy patch. After lunch, we continued down before beginning the climb up Mts Ira and Ethan Allen. It was a pretty good climb with some diffinate steepness. The summit of Ira Allen was a little hard to determine at first but, we figured it out before reaching Ethan Allen. These two peaks are very close and the distance between them is a nice stretch. From Ethan Allen, it was a short distance to Mont Clair Glen Lodge where, we spent the night. There was a scout troop tenting there but, it was pretty quiet and we had the lodge to ourselves. The caretaker, Laura, chatted with us for a bit and she was very nice.
7/20/05 The trip goes downhill (after going up first). Nothing like starting the day with a 1400ft climb! That's what we did as we went up Camel's Hump. I gained more respect for the Greens after climbing this summit. This is, in my opinion, one of the top 10 peaks in New England. Wow! I loved it, despite not getting the full effect of the views. We hung out up there for awhile and waited as waves of clouds passed and we got some views, mostly to the east and to the north though we did get a little bit to the south as well. This was also the only summit I think I've even seen that has no buildings but has a caretaker. I wish I could have a job like that (and still make my current salery)!
Alas, we had to keep going and here is where the day started going downhill, literately and figuratively. We had to descend almost 3700ft! You see, we had been thinking for the past couple of days about how on this day we would be hiking into Jonesville (it's on the trail) and how we would go the .6mi roundtrip to go to the country store and feast on sodas, sandwiches, and ice cream and such. This is probably why we didn't enjoy the descent down Bamforth Ridge too much. We were fixated on food plus, it was pretty hot on those slabs though the blueberries were good. It retospect, the ridge was very nice but very long (6.2mi) and we just wanted to get off of it.
As we kept going down and down, we passed a couple of pairs heading up. One was two guys who seemed very tired and were asking if they were getting close. We tried to be encouraging but, they still had about 2.5mi to go. The second was much lower and was a couple of teenagers who only had one water bottle, later in the afternoon asking if they were getting close. We cautioned them that they still had over 4mi to go and that it might be tough to get up and back before dark. They thanked us and kept going.
After stopping at Gleason Brook to soak our bandanas and cool down, we finally reached Duxbury Road but now, we had a 3.2mi road walk! Ugh!! We changed into our Tevas for this but, after awhile even that wasn't comfortable plus, my back was hurting. 3+ miles and a few mean sounding dogs later, we crossed the bridge into Jonesville which brings you right to the post office. Excited we hustled (as best we could) the .3mi down to the store only to find... you guessed it, closed. CLOSED!!!!
It was during their normal business hours and there was no note or anything but, that was it. They were closed. We were really bummed out and tired. There was nothing else around and we didn't want to try to hitch anywhere (no place to go) plus, we needed to get to our shelter for the night. So, we breaked on the steps for a bit and then headed back to get back on the trail.Once back at the PO, we had to go up a dirt road for a ways (great, more road walking) before crossing into an area where you're hiking uphill under the powerlines in high brush where, at times, the trail is difficult to follow. We were very glad to finally turn back into the woods all the while being serenaded by shots from the firing range near by. The trail along this stretch seemed fairly new and not very well cut. Much of it was at a steep sideways angle so you felt like you might roll down the hillside. Eventually, we reached Duck Brook Shelter and you guessed it, we had it all to ourselves.
I went down the steep ravine to pump some water (might fine water it is too) and Shamie cooled off in a pool before we headed back to the shelter. There, I got adventurous. There was a small fairly new looking cooler sitting there. There was also a balloon tacked to the wall. I decided to take a look in the cooler. Both Shamie and I were thinking the same thing, that there would be a head inside.
I guess that's what TV does to ya. Anyway, what was inside was much better. Three unopened bottles of Long Trail and an empty. Even better, they were still cool from the water (melted ice) they were sitting in! We looked in the journal and saw that a night or two before, some folks were up there celebrating a guys 50th b-day. This must have been left from their party. No one else showed up by the time dinner was ready (or for the rest of the night) and so, we each cracked out open and enjoyed, leaving the remaining bottle for whoever might come along the next night. It was much needed Trail Magic!!! Happy, we went to sleep. Part 3, the final part, to follow...
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