The Dome, Pownal, VT

July 26, 2013
Distance: 5.2 miles, 1715 feet elevation gain
Time: 3 hours 13 minutes
Year to date miles: 174.8

Map: See book, or AMC Massachusetts Trail Map

Parking: White Oaks Road, Pownal, VT. The road turns into a gravel road, at the point it crosses the MA/VT border. It is the second parking area on the right. We didn't see a sign for the trail, but we saw the red blazes and a cable across the trail. Room for around 4 cars.

Restrooms: None
Post hike dinner:  Baba Louies Pittsfield, MA

Directions: AMCs Best Day Hikes in the Berkshires
From the parking area, follow the red blazes all of the way to the summit.

Notes: Kind of a warm humid day, which made the hike up difficult for me. The bugs were fierce today - I kept hitting my head trying to kill them!!!!  The trail is a continual gradual uphill climb, never very steep. There isn't much water available on the trail, so make sure to bring plenty of extra for dogs. We only saw 2 hikers today. The trail is rocky, some of the rocks pretty interesting. There is barely a view at the summit - just a thin sliver of a view of Mount Greylock. The area approaching the summit is pretty though.

Parking area

Start of the trail

Crossing a meadow in the beginning...Moxie smiling

Intersection with the Agawon Trail. We also passed some unblazed trails, but really had no issues navigating.

Intersection - turning right staying on the red blazed trail.

The dogs taking a break at a mud puddle. There was a stream at the trailhead, but other than that, water was scarce.

Getting close to the summit, the trees change

Sign at the summit. We  didn't see any geodesic markers.

A sliver of a view.

Trek and Moxie, summit

Glen, summit

Anthony's Nose

July 26, 2013
Distance: 3.8 miles
Time: 2 hours 8 minutes
Year to date miles: 169.6

Map: East Hudson Trails Map

Parking: From Route 9D north of the Bear Mountain Bridge, turn right on Manitou Road. Turn Right on South Mountain Pass Road. It can also be reached by turning west from Route 9 on South Mountain Pass Road. The road is a long, narrow gravel road. There were actually detour/road closed signs, but we didn't have any issues driving on it. There is room for 2 cars off of the gravel road. Look for the AT blazes.

Restrooms: None
Post hike dinner:  None

Directions: The Appalachian Trail (white blazed) starts at the parking area (same side of the road). Follow the blazes along a woods road. We passed a blue blazed trail early on, but keep on the AT, passing a campsite.  Later, the AT turns right, and the woods road stays straight on the blue blazed camp Smith Trail. Stay straight on the Camp Smith trail. Eventually unmarked trails leave to views of the Hudson north (geodesic markers for Anthony's Nose North here), then another trail to the view of the Bear Mountain Bridge (the classic view you see in photos). The trail turns left and climbs a short way where you reach a large rock slab to another geodesic marker. If you walk towards the water here, you'll get another view of the Hudson.

Parking area off of the road

The trail from the parking area

Which turns into a wide woods road behind the gate. The trail alternates between a wide woods road and a normal trail.

Classic view of the Bear Mountain Bridge from Anthony's Nose

Moxie at the southern geodesic marker for Anthony's Nose. One hot dog.

View of the Hudson River from the northern edge.

Another geodesic marker on a concrete slab (base of an old fire tower?)

Pelton Pond and Stillwater Pond, Fahnestock State Park

July 25th, 2013

Distance: 5 miles 

Time: 2 hours 8 minutes

Year to date miles: 165.8

 

Map: East Hudson Trails Map

 

Parking: Taconic North to 301 West. Parking area is on the left - sign for Pelton Picnic Area.

Room for around 20 cars.

 

Restrooms: At far end of parking area

Post hike dinner: N/A

 

Directions:

From parking area, head up steps to the picnic building.

Turn left on the yellow trail that loops around the lake.

Walk halfway around the lake.

Where the pond gets narrow, turn left and leave the trail.

You'll immediately reach a camping area and gravel road.

Veer to the left on the road, looking for the white blazes.

Continue along following the white blazes through various camping areas.

Eventually you leave the camping area, and see another kiosk on your right.

Keep following the white blazes, which indicate the multi-use trail.

Pass Stillwater Pond on your left (good for dog swimming).

We hiked out 2.5 miles and then backtracked.

The multiuse trail continues several more miles, so this hike can be extended.

When we reached the yellow trail, we continued along it clockwise.

 

Notes:

We were originally planning to park at the parking lot for Fahnestock Winter Park and head north on the AT. They lock up the gates to this parking area at 6pm though, which didn't work for us on a weekday evening.

So, we continued to Pelton Pond, and decided to do a hike from there.

We saw a few campers around Pelton Pond.

The water in Pelton Pond is pretty black, so we didn't swim there.

The multi-use trail gets nicer the further away you get from Pelton Pond.

Stillwater Pond was great for swimming.

There is some traffic noise from the Taconic at points on the trail.

This is an easy hike.

 

Sign for the parking area.

Map of Fahnestock

Steps from the parking area to the picnic area

View of Pelton Pond from the picnic building

Stillwater Pond - you have to walk off trail a bit to reach it. Great swimming area.

There was a lot of beaver activity near both ponds

Beaver home at Pelton Pond

 

Case Mountain, Shenipsit Trail

July 21st, 2013

Distance: 4.8 miles 

Time: 2 hours 29 minutes

Year to date miles: 160.8

 

Map: Connecticut Walk Book East

 

Parking: Spring Street, Manchester, CT, right next to a one lane bridge. Parking spaces for around 5 cars on the side of the road. The bridge was closed & under construction when we were there. It looked like there was a larger parking area on the opposite side of the bridge.

Post hike dinner: Whole Foods, Hartford, CT

Restrooms: none

 

Directions:

Find hiking kiosk on Spring Street, right near bridge.

Follow paved white blazed trail (Carriage Trail).

Continue straight on white trail, passing pink blazed Highland trail on the right.

Where white trail splits left and right, stay left to follow a clockwise loop.

Arrive at Case Pond.

Where white trail splits left and right, turn right (turning left takes you to Birch Mountain Road parking area).

When the white trail hits the blue blazed Shenipsit Trail, turn left onto the Shenipsit Trail.

Shortly after, turn right on the blue/yellow blazed Birch Mountain trail.

Hike to case Mountain summit (elevation 735') - no view.

Continue, passing yellow blazed trail.

Hike to Birch Mountain summit (elevation 786') - no view.

The blue/yellow trail ends at the Shenipsit Trail.

Turn right onto the blue blazed Shenipsit trail.

Pass the white blazed Carriage Trail.

Pass the yellow blazed Lookout Mountain trail on the right.

Turn left onto the yellow blazed Lookout Mountain trail.

Hike to Lookout Mountain summit (elevation 744') - view of Manchester & Hartford.

From the summit, head to the bench, and follow the pink blazed Highland Trail south.

Pass the white blazed Carriage Trail.

On the opposite side of the Carriage Trail be careful - a white/silver blazed trail is straight ahead.

We followed it for a while, thinking that our map was wrong.

That trail wasn't on our map.

We retraced our steps, and found the pink trail starting just to the right of the white/silver trail.

Follow the pink blazed trail north.

Turn left on the white blazed Carriage Trail.

Arrive at parking area.

 

Notes:

This was a pretty easy hike. Even though there are 3 mountains, there really is minimal elevation gain, and you could easily miss 2 of them, if you didn't look at the map.

 

We swam our dogs at Case Pond. There were people fishing there. The pond near Lookout Mountain is more of a murky puddle - not good for swimming.

 

Lookout Mountain (the one with the view), has a ton of broken glass on the ground.

 

The white blazed carriage trail is the least interesting - the footing was gravel, and most of the people we saw were on it. The other trails in the area are much nicer - smaller trails in the woods, with less exposure to the sun.

 

There are mountain bikers on the trails.

 

There are a lot of un-blazed side trails in  the park. There is also an error in the map in the book, where the book doesn't show the white blazed carriage road hitting the Shenipsit trail once, early on.

So, following the trails at times was confusing.

 

Kiosk at trailhead

Nice list of trails. Couldn't find this online.

The ugly beginning of the trail.

Passing the pink blazed trail.

Taking a breather already. There are a few benches along the trail.

Case Pond

A good opportunity to cool the dogs down

Approximate summit of Case Mountain.

Approximate summit of Birch Mountain

Summit of Lookout Mountain (I'm hiding in the shade).

 

 

Ebright Azimuth, Delaware State High Point

July 3rd, 2013

Distance: 0 miles 

Time: 10 minutes

Year to date miles: 156

 

Map: none

 

Parking: Side street

Post hike dinner: none

Restrooms: none

 

Directions: Intersection of Ebright Road and Ramblewood Drive, Wilmington, DE

 

Notes: It has been too hot to hike, so instead of finding a hike on our way down to Maryland, we decided to stop and see the Delaware State High Point. Elevation is 448'. We spent more time deciding where to park, than it took to actually walk to the sign. There is a high point sign with a bench to sit at next to it (it was super hot, so we did sit down!).  We had problems finding the geodetic marker. Luckily a man driving by asked us if we were looking for it, and told us where to find it. It is right next to a telephone pole, on the same side of the street as the sign. In the Wikipedia article, the sign and marker are shown on opposite sides of the street, so it looks like the sign has been moved since then.