Jay Peak (3,858 ft) & Big Jay (3,786 ft) 8-16-15

Distance: 6.92 mi.
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

Mt. Monadnock (3,165 ft) 7-10-15

Distance: 5.36 mi.
Elevation: 1,758 ft (overall) 2,018 ft (total)
Time: 2:03 (summit) 3:07 (total)
Trails: White Dot Trail, Cascade Link, Spellman Trail, Pumpelly Trail, White Cross Trail

I decided I wanted to get a hike in since it had been a while since I had been up a significant peak. I decided getting out of work an hour early and heading up Monadnock for the sunset was a good way to get in a hike. I'd been thinking recently that it had been a while since I was on the Spellman Trail, so I picked a route that included it.

The hike up went well. There weren't many people as almost all of them were heading down. It was a bit humid, but I just adjusted my pace some to keep from sweating too much. Once off of the White Dot Trail, I didn't see anyone else until I reached the summit. Going up the Spellman Trail was fun and conditions were good for it. There were a couple damp places, but not in the steepest areas where it would cause a problem.

Given the weather predictions, I didn't expect the sunset to be overly spectacular. There weren't many clouds for the colors to reflect off of and it was a bit hazy. As the sun went behind the clouds near the horizon, it appeared the sunset might be a bit of a bust. In fact, a family at the summit headed down at this point thinking just that. But as I talked with some other hikers, we noticed a break in the clouds above the horizon. This gave almost enough room to see the entire sun as it went down behind the horizon. While the colors weren't spectacular, this did make the sunset much improved. I wonder if the family watched as they descended and caught this or not.

On the way down I was able to go without my headlamp for nearly half of the descent. I put it on for the rockiest part of the White Cross Trail and left it on until I got to the car. At the park headquarters I was greeted by a barred owl up in the trees making a lot of noise as I got close. I was able to watch him with my headlamp for a while before I decided to leave him alone.

Brook crossing on the Cascade Link

Start to the steep section of the Spellman Trail

On the Pumpelly Ridge

Nearing sunset while climbing

The sun starting to go down behind the clouds

The sun coming down below the clouds

The last glimpse of the sun for the day

For all the pictures from the hike, just go HERE

Bald Mtn (2,443 ft) 7-2-15

Distance: 2.89 mi.
Elevation: 933 ft (Overall) 949 feet (Total)
Time: 1:22 (Summit) 2:29 (Total)
Trails: Bald Mtn Trail

My family and I were in Maine camping for the week leading from June into July. While there, we thought it would be nice to do a smaller hike than I normally do so that we could bring our 14 month old daughter with us. After a bit of research, I decided Bald Mountain in Oquossoc would be nice to try. It didn't look like it would be too long or too steep. And 360 degree views from the summit tower of the surrounding lakes and mountains sounded good.

There are two trail heads for the mountain. We choose the one on Bald Mountain Road as it would be a bit more direct. The trail starts off being quite gentle with only a little incline. Footing is nice to start. It soon starts to have some roots in the trail, and today it was a bit wet which made for just a little mud. Further up the trail gets muddier and the roots are replaced with rocks. Watching where you step can keep your feet dry without leaving the trail. The sign at the trail head did mention the trail and be wet and slippery.

Easy trail to start

Our daughter enjoying her first hike

As the trail goes on it gradually gets a bit steeper, but it's never truly steep. The trail also becomes rockier. The small stepping stones in the mud get replaced with open slabs of rock and larger rocks to step across or around. Most any tricky spot has a easier way to get up it as well though. Since we got a relatively early start, we hadn't seen many people hiking yet, but were starting to see a few headed down already. shortly before the summit, the mountain levels off some and you get a nice easy walk to the base of the tower.

Some rocky terrain on the trail

Rangeley Lake

View southwest of Lake Mooselookmeguntic

Summit tower

The summit is nice with some open areas and a few picnic tables. The tower is easy to climb with stairs and doing so provides views in all directions. The neighboring mountains and lakes can be seen very well. After letting our daughter run around some outside of her hiking pack and all of us having something to eat, we decided it was time to head down. As we were packing up, the summit was getting busier as more people showed up.

The hike down went smoothly with some care taken on the wet rocks to make sure we didn't fall while carrying our daughter in her pack. As we neared the bottom, our daughter was getting tired and decided that should could take her morning nap now.

A tired little hiker

Bald Mountain is a nice little peak. It's a short hike for any experienced hiker, but provides great views. I think this is great as a family hike or for beginners. The reward is high for the effort put in. Seeing many families while we were hiking helped to prove this point.

For all the pictures from the hike, just go HERE

Elephant Mtn (3,772 ft) 6-16-15... Not Quite

Distance: 3.33 mi.
Elevation: 1,074 ft (overall) 1,195 ft (total)
Time: 1:44 (Summit) 2:55 (Total)
Trails: Logging Roads, Herd Paths, Bushwhack

Elephant Mtn Rd doesn't have a sign at the end of it, but it is the first dirt road after Clearwater Brook when driving west on South Arm Rd. The brooks along the road are signed, so that helps. The road is a bit rough in a few places with some larger rocks and a couple culverts that have made good humps in the road. I was driving my wife's Rav4 and had no issues or concerns.

I started heading up the older logging road at the first cairn (which is where I parked). The better road continues right, but you don't want that. I headed up until I got to an old landing with another cairn on the left leading to the herd path. This path was easy to follow for a while. There is some brush down low to push through and it's a bit narrow in places, but easy to follow for the most part.

Start up the road on the left with the small cairn

Start of the herd path

Following the herd path

After a little while I came to a spot where the path appeared to split. To the right it looked like it went under/around a fallen tree. There were no boot prints in the mud here, so I wasn't sure about this route (I had seen recent prints earlier). I went to the left instead. This route stayed open for a bit and then closed in coming to just a wall of small trees with no path leading into it. I looked around and found no definitive path around either. I went back to the split, knowing that I had just passed a small cairn before it. I decided to try to the right. There was a path this way that lead to a small brook, but it seemed to end here. Being fairly open here, I figured maybe people spread out more so no path was defined. I headed up and eventually found what looked like a faint path. I even saw the remains of a single piece of flagging. This path seemed to lead away from the peak in one direction though, and downhill in the other direction. Neither option seemed correct.

An easy section of woods after loosing the herd path

At this point I decided that since the overall distance and elevation to the summit wasn't "too far" that I would just bushwhack to the summit and pick up the path on the way back down. The bushwhack went well to start, but soon it got thick. I pushed through some and tried to find routes into more open areas without losing my heading too much. This helped for a while, and then it got really thick. I eventually took the "brute force bull and jam" method and forced my way through and over anything in my way. This was very slow going. I then came to more open woods and was pretty close to the summit. As I got closer I started to pick up a path and saw lots of moose sign. In hindsight though, it might have just been a path made by the moose. Soon I could see an orange hat in a tree, some flagging, and a piece of wood that said Elephant on it (once I got close). I couldn't find a canister, but this looked like the high spot and my GPS agreed.

Moose poop around the summit

At the summit. Notice the poop on the ground at the sign

I'm pretty sure a moose spent a few weeks here at the summit recently. The area was literally a field of moose poop on the ground. I also found what I believe to be the possible remains of after birth/placenta. This makes more sense when you think about how long a moose was up here. I can see a cow staying put in this small open-ish area for a while with a new born calf.

To head down, I followed the well defined herd path leading from the summit (not the route I took up). Unfortunately, I lost this path before very long and ended up crossing back over the route I took up. I ended up just bushwhacking down from here. I picked a better but still not ideal route down past the thickest stuff I encountered coming up. I then cut across the mountain some maintaining my elevation to get back to the area where I crossed the brook. I knew if I could get here I could easily hike back to the car. This worked pretty well and I came right to where I wanted. I quickly hiked down and got to my car about as the rain started. Perfect timing. I put on clean/dry clothes and headed home. Already deciding I need to find a better route if/when I come back.

Heading down

The brook I crossed

Google Earth representation of the hike

*** It became apparent after this hike that I made it to the wrong summit on the mountain. I went to the more eastern peak when I should have gone to the western one. Losing the herd path ended up costing me more than just a bunch of scrapes going through thick trees. As an interesting fact though, I was contacted by the person that accidentally left the orange hat on the summit when he saw my trip report just after getting the correct summit himself. ***

For all the pictures from the hike, just go HERE

East Kennebago Mtn (3,791 ft) 6-14-15

Distance: 3.38 mi.
Elevation: 1,278 ft (overall) 1,297 ft (total)
Time: 1:22 (Summit) 2:21 (Total)
Trails: Logging Roads, Herd Paths

The start of the road off of Route 16 is not marked with a sign, so be on the lookout. There is currently some ribbon hanging in the trees, but I am sure this is for the active logging in the area. The road to where I parked starts off ok, but gets rough with plenty of larger rocks. I don't think a car could safely make it past 1/3 to 1/2 of the way to the parking. There are also water bars to negotiate closer to the parking. My wife's Rav4 handled everything fine though and I was glad I had it instead of my Corolla.

I headed further up the logging road from the car. Past the signs telling ATVs to stop here as the view doesn't go any further. The road is easy to follow. It eventually gets narrower and soon becomes a bit more like a path through the woods. You still know you are on it though. There is one spot where it may look like you can turn right, but stay left, passing the cairn. After about 0.9 miles, there is currently a small tree down with a path around it that walks over some sheet metal. Just after this cue, the boundary path crosses. There are two small cairns and the yellow wood post is currently leaning against the hillside on the left.

Start hiking up this road

While looking for the yellow post and herd path, stay left/straight here

Yellow post and start of herd path

The boundary path is easy to follow and is marked by old yellow and blue blazes. Any hard spots on the path have herd paths around them. You will pass a few cairns along the way, before coming to a larger one where you leave the boundary line. The herd path is obvious here, and if you weren't paying attention you might not realize you left the boundary line. There appears to be no traffic heading past this point on the boundary.

Herd path following boundary line

Where the path leaves the boundary

The path wanders side to side a bit more now that you are off the boundary, but it's still pretty easy to follow. It gets faint in a few places, but you just need to pay attention. There is a fork in the path that I missed on the way up. The left fork is more of a straight shot here and this was the route I took. The two paths join up just before the summit, which is where I even noticed the second one. At the summit the flies were buzzing all around and quite annoying. I stayed just long enough for a drink and some pictures. They were bothersome enough I forgot to sign the register (but I know I was there and that is what counts). On the way back down I followed the same path I took up, knowing what to expect on it. Back at my car I could see some ATVs had been up to the view here while I was gone, but I never saw another person on this hike.

Herd path near the summit

Summit canister

Moose hair on the logging road

The view from the parking lot is the best you will get on this hike

Google Earth representation of the hike

For all the pictures from the hike, just go HERE

Snow Mtn - Chain of Ponds (3,960 ft) 6-14-15

Distance: 7.82 mi.
Elevation: 2,107 ft (overall) 2,201 ft (total)
Time: 2:39 (Summit) 4:08 (Total)
Trails: ATV Trails, Skidder Roads, Snow Mtn Trail

I drove out to the parking area yesterday, but realized on the way that I didn't bring enough food/water (and didn't have a filter). So I used the drive to make sure I knew where I was going instead. The road was in great shape and could easily be done with a car. Coming back this morning to hike though, there was a tree down across the road about 0.5 miles from the parking area. Not wanting to park here, I got out my leatherman and used the saw to trim branches enough so I could drive over/around with my wife's Rav4. I plan to be back in the area in a couple weeks with family and will try to come back and see if the tree still needs cleanup.

After trimming branches

I headed up the ATV trail from the parking area. A sign here now says no ATVs though. I followed this past the 3rd bridge. Just before the 3rd bridge is an opening on the trail where a small path leads into the woods (if you go straight instead of turn like the trail does). There was a very small cairn here, but the only tracks I saw headed out it were moose tracks. I don't know where this actually goes. After the 3rd bridge, there is a turn in the trail where there is a yellow arrow pointing left for the ATVs/Snowmobiles. There is a small cairn on a large rock here. This marks an old ATV trail (now blocked) that looks more like a small brook bed (it had running water today). I followed this until the ATV tracks (more faint) went to the right at a small cairn. This was to avoid a patch of blown over trees in the trail/brook.

Where you turn off of the main ATV trail

Slight side path to go around downed trees

This comes to a skidder road from past logging with a cairn at the edge of the trees. I went straight at the intersection here towards the pond. Past info I used mentioned turning right at a yellow sign saying "Snow Mtn Trail" which I hadn't seen yet. My GPS also had what it thought was the trail showing as starting out this way. This path eventually became quite wet. I followed it past where my GPS thought the trail was and I still hadn't seen any yellow sign. I was also seeing no sign of hikers coming this far either. I went back to the skidder path and headed left (right as you come up). I decided I would see if this went the direction I needed and I could eventually find the trail. This does go where you need and crosses the trail at a height of land where there is some flagging and a small cairn.

Turn right onto this skidder road

Small cairn and flagging where Snow Mtn Trail crosses the skidder road

I turned up the trail and it was easy to follow. Some maintenance has been done to remove the larger trees that are down. There is one small rock scramble with little protection on your left. If you aren't comfortable with it, there is a bypass forming on the right. Any potentially confusing spots on the path had flagging to help you navigate it. The summit register is in a small wooden box on a tree at the old cabin on the summit. The fire tower was rugged enough to hold me (a larger hiker) without any worries. It's just tight climbing it with the ladder so close to the frame. The view from the top was great though.

The trail is easy to follow for the most part

On the way down I wanted to see where the trail actually came out near the pond, but I didn't want to use the time as I still had another hike planned for the day. Maybe another time I can check it out. It obviously still sees some traffic.

The pond

Fire tower

Summit cabin remains

View from the top of the tower

Hanging out on the top of the tower

Google Earth representation of the hike

For all the pictures from the hike, just go HERE