Hiking Vermont's Green Mountains.

          The two of us stood, talking, on the side of the field of the soccer game.  The rain started up again.  The fifth grade girls raced and danced the ball up and down the pitch.  These girls, growing up fast now, used to look like a swarm of bees when they were little, clustered around the ball as it pulled them to one spot and then the next.  Now, a bit older and more athletic the girls were a team, playing their positions, passing, talking to each other.  Serious, concentrating faces set against the first wet day of this long, glorious summer.  Along the sidelines parents, dogs, older and younger kids roamed the edge of the game.  Not everyone watched the action on the field; most just conversed and caught up after this long, glorious summer.  My little girl was out there and it was beautiful.

As we stood there in the rain, we talked about how to get the most out of being outside, before it all closes in and winter comes down on us.  We agreed one way, the best way, to squeeze the most out of these last days of summer, is to walk up and down our Green Mountains.  Although in this blog I don't often go for informational but mostly rather focus on experiential, where we live, in central Vermont, there is great hiking in the fall, and it is worth talking about a bit.

            The most accessible and straightforward hike remains the a small peak near our town of Stowe, Vermont.  It is called the Stowe Pinnacle.  We hiked it in the full sun on a recent Sunday.  The small parking lot was jammed and cars spilled along the edge of the dirt road.  I expected massive crowds on the trails, but it wasn’t that bad.  There was one woman in small heels realizing she’d bit off more than she could chew.  One family near the summit with a screaming two-year-old.  Otherwise it was peaceful as the woods should be.

            Pinnacle is a steep hike but short – about a mile and a half to the granite dome.  It is a pretty trail with some rock scrambles but nothing technical.  Don’t wear heels or flip-flops.  It’s not that easy. And bring water.  With these two tips most days you'll be okay.

On the way up the hill we did run into various pods of friends, which was good for a catch up.  At the summit, on the 600 million year old granite mountaintop, we sat against the rock in the sun and looked across the valley to what seemed like the edges of the world.  We could see other great mountains to hike: Sterling and Whiteface, Mansfield of course, Lincoln to the South, Camel’s Hump.    

Very near the Pinnacle, accessible by a ridge trail from near the top of Pinnacle in fact, is Hunger Mountain, another wild peak and a difficult climb.  It is well worth the effort.  Do it as a long day hike from Pinnacle or as a separate climb from it's own trailheads.  Either way it is a great one.

            Just a week before in fact my son and I drove over to Duxbury and hiked Camel’s Hump.  A five hour, hard scrabble loop – Monroe Trail to Alpine Trail to Long Trail back to Monroe Trail – we loped along, the dog doing two trips for our one.  We took snaps by the B-24 wing. (Yes, a wing from a WWII bomber; it crashed during the war and bits are there still.)  We sat at the top and talked, picnicked, explored. 

Camel’s Hump is a glorious hike, a mountain in wilderness, deep in a large state forest.  The summit is just above tree line, providing plenty of solitude, views in every direction of the Entire World.  Tall hardwoods line the path for most of the hike and, later in fall, create a ring of color to walk through.   There are trailheads in Duxbury, and Hungtington and, via the Long Trail, you can get to Camel’s Hump from the south as well, but it’s a long hike.  There are driving directions on the state's website.

            Another spot in our view from the Pinnacle was Whiteface, a short pyramid of a mountain.  Although short it is a steep and difficult hike.  There are many ways to get to Whiteface.  The best way in is from Johnson, where the Long Trail leaves Route 15 and makes a steady climb through old hardwoods.  It is the most silent wood I have ever walked in.  There are good shelters – Bear Hollow and Whiteface – to make the hike into an overnight for the adventurous.  The walk out from Whiteface can be along the ridge all the way to Smuggler’s Notch or a steep drop down to Beaver Meadow and Mud City.

            Closer in Vermont’s tallest peak, Mt. Mansfield, offers a buffet of hikes.  The Hazleton, which runs between the Nosedive and Perry Merrill, is an odd one: a wilderness trail between two ski trails.  Great with kids and friends.  I know.  We just did it and had a blast.  The Long Trail to the Chin is a tremendous hike – challenging, beautiful, rewarding – if you don’t mind being surrounded by people who did not earn it when you reach the top. That is because you can take a Gondola to near the summit and the Toll Road allows cars to drive to the top.  It is a big mountain so there is plenty of room, but it is not always remote.  You can lose yourself there, and I mean that literally, but you can also be surrounded by families with chips.

             Lincoln, a bit farther to the south, is easily accessed from the Lincoln Gap Road. Take Route 100 to Warren, my home town, and go past the village and take a right toward Lincoln, Vermont, which is another small, rural Brigadoon.  (If you drive the Lincoln Gap Road to Lincoln, keep your eye out for tremendous swimming holes.  One is a small waterfall into a tight pool.  You can dive through the fall into the stream, which is Hobbitian.)

To hike to Lincoln Peak and Mt. Abraham park at the top of the Gap Road and walk north along the Long Trail for a relatively easy hike to the top of the Mountain, which is also a ski resort, Sugarbush, or hike to the south where there are some beautiful and more remote ridgelines and views.  At the end of it all the Warren Store in Warren Village will be a good stop. 

The trails in Vermont right now are bone dry.  There are no bugs.  The hills are starting to take on that hint of Technicolor, which will only grow intense as the fall moves in.  If the weather holds we will take advantage and roam even farther afield to the north and east: Pisgah and Big Jay are very different but awesome choices; Belvidere Mountain; Hazen’s Notch, where you will absolutely see Moose, or at least walk in what they leave on the trail.  

Belvidere is a beautiful hike. There are stretches of trail out of a movie. In fact I shot the final scene of a short film on that trail, dragging my crew and cast of children deep into the woods to do it.  It was worth the walk.

            This all just scratches the surface.  You can learn more from the Green Mountain Club, headquartered on Route 100 just south of us, in Waterbury Center.  Their website is good on information but light on maps.  A quick Google will get you into any number of hiking blogs, however, such as ‘trimbleoutdoors.com,’ which has info on each section of the Long Trail (and a Google map).  

               Details aside there is something ethereal, other worldly, about walking in the Green Mountains. The light in our northern forests, our hardwood stands, the water bubbling along some trails and the deep silence of others make it an incredible experience.

Back on the soccer field, the girl’s game ended.  They sang out a cheer and walked toward us, the mountains all around.  I wonder how much of the joy from that field comes from the kids knowing, at least subconsciously, that in ten minutes in any direction they can be in the silence of deep woods and within a few hours be standing on top of the world?

David Rocchio lives, works and writes in Stowe, Vermont. (c) 2012 David Rocchio