Elevation: 1,595 ft (overall) 2,520 ft (total)
Time: 1:47 (Jay Peak) 2:49 (Big Jay) 3:58 (Jay Peak) 5:04 (Jay Camp) 5:15 (Total)
Trails: Long Trail, Bushwhack, Ski Trail, Jay Loop Trail
Starting up the trail from VT Route 242, you immediately go past a lean to shelter that is within sight of the road. Continuing on, the trail stays relatively gentle in the beginning and isn't too rocky. You'll get steeper inclines, but then short easy sections too. Footing is good and the trail is very easy to follow. After a while, the trail becomes a more steady climb. There are no real difficult obstacles until you start to get near the ski trails at around 3,100 feet. Once you get here, the trail gets a bit more rocky and you will start to encounter some short mostly easy scrambles. A few of these will require long legs or some planning with your footing, but they aren't bad.
Start of rocky sections
Where you come out onto the ski trail, there is a nice wooden set of stairs to get you over the ski area's pipes for snow making. The Long Trail actually crosses the ski trail and a painted blaze can be seen on the rocks at the other side of the ski trail. If you don't want to stay on the trail, you can just walk up the ski trail as well. Once back into the trees (or bushes even), the Long Trail turns left and heads straight for the summit never getting more than about 50 feet from the ski trail you just crossed. This is a fun section of above treeline like conditions over more interesting terrain. It's short lived though as you are already close to the summit.
Stairs over ski area equipment
Jay Peak summit in sight
With tourists milling around the summit area after coming up the tram, I didn't spend too much time on the summit. There are nice views, but it was hazy today due to the humidity and it was already hot in the sun. I headed down the stairs and took the ski trail heading away to the right. This is a short steep trail over grassy terrain. At the bottom of it is the snow fence the Long Trail crosses through. There are some blazes to your left, but the opening is on the right. After heading back into the trees, there is a narrow section of a rock slab that could be a bit slippery when wet. Just after this though, is the start of the herd path on your left. It's pretty easy to spot and I wouldn't be surprised if from time to time people hiking the Long Trail start down it on accident.
View from Jay Peak
Just after starting the bushwhack, you need to climb over the bottom of a blow down and head a bit to the left. Once over this though, the path was pretty easy to follow. Early on there were a couple places where you might have an option on routes, but just pick the more well traveled one and you will be all set. On the way back, I didn't even notice these options to be honest. The path goes gradually downhill for a while with just some minor mud. Eventually I started wondering what all the trip reports were talking about with them mentioning deep mud. On the second half of the route you will come to find these mud holes. On the way up to Big Jay I tried to stay on the main path the entire time. Finding hard spots in the mud or debris in it to step on that would hold me up better. On the way back, I took many of the herd paths that are developing around the mud. Eventually I found an unassuming mud hole that ended up being at least 10-12 inches deep (based on how far my poles went in) that didn't have anything to stand on. I got lucky and the mud only covered my boots without actually going into them.
Easy to follow herd path
The majority of the mud pits end shortly before the summit, just as the path gets steeper. There were a couple rock scrambles through here that could be tricky, but I managed them well by just planning my route up before starting over them. Once up the steeper section, it seems like you should be at the summit, but the path kept going on slowly gaining elevation. This bit seemed longer than I expected it to. Soon you get to the summit area where there is a sign and a red ski sled hanging in a tree. With a quick look, I found the summit jar (no canister) just behind and to the left of the sled.
Rock ledge to climb over
Red sled at the summit of Big Jay
The hike back out the herd path was straight forward. The route really is easy to follow and is like a trail in places. If you were to loose it, it stays pretty much on top of the ridge anyways. It took about as long to hike back as it did to come out. And soon I was back to the Long Trail and then the ski slopes. It was hot and humid today, but as soon as I got back into the sun on the slopes, it really hit me. I started to slow right down. It isn't really that far to the high point on the slope, but it seemed to be taking me forever. At the high spot is a small building and I decided I needed to sit in the shade here for a while. I tried to cool down, but with almost no wind, it took a while. I decided to change out of my now muddy socks while here and take advantage of the objects I was using as a seat. Eventually I felt like I had cooled down some and I started heading down the mountain.
View back to Jay Peak
Back into the woods I was taking it easy and making sure I was placing my feet correctly. The heat really had an affect on me. Gradually I started to feel better and kept picking up pace. I only wished there were some sort of brook along this trail so that I could splash some cold water on myself. Unfortunately, there were only a few very small puddles. As I neared the bottom of the mountain, I decided I would still do the Jay Camp Loop Trail as I had planned. I figured if there was a camp, there had to be a water source where I could fill a now empty bottle and dump it over my head. This trail was much less used, but still easy to follow. And sure enough, right next to the camp was a nice cold refreshing brook. This helped me feel even better. From here the walk out was almost completely flat and went quickly. Before long I was in dry clothes and headed home with the AC cranked right up.
Jay Camp
Google Earth map of the hike
For all the pictures from the hike, just go HERE
