8/1/2010
I left my house at 3:45am and arrived at the Appalachia Gap in Vermont by 8am. The Long Trail (LT) crosses the road here. I geared up, put on my 48 lb pack, crossed the road and was hiking by 8:15.
The LT starts off steep. Pretty soon I had to climb up metal pipe steps and a ladder to get up the trail. Once I was a mile into the woods, I started looking for a campsite.
I couldn't find one. The woods were so dense. I thought I saw a few sites but I didn't want to tred on the fragile vegetation. Soon I was at the Spur path to Theron Dean Shelter. This is were one of my water supplies was so I checked it out. It was dry. I knew of another water site farther up the trail. I headed back to the trail and started ascending.
I climbed up a boulder and slipped. My left shin smashed on the boulder. A small flesh wound.
I was still looking for a campsite, and water. Nothing.
While I was heading up towards Stark's Nest, I saw two hikers heading towards me. I found out that one of them was thru hiking the LT and was heading north.
Soon I was at Stark's Nest ski area with a single chair lift. I can camp here. From the warming hut, I followed a road and camped on the side. I pitched my tent and I headed towards Mt. Ellen.
The trail was up and down and long. It was muddy in spots and some parts were eroded. I kept my eye out to find Holt Hollow. This is where I needed to get water. Thinking I missed it, I continued down the trail. "What does that sign say, Holt Hollow, Yes! I followed the spur trail and found a small puddle of water. I knew it was ok since I heard water trickling into it. I filled two water bottles (should of filled more) and headed back to the trail.
Once I climbed up to another ski area, I thought I went right by the summit. I ate lunch here and treated my flesh wound. Then I headed south on the LT towards Mt. Abraham.
1 minute back on the trail, Mt. Ellen. There's a small cairne on the summit in the middle of the trail.
Again, many ups and down. I met a hiker that was heading to Canada, Cool!
Now the trail got steep. Once I was at the top, I was on Mt. Lincoln. There was an observation deck on the summit and I could see Abe off in the distance.
I hiked over Baby Abe and headed down for the last climb up Mt. Abraham.
The views were great. I could see Lake Champlain and the Adirondaks Mt. Marcy to the west. I could see Mt. Ellen, Camel's Hump, Mansfield and the Jay Peaks off to the north. Looking east I saw Mt. Adams and Mt. Washington in the Whites. Killington was to the south.
Now for the hike back.
It went pretty well. I started to get tired and my left shoulder was hurting.
Once back to camp, I took a break. Then I made dinner. Hamburger Helper Stroganoff. Not good. I need to find something I can eat for dinner cold, no cooking required.
After dinner, I organized all my gear and headed into the tent for the evening.
I hiked 15.5 miles today. My plan was to hike up Camel's Hump on the next day but I don't think I could hike 25 miles round trip tomorrow. Plus in the morning I have to hike 2.5 miles down to Apps Gap. Instead, I'll head over to Mt. Mansfield tomorrow.
8/2/2010
I was surprised. I slept pretty good. I got up at 4am and wrote yesterdays trip report. Around 5am, I got up and made breakfast. After breakfast, I packed up and was on the trail by 6:15am.
My back was sore from yesterdays hike. I was surprised when I put my pack on, that if didn't hurt my back. Also yeserday when I found water, I only filtered 2 liters. I used most of it for dinner and the rest for breakfast. I had not water for the 2.5 mile descent, but I knew there was water in my truck.
I took my time on the descent. The trail was slippery and foggy. When I got to the several boulders with steel steps, I took my time and had no problems.
I saw a couple of hikers heading up to Abe. Then I hiked through a wild bluebery patch. I was able to get a couple, MMM!
Close to the trailhead, my left shoulder started to hurt again and I was feeling dehydrated.
Once back to the truck, I had water, lots of water. I had some GORP, and more water.
I'm going to drive over to Mt. Mansfield now.
On the way over, the sky was blue except over Stowe and Mansfield.
I got to the trailhead and there were many cars and people heading up the mountain. Oh well.
Since I didn't want to carry my heavy pack again, I decided to go alpine style (minimal gear). So I grabbed my fanny pack, put on the water bottle parka with a 1 liter water bottle, camera, GORP, and I put a peanut butter sandwich inside the fanny pack.
I put the fanny pack on, grabbed my LEKI Khumbu's and was on the trail. I decided to have this hike be a triathlon cross training hike, so I hiked fast up to the summit. Mt. Mansfield is 2.3 miles to the summit from Rt. 108 on the LT south.
The beginning of the trail was easy. Then it got a little steep. By the time I got near the summit, it was boulder climbing time. YES!
The scramble up to the summit was very steep in spots. It leveled off towards the summit. I made it to the summit in 1 hour and 30 minutes. There was a panoramic view but clouds covered most of the summits. I could see Jay Peak and Big Jay (on my to do list). After I ate my sandwich, I looked around a bit. I saw an airplane heading towards the summit and it was pulling a glider. Then the plane let go of the glider and I watched him turn and fly away. After that, I headed down. It took me 1 hour and 15 minutes to descend, or what I like to call "controlled falling"
This was an excellent hike. I learned so much and a few what not to do's in the future.
