Jay Pass to Journey's End via Long Trail (Jay State Forest)

Jay Pass to Journey's End via Long Trail (Jay State Forest)

Hike Type: Traverse

Distance: 13.46 miles

Elevation: 3,881 feet

My Time: 11 hours, 1 minute (8 hours, 42 minutes moving)

Book Time: 8 hours, 40 minutes

Parking: Parking for 15-20 cars at Jay Pass (VT-242). Limited parking for ~5 cars at Journey's End.
Hiking Challenges: 52 Hike Challenge 2026, Long Trail Side-to-Side, Operation Alaska Bechmark Challenge

The Hike 

It's FINALLY time to hike to Canada! Emma and I have been talking about this hike for literal years, but every time we'd plan on it the weather would have a different plan. Our alarms went off at 5:00am and we were out the door at 5:30am. We stopped at Maplefields for provisions, including a few breakfast sandwiches for me. It was fun to drive past Jay again! Journey's End Road was no problem at all sans a few avoidable pot holes - it even looked recently maintained. 

We dropped Emma's car at Journey's End, making sure to leave flip flops and apres clothes with her car and then we had a quick drive back to Jay. Naturally, I had a small (massive) code brown once we got back on VT-242, so we revisited the Stateside Hotel and my favorite single-stall bathroom to say hello. To our shock, the mountain was looking FULL - apparently it was a trail race day, so we started mentally prepping to see MANY people. 

Jay Pass on VT-242 was foggy and spooky and thankfully not busy at all. It was a cool 53 degrees out with a breeze. We finished getting suited up, we carefully crossed the road, and then our adventure had officially begun!

[7:23am - Start of Hike]

[7:26am - Long Trail (north)/Register Book]

We entered the woods and immediately passed an aid station/turn around point for the trail race - they gave us a warning, but insisted that everyone would be well behaved to us! A few minutes later we made it to the trail register, which Emma signed as the good hiker she is, and then we turned left onto the Jay Loop to see what was over there (last time we hiked Jay, six years ago, we took the Long Trail all the way up).

[7:27am - Jay Loop]

The Jay Loop was a flat, blue-blazed trail that traversed beautiful woods. The fog was still strong and the morning was quiet and spooky. There were a few autumnal leaves on the ground, which was also a delight!

[7:33am - Jay Loop/Jay Camp]

The flat trail continued all the way to the Jay Camp, which had a tent platform and then a cabin. There were a few people doing their morning chores at teh camp, so we didn't stick around too long to bother them. Emma told me about a patroller who always stays at the cabin for their fall ski patrol refresher, which made sense knowing who it was!

From the Jay Camp, the trail turned right and started climbing uphill. It was mostly moderate with a few flats and a few steeps. We were officially sweating! The woods were wet and a little slippery, but overall very pretty.

[7:43am - Long Trail (north)]

After a bit of climbing we turned left onto the Long Trail (north). We were still fully in a cloud, but at least the trail was wider now! It was cool and very quiet up here... that was, until we crossed paths with the first trail runner, who was running towards VT-242. Emma guess we'd see 15 between him and the summit - I guessed 13. 

It's fun hiking this mountain after skiing it SO many times. The Long Trail turned left and the trail race continued straight on a footpath that popped out at the end of the Vermonter ski trail/near the Montrealer's chute. 

From here, the Long Trail got rockier and steeper, eventually transitioning to rockier and slabbier. We paralleled the Vermonter ski trail the whole way. Sometimes it would be in view through the trees, and other times we felt we were deep in the woods. We were wet from sweat and even more wet from the cloud, but spirits were high! I am in MUCH better shape than the last time I climbed up Jay, so it was pretty much smooth sailing!

[8:40am - Vermonter Ski Trail]

After some more climbing, we climbed some awkward stairs over snowmaking pipes and popped out onto my beloved Vermonter ski trail! The Long Trail continued across the Vermonter and into the woods, but we had both hiked the ridge before and since we were in a cloud we decided to just follow the Vermonter up, which rose easily to the Sky Haus. The ground was squishy but not horrible, and the clouds were THICK.

[8:50am - Jay Peak Summit]

Up top there was an aid station (nobody clapped for us!) and we climbed the stairs up onto the ridge. We poked around for a minute - I found two discs and a couple memorial stones and benches through the thick fog. We found a seat out of the cool breeze that overlooked the top aid station and the new Jay Peak summit sign for our snack (the aid station clapped for everybody else!). We ultimately ended up seeing only nine trail runners on the climb up - mostly because they left the Long Trail halfway up.

When we were too cold to keep sitting we packed it up and got off of the ridge. We took a quick luxury pee in the Sky Haus and got a bathroom mirror picture and then a selfie with the summit sign before heading on down. I never noticed a sign of arrows pointing to Mt. Mansfield, Lake Memphremagog, Lake Champlain, and Mt. Washington before - how fun!

[9:27am - Long Trail (north)-Sis Boom Bah Ski Trail]

We continued along the Long Trail northbound, which now paralleled the Sis Boom Bah ski trail (one of my hanging chads becuase it is always closed). We passed some really cool purple flowers that Seek can't seem to poshumously identify, and then we carefully worked out way down the steep, slippery, wet trail. I did manage to take one decent slip and fall, which hurt my ego but that's all! My butt did NOT touch because my foot folded in a wildly unnatural position. A good number of trail runners ran past us in this stretch.

[9:33am - Long Trail (north) Enters Woods]

At the bottom of Sis Boom Bah we turned right onto the Northway ski trail and then immediately zig-zagged through a snow fence into the woods. We passed a "VT 105 7.4 MI." sign and a large warning sign that read (at first in French, and then in English below):

"Attention: Approaching the Big Jay Area of Jay State Forest

The Big Jay and Black Falls Tracts of the Jay State Forest were conserved by the Green Mountain Club and the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation with the assistance of the Vermont Houseing and Conservation Board and others. The high-elevation forest is a special natural community and is home to the rare Bicknell's thrush.

ILLEGAL CUTTING HAS SEVERELY DAMAGED THE FOREST AND WILDLIFE HABITAT. NO CUTTING OF TRAILS, TREES, DOWNED TREES, OR OTHER VEGETATION IS PERMITTED. VIOLATORS WILL BE PROSECTURED."

Once we were back in the woods, we passed a very old "out of bounds" sign in these pretty, wet, and steep woods. We passed the herd path for the Big Jay herd path a few minutes later, and then the slow swim upstream began. We were ~20 feet behind a hiker for the next ~30 minutes, and they were SLOW minutes. Every minute more and more trail runners would be power hiking uphill. It was a little painful. Thankfully we had a series of four tee-hee's to keep us going:

1. The guy ahead of us turned around and carefully asked... "any idea where Big Jay is..." and we let him down gently.

2. We said "have fun!" to someone hiking up, they said "I don't think I am!"

3. At one point we hit a small opening in the trees and a guy gestured and said "Look! Through those clouds is a great view!"

4. An uphill trail runner let us pass her and said "I could use a break, I guess I was in better shape when I signed up for this!"

We noticed in this stretch we crossed paths with four REPEAT trail runners, which was crazy. We traversed a wet, flat stretch and then continued a steep descent until we began to near the ski trails. We could see an obstructed tree view out to what we think was Doll Peak and blue skies! Eventually, we crossed a snowmaking pipe and came to the bottom of the Ullr's Dream headwall (the turn that marks the start of Beaver Pond and Andre's Paradise), and it was absolutely beautiful out??

[10:09am - Long Trail (north)-Ullr's Dream Ski Trail]

We took our time gawking at how pretty it was at this spot. Skies overhead were blue and the meadows were flourishing. The summit was still (barely) in the clouds. We comically ran through feet of meadow growth to get a picture with the Beaver Pond/Andre's Paradise sign - one that we're planning to recreate in the winter. We also took a photo of a duo doing the trail race with a broken arm?? Crazy! We debated checking out the snowmaking pond, but we figured we still had a LOT of hiking to do, so it's best to keep on moving on.

[10:17am - Long Trail (north) Enters Woods]

We entered the woods along Andre's Paradise and followed the ski boundary ropes past a warning sign that read (first in English, then in French below):

"BACK COUNTRY ACCESS

THIS AREA IS NOT PATROLLED

DO YOU HAVE:

MAP, COMPASS, GPS, CELL PHONE, LAYERS, FOOD, WATER?

CAN YOU DEAL WITH

BROKEN EQUIPMENT OR SUDDEN INJURY?

DO YOU TRUST YOUR PARTNERS?

IS IT BEFORE 1:00PM?

IF NOT TURN AROUND.

JPSP"

The trail climbed gently uphill for a moment before a long, steep downhill stretch to the next col. The trail was slippery and wet most of the way, but we were able to catch a small view towards Doll Peak. Once we were on the descent, the ski area boundary ropes disappeared and the woods because delightfully silent. The col was super wet and then we rose gentle to the Laura Woodward Shelter.

[10:43am - Long Trail (north)/Laura Woodward Shelter]

We took a sit at the shelter for another snack. There were a few hikers at the shelter spening the night - we didn't talk to them, but they were talking to each other and it sounded like they simply had no plan and were just winging it? Fascinating! We sat until we were chilly again, and then it was time to climb up to Doll Peak!

[10:56am - Long Trail (north)]

Back on the Long Trail, we passed the spur for a water source and then had a nice easy to moderate climb afterwards. We caught a few peek-a-views back to Jay Peak through the trees, but they were minimal at best. We COULD see that the summit was now cloud-free - curses! We weren't actually that upset, we'd both been on the mountain countless times so we're well aware what the view is like. It sure would have been nice, though!

At a certain point the trail became steeper and bordered on being a butt-kicker. We passed three polite-but-feral children? The trail leveled out near the top and we passed the moms of those kids who told them they can blast off as long as they stick together - we gave them a good report!

[11:39am - Long Trail (north)/Doll Peak]

Sadly, there was no summit sign on Doll Peak, but there was a tree with two bolts that sure looked like it used to have one. We crossed paths with another guy up here, took a couple photos, and then walked along the nice summit ridge before starting our next descent.

Emma and I had some nice void time descending Doll Peak, which had the tiniest peek-a-view at the beginning of the descent (a theme for the day - there were minimal views the whole hike). We saw the clouded unnamed peak that we would be climbing next. The trail was still wet and slippery, but the woods were pretty beautiful! The wooded stretches of trail were delightful and the more open stretches were a little grown in. 

From the muddy low point, we started our climb up, which was moderate just about the whole way. There were a few car wash stretches, but the breeze made everything worth tolerating! We caught the haziest view on our way up through the clouds to the valley below and then started traversing over some mud pits, which were mostly avoidable. We were both smelly, enjoying the lack of humans, and soon we made it to the unnamed peak!

[12:08pm - Long Trail (north)/Unnamed Peak]

We did catch a nice peekaview out towards... something from the unnamed peak! I feel like 20-30 years ago this stretch of trail was full of views, but over time nature had done it's thing. 

From the top of this lump we had a pretty dreadfully steep, slippery, and eroded descent. In fairness, the descent started along nice rock stairs, but that did not last long. We complained quite a bit about how frustrating it was for the aliens to build the trail this way! We scratched through another car wash section as the trail slightly improved. I did manage to jump off a rock, shouting "PARKOUR" immediately as I crossed paths with a family...

In this wet, rugged, but less-steep section I took a fall and my butt touched the ground and Emma got a bug bite on her nose like Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer - we were doing great!

Near a low point we started seeing red-orange blazes, likely marking property lines. I wish it was easier to figure out what exactly they are! The guidebook mentioned that next we would traverse over three humps - just before the first one we had to maneuver over a spectacularly deep mud pit. A person passed us here, and then we pulled off to pee. My business went off swimmingly, but poor Emma, who was donning her front-to-back zipper pants, was disrupted by a hiker just a few minutes after, which was spectacularly hysterical. I noticed he had an Appalachian Trail hiker tag - I joked to Emma (once she emotionally recovered) "I wonder if he knows he missed the turn?"

The first hump was absolutely delightful - we rambled on over it and it was filled with ferns and yellowing leaves. We descended and continued rambling over a stream followed by an medium-easy climb to the top of hump #2, where we took a break for a five minute snack.

From hump #2, we had a pretty steep descent. We passed the woman who passed us in the mud pit (not the AT thru-hiker) and we joked about seeing her again soon. She was sitting at a spot that looked like it once had a view (like many other spots along this stretch of trail). She said the sound of us talking (aka yapping) made the trail feel less lonely - she was so nice!

The steep descent led to a beautifully flat stretch, and from there we began to hear the distant sounds of VT-105. We haven't seen civilization in so long! Thankfully, we still had a few miles to go. We had a short, moderate climb up to hump #3 and then continued to have a delightful ramble. We noticed some nice fungi, strange white berries (not edible), and more property blazes.

We descended through a scratchy birch forest and then the trail got steep steep again. Thankfully, it was now sunny with a cool breeze that truly felt amazing! The trail eventaully flattened out again, which led to the Shooting Star Shelter!

[1:54pm - Long Trail (north)/Shooting Star Shelter]

We passed the water spur first just before the shelter, which was built in 1934 and rebuilt in 2001. It was in a neat, small-but-open area with a slab right behind it. We did a quick water break before continuing up the slab behind the shelter, which gave us a mini view of... trees, and then went right back into the woods, which were open and mossy.

[2:17pm - Long Trail (north)/Burnt Mountain]

We had a slow and steady climb up Burnt Mountain, and the woods were just stunning the whole time. We were delighted to pass a summit sign! We turned left onto yet another grown-in viewpoint for a longer break. We both had some BBQ Chicken Pasta Salad from Maplefields and our summit bevvies - Emma had an IPA and I had the Stowe Cider of the dirty mayor (a ginger cider), and it was kind of gross! The pasta salad was the real winner! It was absolutely beautiful out. After sitting for a while, a guy came up behind us and asked "it is another view of nothing?" to which we nodded and he continued along. 

[2:51pm - Long Trail (north)]

After our long break, we continued on the Long Trail towards VT-105. We had an easy descent and easy rise to the next know, and then yet another delightful ramble down the spine of the mountain. We enjoyed the thoughtlessness of this stretch, along with the flowers and mushrooms we passed. We noticed a bunch of property blazes, and the sound of VT-105 (aka "North Jay Pass") soon grew louder until it was time to cross the road!

[3:25pm - Long Trail (north)/VT-105]

This road crossing, while super pretty, was probably my least favorite part of the hike. We had been in the woods for so long in the best way, and crossing a busy (at least for far-northern Vermont) road brought us right back to reality! We followed the road, made the easy crossing, and we caught a nice view back to what we think is North Jay. On the other side, we turned right to follow the road again on a footpath, crossed a power cut, and returned into the woods.

We noticed a property marker (we think) in the woods as we started our moderate ascent up Carleton Mountain - our final peak of the day! We were moving SLOW, but overall spirits were good! There was a breeze that kept us moving, thank goodness. We worked our way up to a nice ridge that was covered in birch and maple trees before climbing more steadily past an extremely obstructed tree view towards Jay Peak. We crossed what is probably a snowmobile trail (white diamont with teal ribbon blaze?), and made it to the top!

[4:13pm - Long Trail (north)/Carleton Mountain]

We were delighted to see the "Carleton Mtn. Elev. 2670' GMC" sign, and even more excited to see the "Lookout ->" sign - and it looked like the sign wasn't THAT old! We followed the spur path to... nothing. Nothing! Again! We followed a herd path left which led to... just another summit sign? Definitely an older one. We were so bummed. If we really looked around, we could see Jay Peak, but it was near impossible to actually see.

Heading back to the Long Trail, two guys were following the path and they asked "how's the view?" and I'm pretty confident Emma and I simply grunted at them.

From Carleton Mountain, we followed the plateau for a minute and then began to descend, steeply at times. It was cool thinking that everything ahead of this point was Canada! The trail mellowed out and became more grown-in further down, and it looked like the sky was all around us - almost as if we were hiking off of the Earth. It was really cool!

[4:44pm - Long Trail (north)/45th Parallel]

We hit the "Latitude 45° Midway Between Equator + N Pole" GMC sign, and we were both a bit confused. A wikipedia search later detailed: "The actual boundary of Vermont lies approximately 1 kilometre (3,300 ft) north of the parallel due to an error in the 1772 survey." 

We were both back to feeling energized and the feeling of being "out there" really settled back in, which was a delight! I slipped on a wet slab but recovered, and in making fun of me, Emma took a full and spectacular tumble at the exact same spot! The descent continued on for longer than we were mentally prepped for, but the prehistoric giant ferns we were hiking along made up for it.

[5:09pm - US/Canadian Border]

We hiked for a bit longer until we saw an "in memory of SParky LT '98" sign and then the official terminus of the Long Trail! It was marked my a massive sign:

"THE LONG TRAIL - NORTHERN TERMINUS

A SCENIC TRAIL THAT STARTS-ENDS HERE. FOLLOWING THE CREST OF THE GREEN MOUNTAINS 270 MILES FROM THE CANADIAN BORER TO THE MASS. STATE LINE. WHITE BLAZES MARK THE L.T., BLUE BLAZES MARK THE CONNECTING TRAILS.

THE LONG TRAIL WAS CONVEIVED AND BUILT BY THE GREEN MOUNTAIN CLUB FROM 1910-1931. IT IS MAINTAINED BY THE GMC, STATE AND FEDERAL AGENCIES. SHELTERS ARE PROVIDED FOR HIKERS AT REGULAR INTERVALS. FOR INFORMATION CONTACT:

THE GREEN MOUNTAIN CLUB

4711 WATERBURY-STOWE ROAD

WATERBURY CENTER, VT 05677

WWW. GREENMOUNTAINCLUB.COM"

Just past was the border swath, which was such a cool spot. We had a relatively open view towards Canada with a big 'ol monument marking the boundary. The swath here was non-navigable (unlike the one at Fourth Connecticut Lake), but the view clearing was lovely. The same lady as before was already at the viewpoint - she must have passed us during our break on Burnt Mountain. She's been piecing together the Long Trail bit by bit. She's from Keene, NH, and we talked about different hikes along the trail for a while - she was such a delight!

She carried on - she's planning on staying at Journey's End Camp, so we'll probably see her one more time before the hike is over. The sun and breeze felt just wonderful up here. There were also dozens of caterpillars on one bush in particular. Once it was just Emma and I, we couldn't stop thinking about all the ridiculous things that poor woman just have heard us say!

We had our final snacks, drank our "summit" Celsiuses (Celsii?), and started the final leg of our hike down the aptly named Journey's End Trail.

[5:37pm - Journey's End Trail]

It was visually satisfying to be following blue blazes for the first time since our brief spur trip to the Jay Camp. The trail descended nicely through the woods on a relatively gentle footpath - it felt like a calm, falling-action after a climax of a book. The sun was starting to set and cast a nice glow on the trees while we were still higher up.

[5:56pm - Journey's End Camp]

We then made it to the surprisingly spooky Journey's End Camp, which had all their windows shuttered (they could be opened). It was spooky! Naturally we ran into our friend from Keene again, and she asked if we had any water we weren't going to drink left over since we were almost done - Emma was able to give her about a liter! We said our final goodbyes and continued on towards the end. 

After the camp, the trail felt more like an old road, and had the piles of old rocks that were likely cleared to make the road alongside it. We crossed a very dry stream as the trail began to widen some more, and then we came to the trail register!

[6:18pm - End of Trail]

We had a short and easy walk (slightly uphill) to Emma's car from the trail's end, and then our journey was officially over!

[6:24pm - End of Hike]

Well, it was partially over. Emma won fart baseball 3-0, we both quickly changed into clean clothes and then we SPED over to the Jay Village Inn for giant margaritas and dinner, and they delivered (per usual!). In reflection, this was essentially a collection of three individual hikes: Jay Peak (VT-242 to Andre's Paradise), the West Bowl (the end of the ski area to VT-105), and then Journey's End (VT-105 to Journey's End Road). Each segment had it's own character, and even though the hike lacked views, it was still an absolutely wonderful way to spend a day!

Step-by-Step

- Drop car at Journey's End trailhead, drive to VT-242 (Jay Pass)

- Start hike on Long Trail northbound from VT-242 (Jay Pass).

- At jct., turn left onto Jay Loop.

- At terminus, turn left onto Long Trail northbound.

- From summit of Jay Peak, follow Long Trail to it's northern terminus at the US/Canada Border.

- From terminus, turn right onto Journey's End Trail.

Map of Jay State Forest Land (no trails)

Photo Album

Big Muddy Pond Loop (Long Trail State Forest)

Big Muddy Pond Loop (Long Trail State Forest)

Hike Type: Loop

Distance: 3.62 miles

Elevation: 810 feet

My Time: 1 hour, 58 minutes (1 hour, 50 minutes moving)

Book Time: 2 hours, 12 minutes

Parking: Parking for 10-15 cars at trailhead off of VT-118.
Hiking Challenges: Long Trail Side-to-Side; 52 Hike Challenge 2026

The Hike 

Day two of Labor Day weekend! I was mentally flirting with the idea of hiking Belvidere Mountain via Frank Post and Forester Trails to keep knocking off trails on the Side-to-Side patch, but I just didn't feel like climbing a mountain. Emma and I slowly got up and got some chores done, and then I proposed we check out Big Muddy Pond, still at the same trailhead as Belvidere, which would hit the Babcock Trail and Babcock Extension on the same list - she agreed, and we were off!

We brought her dog, Lola, and were at the trailhead around noon, which was expectedly full (with room for us!). We got suited up, we got Lola suited up, and we gave Lola our drinks to hold, too! We hiked past a couple of thru-hikers eating lunch at the gate, and then hiked past the trail register and onto the Long Trail southbound! Lola was NOT a fan of her paw-protection booties, but she did her best.

We hiked past an old Agency of Environmental Conservation sign stating that the trail was closed to vehicles and then walked gently uphill over some fallen yellow leaves (FALL IS NEAR). We carefully crossed VT-118 and continued on the Long Trail southbound on the other side, riding gently through wonderful fern-filled forests. Lola was having a wonderful time smelling literally everything and trying to nosh on any grass she could find. 

We saw some leaves with a unique squiggly mark on them - we figure either slugs or really really small bugs, and then admired some common jewelweed flowers, which were incredibly unique looking. The hike began to moderate with a few steeper spots that got the two of us sweating (Lola was running laps ahead and behind us, basically). Lola got mad at her booties again, so eventually the back two came off. The trail continued rising to a height of land and the Rittenbush Lookout. The lookout was nice, but pretty grown-in. We could see the landmass on the other side of the pond below, but that was really it. We did love to see the early autumnal reds popping through!

The descent from the lookout was comically steep with many stone stairs - Lola had no problem flying up and down them as Emma and I fought for our lives while carefully stepping on the wet stones. Once further down, the trail rambled around, crossing a few streams (we had to fight Lola from drinking the mostly stale water - she had plenty of her own) and passing a teeny tiny red eft on the way!

Just after the final stream we came to a junction! On the left was an unmarked path to another pond, straight was the Long Trail southbound towards Devil's Gulch, which looked like a fun scrambly section, but not with the dog, and left was the Babcock Trail - our return route! We hopped on the blue-blazed trail and began to moderately climb back up on a very eroded stretch of trail.

We eventually leveled out and passed the first of three(?) beaver dams damming up Big Muddy Pond. The viewpoint began to open up as we began to hear the pitter patter of rain, which turned into a full RAIN. We decided to have our drinks and do some civilized hiking at this point, since it seemed we were just going to be wet. We thanked Lola for carrying our drinks, and comically, Emma's exploded from the josteling. 

The views down to the pond were nice, but there were no really good viewpoints. We could see a couple of loons on the north end of the pond engaging in... something. We saw the big wing flapping thing waterbirds do and then they did some diving too. I wish we were able to get closer! 

The Babcock Trail climbed again and then easily descended past some white baneberries, which look absolutely crazy with their magenta stems and white berries. Emma put Lola back on her leash as we began to hear VT-118 again, and soon we were CAREFULLY crossing again.

The Babcock Extension started straight across the road, but it was pretty overgrown with roadside wildflowers (mostly swamp asters, flat topped white asters, and goldenrods). We pushed through, getting nice a damp after the rain subsided, and then turned to follow a gravel road that we soon joined to follow.

There were a few apple trees above the gravel road that had begun depositing their small apples all over the road. We did NOT stop for a snack, even though Emma offered. The Babcock Extension turned back into the woods and followed a narrow, wet trail with a good amount of bog boards, and one bridge! We gently rose again up to the parking lot, and soon were back and READY to put dry clothes on!

We ended up driving towards Smuggler's Notch and got a late lunch at the Red Fox. Lola was not interested in sitting in the back seat, so she happily inserted herself into my lap for every drive, only slightly tearing up my arms with her claws in the process. We then stopped at the Cambridge Market to stock up for tomorrow - Jay Peak to Canada!

Step-by-Step

- Walk towards the Long Trail from the parking area.

- Turn right onto the Long Trail southbound.

- Carefully cross VT-118, then continue on the Long Trail southbound.

- At jct., turn right onto Babcock Trail.

- At road, carefully cross VT-118, then continue onto Babcock Ext.

- At terminus, return to car.

Map

Photo Album

Camel's Hump via Forest City, Mt. Ethan Allen, Alli's, Burrows Trails (Camel's Hump State Park)

Camel's Hump via Forest City, Mt. Ethan Allen, Alli's, Burrows Trails (Camel's Hump State Park)

Hike Type: Lollipop Loop w/ Spur

Distance: 9.93 miles

Elevation: 3,586 feet

My Time: 7 hour, 29 minutes (6 hours, 7 minutes moving)

Book Time: 6 hours, 45 minutes

Parking: Parking for 5-6 cars at Forest City trailhead.
Hiking Challenges: Long Trail Side-to-Side, 52 Hike Challenge 2026, Operation Alaska Benchmark Challenge

The Hike 

I was officially out of car hell and into car purgatory! My CRV (after MUCH nagging) was FINALLY in the shop and I had a "rental" that was "covered by my warranty" (what happened to curtosey vehicles?!). They gave me an Accord as the rental, and I was EAGER to drive the heck out of it out of spite. It was Labor Day weekend, Emma and I were FINALLY planning to get our Jay-to-Canada hike in, and Sarah mentioned wanting to hike Camel's Hump - sold! I was up at 3:00am, snoozed until 3:30am, and was out the door at 4:00am, almost forgetting my shoes. It was a foggy morning in Boston and my drive was going to take a bit longer than usual because I could not go through tolls in the Accord.

I had to take the back entrance to Hooksett at 5:06am because of the afformentioned toll avoidance and got a nice christening in. They were playing Jolene over the loud speaker, RIP Dolly Parton! There were tragically no breakfast sandwiches, but thankfully there was a Dunkin Donuts five more minutes down the road in the direction I was driving. I later stopped at the Lebanon Walmart to grab a car phone charger becuase the wireless one that car had wasn't doing anything!

Sarah and I met at a bike trailhead on Cochran's Road a little before 8:00am - I didn't want to take the Accord on too many dirt roads. She scooped me up and we worked our way to the Forest City Trailhead, landing at 8:11am! It was a cloudy morning and 67 degrees out. We did our morning trailhead chores, and we were off!

[8:28am - Forest City Trail]

The Forest City Trail started by coinciding with the Catamount XC Ski Trail on a lovely, old road through a lush forest. We worked our way along the blue-blazed trail, eventually turning off of the road and crossing a relatively new-looking bridge. On the other side there were signs indicating that there is NO poop fairy to pick up your dog's poop, and some information about the Forest City Lumber Company:

"The Forest City Trail is named for the Forest City Lumber Company, which operated a sawmill here on Brush Brook during the 19th century. That era marked the peak of deforestation and agricultural activity with roughly 70% of the landscape cleared from 1830 to 1890. The eastern forest proved resilient and began regrowing as farms were abandoned. Today about 80% of VT is forested.

A couple minutes later we passed an old oven/furnace - I assume it was for the logging industry? Or Vermont's first backcountry pizza stop? A mystery!

The Forest City Trail followed the Brush Brook the whole time, and it was quite lovely! We eyed a possible swimming hole on the right early on after crossing the bridge, and later on at another bridge were were LOVELY falls and another possible swimming hole. Sarah LOVES a swimming hole, I love the idea of one but always want to be done when I'm at the end of a hike - we'll see what happens!

[8:50am - Forest City Trail/Burrows-Forest City Connector]

We hit the junction with the Burrows-Forest City Connector just after the waterfalls, and at some point the Catamount left, rejoined, and possibly left again? I couldn't keep up with it. We crossed a cute, small bridge and began to climb more moderately before easing up again. There was a lovely breeze most of the time with the occasional falling leaf (FALL IS COMING!). It was still cloudy overhead, which was a bummer, but if the summit is socked in at least it'll be on-par with last time I was up here!

The trail moderated again around 1.75 miles and it passed a nice little stand of ghost pipes. This has been an absolutely LOVELY trail!

[9:36am - Long Trail (south)]

[9:39am - Long Trail (south)/Montclair Glen Lodge]

We eventually hit the Long Trail, which was signed 200ft away from the Montclair Glen Lodge. The lodge was a cute cabin in a small clearing with a picnic table. We stopped here for a short break for a snack and pee - I was so scared and confused thinking the grey water pit (and it's strainer) was the privy... Nope! The privy was further in the woods. A person caught up to us wearing a UMass shirt (which was fun because UMass beat Rutgers last night, which was a SHOCK to everyone in my family that went to Rutgers, but not as much of a shock as it was to me, an alumnus of the UMass Marching Band who had watched that football team lose countless times) - we didn't chat much besides exchanging "hello"s to each other. Sarah and I then packed up and continued onward and upward!

[9:51am - Long Trail (south)]

As the Long Trail does, it climbed more ruggedly after the lodge, and passed some cool Catskill-esc rocks on the way up. We were debating whether or not if we wanted to go up Mt. Ethan Allen in addition to Camel's Hump, and said we'd decide for real once at the junction. The main pro was exploring more and the main con was more distance and elevation...

[9:58am - Long Trail (south)/Allis Trail]

Once at the junction with Allis Trail, we made the call to visit Mt. Ethan Allen! It was still cloudy, and Mt. Ethan Allen was supposed to have a view and was shorter than Camel's Hump, so maybe if we climbed it 1) we'd get a view and 2) give Camel's Hump more time to burn off the clouds? Only one way to find out! The trail was super pretty, first climbing through hardwoods and then a moss-lined coniferous forest. There were peeks of sun popping out and then trail eventually started to get slabby with moss on either sign.

The Long Trail soon plateau'd in an absolutely beautiful forest before climbing again past a little baby view and a massive blowdown. We hiked a steeper push to get up on the ridge, and soon we were at the summit sign and a viewpoint!

[10:33am - Mt. Ethan Allen, North Peak]

We had a NICE sit here. The view involved many rolling clouds at eye-level over the hills and mountains beyond - none of which were in my mental map. I had some summit pizza and we yapped about life, getting caught up since we hadn't seen each other since we hiked Saddleback! I heard about her backpacking trip to the Smokies and vacation to Japan and she heard about my Car Hell. I was saving the Florida family update for the climb up Camel's Hump - I figured that could help pass the time!

Eventually, the guy from the lodge joined us and we chatted about UMass and the Long Trail for a while - he's from California and just dropped his kid off at UMass. He wanted to hike the whole Long Trail, but the timing wasn't going to work out, so instead he's hiking from the Bolton Valley area to the Massachusetts Border. We eventually got chilly from the clouds and breeze, so we said our goodbyes and good lucks and were heading back on down!

[10:58am - Long Trail (north)] 

Our trip back down the Long Trail was pretty slow and overall delightful - we were both thrilled to have made this side trip! I didn't make a note of this, and I'm admittedly writing this entry quite a few weeks later, so I do not have a memory of this, BUT my photos seem to heavily suggest that either I or Sarah took a spill on the way down... I'm going to assume it was Sarah!

[11:32am - Allis Trail]

Just to keep the adventure going (and to knock another trail off my Side-to-Side list), we took Allis Trail as a little detour around the lodge, and let me just say, it was an absolute DELIGHT. It was clear it is seldom traveled, but it was easy to follow with a soft, kind footway the whole time. It rose to a height of land surrounded by moss and ferns the whole way. At the height-of-land there was a sign that read:

"In memory of David Morse 1914-1999

May all who pass this way be inspired to love this land as he did.

Sept. 2000 Montpelier Section GMC"

Just after the sign we caught a couple peek-a-views to a low shoulder of Camels Hump and just after a view to clouded summit. The cloud ceiling was starting to lift! We MIGHT get a view! The rest of Allis Trail was a continuous delight and we were soon back on the Long Trail.

[11:47am - Long Trail (north)]

The Long Trail started nice and easy and quickly became steep and scrambly, but thankfully the fun kind of steep and scrambly! A sign read:

"CAUTION

THE LONG TRAIL NORTH TO THE SUMMIT IS OFTEN DIFFICULT TO FOLLOW IN THE WINTER.

THE WHITE BLAZES AND SIGNS ARE OFTEN BURIED UNDER SNOW. DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS SECTION WITHOUT PRIOR KNOWLEDGE OF THE ROUTE AND A MAP AND COMPASS"

The sign was written in Comic Sans font, which gave me a giggle. The Long Trail steeply scrambled up from the junction with Allis and quickly started provided tree views back to Mt. Ethan Allen, and soon opening up to a wonderful view of the mountain and the low(er) lands to the east.

Another steep stretch led to another series of views from a ledgy knob (we realized we could see this knob from Allis Trail - how fun!) with brief moments of sunlight - there was hope!

The trail continued it's rugged journey past one cool, tricky boulder scramble with a few more small views before staying in the woods for a while. We rambled slightly downhill for a small while, which was undesirable, but the trail was nice at least! A short slab climb led us to another gentle section with some more tree views towards the cloud-covered summit.

Naturally, the trail began to steepen again. The footing was actually pretty decent in this stretch, and we caught one more small viewpoint and the trail was delightfully lined with wildflowers. Our heart rates were pumping and we were slowing down, but just when we were running low on fumes we saw the sign for the Alpine Trail!

[1:09pm - Long Trail (north)/Alpine Trail]

I was now in familiar territory, as Emma and I followed the Alpine Trail up last Labor Day weekend when she famously had her "bad gas bubble" (it was a kidney infection). Just after the trail junction a sign welcomed us to the Alpine Zone, and after a quick scramble we were out in the open and caught a great, cloudy view back to Mt. Ethan Allen, which looked so small now!

We hiked past a duo looking for the plane crash, and I was THRILLED to actually have an ansower for them! We passed another Alpine Area sign as we continued to scramble around the summit cone. More and more views were popping out, which was enough to keep us going! At this point, I had FINALLY got Sarah caught up on the hell that I was living through in Florida - she is such a good friend to listening to all of that. 

We could see Lake Champlain as we started to climb up the slabs, and we could just barely make out some lower Adirondack peaks, too. We snacked on some alpine blueberries as the grasses blew in the wind, and soon enough, we were there!

[1:27pm - Camel's Hump Summit]

The summit expectedly had a decent amount of people, but it was uncrowded enough where we could sit by ourselves. The sun was really trying to come out, but thankfully the cloud ceiling had lifted! Even with the cloudy views, it was still 100x better than the views from when Emma and I were socked in! I got photos of the discs, noticed a GMC Summit Steward was set up for the day with his book, and we took another nice, long sit. I had my summit pizza and we continued to yap away - it was LOVELY.

[2:03pm - Long Trail (north)]

Our trip off of the summit started just as beautifully as the trip up was. We weaved in and out of the scrub before making a moderate descent with easy footing to the junction with the Burrows Trail. There was some signage:

"Why the String on the Summit?

This alpine zone is a part of one of three mountains in Vermont that can host alpine vegetation. Over 10,000 years ago, all of this land was arctic tundra & glaciers. When the climate began to change, alpine vegetation was out-competed by other larger species of plants. Today, there are roughly 16 sq. miles of alpine zone in all of New England. The summits rough environment allows these rare and endangered plants to thrive. However, summertime is when they are the most fragile to being trempled. The soil on the rocks is also very thin, so footsteps compres the dirt to where the roots can get no oxygen, and drown during rain. Once these plants are gone, they are gone forever. Please do your part by keeping yourself and your dog on the rocks! The string is just a friendly reminder to explore considerately.

Signed, the GMC caretakers"

[2:16pm - Burrows Trail]

From the clearing, we turned left to start our descent down the Burrows Trail, which featured a little bit of uphill before descending (rude!). This trail had the character of an old road that gets heavy foot traffic (i.e., erroded and not too pleasant). It started off fine with medium-okay-but-rocky footing and moderately steep, and it continued, and continued, and continued. We both went in and out of the void for this descent as it was simply not overly pleasant (we later acknowledged we're both weenies and it was literally fine).

We passed some good mushrooms and about halfway down the grade mellowed out, but the trail continued to slog. The Catamount Trail appeared and disappeared at a point and there were also a couple of clear trail relocations. On a plus, a yellow leaf fell on me!!

Further down the Burrows Trail began to cross some small streams and began to flatten out in a lush, green forest. There were a few airplanes overhead, and after what felt like days, we hit a staircase at a recent reroute (AllTrails said we were off-course). Sarah pointed out that we hadn't been catcalled by any red squirrels, which was crazy. Thankfully, after a few more trips in and out of the void, we made it to the parking lot and our journey was almost complete!

A trailhead kiosk read;

"Camel's Hump State Park is Vermont's largest state park, conserving over 21,000 acres of land. In 1911, Colonel Joseph Battell gifted ~1,000 acres to the state, which included the summit, seeding the park's creation. The lowlands have been inhabited by indigenous people for millennia and the original Abenaki name for Camel's Hump is Tawapodiiwajo, meaning "place-to-sit-in mountain" or "mountain seat."

One of the Oldest Trails in VT. The Burrows Trail is the oldest known trail on Camel's Hump built by European settlers. Established before 1860, the "Huntington Trail," as it was called, was built into a bridle path for horseback riders, giving access to a hotel below the summit. Today it remains a sustainable path thanks to the collaborative stewardship by FPR and their partner organization, the Green Moutnain Club."

[3:32pm - Burrows - Forest City Connector Trail]

We had a lovely, quick and easy trip down the Burrows - Forest City Connector Trail, which was delightfully short and featured some delightful bridges, ending with the bridge over the falls we saw before! The bridge was labeled "1991 ON TOP SCHOOL - VT. DEPT. OF FORESTS, PARKS, & RECREATION."

[3:36pm - Forest City Trail]

We ultimately skipped the swimming holes because I am predictable (Sarah is such a good sport, I know she loves a swimming hole, but I was tired and hungry!). We had a similarly delightfully easy walk down the Forest City Trail along the brook, past the furnace, and over the bridge, soon landing back at the car!

[3:56pm - End of Hike]

We did our quick changes at the car, did a little baby wipe bath, and then Sarah shuttled me to my rental Accord. She started her trip back to Massachusetts and I continued onward to Emma's - that was a great hike! I'm glad we did it in the direction we did. And for the record, I won fart baseball 5-to-0.

Step-by-Step

- Start hike on Forest City Trail.

- At terminus, turn right onto Long Trail (south).

- At Mt. Ethan Allen, turn around.

- At jct., continue straight onto Alli's Trail.

- At terminus, continue straight onto Long Trail (north).

- Summit Camel's Hump, then continue on Long Trail (north).

- At jct., turn left onto Burrow's Trail.

- At terminus, turn left onto Forest City Connector.

- At terminus, turn right onto Forest City Trail.

- Return to car.

Map of Camel's Hump State Park

Photo Album

Zealand Mountain via Zeacliff Trail (White Mountain National Forest)

Zealand Mountain via Zeacliff Trail (White Mountain National Forest)

Hike Type: -o- Loop

Distance: 12.73 miles

Elevation: 2,782 feet

My Time: 8 hours, 8 minutes (6 hours, 39 minutes moving)

Book Time: 7 hours, 45 minutes

Parking: Ample parking with overflow lot at Zealand Trail Trailhead ($5 Day Use Fee)
Hiking Challenges: New Hampshire 4000-Footers; New Hampshire Appalachian Trail

The Hike 

So I had been having car troubles since I got back to New Jersey from Florida. I got quoted $6,500 for a fix, which had me gasping for air. I called Ray's mechanic, who, in a thick Irish accent, said "oh shit man I don't do those repairs any more I'm too old," and Christien's said "listen you'll pay the same no matter where you go but the dealership will get it done faster." I brought the car back to the dealership after finding my warranty paperwork, which looked promising, and basically said "what do I do I can't pay $6,500 but I have this warranty." After 45ish minutes the service advisor comes back with a piece of highlighted paper, kneels down, and shows me what the paper said. It was an email from Honda from the same morning saying that they have extended the warranties for all 2017-2021 CRVs because of an engine problem, and because Honda extended their warranty, the repair would be FREE. I think my soul left my body.

ANYWAY, with that, I was advised to not drive my car until the fix, which will happen sometime next week. Yesterday, Chrsitien offered for me to borrow his car, which was super nice, and once I was done being stubborn I accepted the offer and drove up to hike Middle Sister. He was off today, so we decided to go hiking again! I proposed three possible hikes, knowing that he loves a water feature: Mt. Moosilauke via Gorge Brook (not much water, but treeline), Mt. Chocorua via Champney Falls, or Zealand Mtn. via Zeacliff Trail. None of the hike were horribly strenuous and all had views, but we ended on Zealand because of how many different views and water features, and that it would still be stunning even if we were socked in the clouds.

Knowing he doesn't like the super early mornings that I like, so I let him choose the time we were to leave, and he said 5:36 - specific, but sounds good! He got up at 4:30am, I got up at 5:00am. I was ready by 5:15am because I simply move quickly in the morning, so I tried to help him get ready, but I think I stressed him out instead (oops). I sat patiently, playing my New York Times games, and we were out the door just before 6:00am!

Our drive started with a listen to Sara Barellis's new album: Good Grief, which was slower music than I usually listen to on these morning drives, but the music was very pretty and poetic. This brought us directly to Hooksett (literally had 10 seconds left in the album when we parked), we had a potty break and stocked up on food. We stopped at the Tilton Walmart 20ish minutes later so I could grab a quick shirt to hike in for the day - I foolishly only brought my mid-weight merino long sleeve, and it would be far too warm for that. The second half our drive featured the newest episode of Normal Gossip, and we made it to the end of Zealand Road just after 9:00am! The main parking area was pretty busy for a Friday morning, and there were a few groups of hikers getting ready for their days. To my dismay, I didn't realize this was a day use fee area, and neither of us had our $5 (sorry, USFS!). We made use of the bathrooms, got suited up, and it was time to being our journey!

[9:18am - Start of hike on Zealand Trail] 

Our hike began on the old railway bed along the Zealand Trail, passing a mini-grove of ghost pipes. The trail was delightfully flat underfoot as we passed the "2.8 miles to Zealand Falls Hut" and official Zealand Trail signs. The morning spider webs were all off-trail (thanks to the hikers before us), and the off-trail survivors were illuminated with the morning dew and sunlight. It was a nice 67 degrees out, but it was HUMID!

[9:25am - Zealand Trail/Departs FPA]

The trail soon became more rocky and rugged and then departed the Forest Protection Area - this change of character is due to a relocation of the trail off of the rail bed, likely due to flooding/erosion. The trail brought us across a few bridges over (currently) minor streams, eventually rejoining the old railroad bed. The hobblebush in the forest were starting to show their fall color of dark red. 

Now alongside the Zealand River, there were a few herd paths on the left to see the scenic river, with a few cascades and swimming holes. The trail begins to menauver around the river, crossing it numerous times on bridges and a couple rock hops that were easily navigated. We were slightly swimming upstream, crossing paths with dozens of hikers leaving the Zealand Falls Hut. This whole hike in was wonderfully scenic and we kept saying that if it stayed like this we could hike forever!

[10:04am - Zealand Trail/Boardwalk]

We eventually arrived at the section I was excited to see for the first time - the beaver ponds! This section was marked by views of nearby mountains (possibly Mt. Tom on the left?) and views across the numerous (or one large?) ponds. There was a wonderful boardwalk lined with red berries and "common wrinkled-leaf goldenrods." 

We took a break in the woods for a quick snack and for Christien to put on my extra socks (he wore ankle socks which was already causing problems). We were cheered on by an increidbly yappy duck. The views to Mt. Tom increased with mostly cloudy skies and very humid air. We dipped back into the woods along the wetlands for a bit as we approached the junction with the A-Z Trail.

[10:23am - Zealand Trail/A-Z Trail]

[10:25am - Zealand Trail/Enters FPA]

I was now in slightly familiar territory, as Sarah and I had hiked this section this past December. We hiked over a lovely bridge and then entered the Forest Protection area just after. The Zealand Trail paralleled Zealond Pond here with a lovely view to what I think is the Zeacliff mass with maybe Hale's south peak behind? The pond levels were noticeable low and we could hear the rush of Zealand Falls in the not-too-far distance. 

[10:30am - Ethan Pond Trail]

We continued through the junction with Twinway onto the Ethan Pond Trail. I naturally took a photo of the sign(s), and a guy made a joke about "now you won't get lost!" - in hindsight it feels a little cheeky, but I took it playfully!

[10:33am - Ethan Pond Trail/Departs FPA]

We hiked along the still-delightfully flat railroad grade, eventually passing three backpackers along the way. The trail was narrower here and maneuvered some more eroded stretches (featuring a few rocky sections and dips), but overall it was pretty nice walking. 

We excitedly existed the woods onto the magnificent talus slope of Whitewall Mountain. It was cloudy and hazy out which made for some spooky views. Naturally, I took a ton of photos right away, but we continued on towards the Zeacliff Trail, where we would take our first break.

[11:00am - Zeacliff Trail & Break]

We hiked just a few feet down the Zeacliff Trail and found a nice spot to sit in the talus field. There was a commanding view to the landmass of Zeacliff on the right, and Carrigain and the Hancocks were through the haze on the left. Behind us was the namesake white-wall of Whitewall Mountain. It was wonderfully quiet here - the only sound was the Whitewall Brook running below. 

[11:15am - Zeacliff Trail]

We continued into the Pemigewasset Wilderness and I warned Chrsitien about wilderness trails and their more rugged character. We wiggled through the talus slope and tight blueberry bushes (Christien shouted "are you SURE we're on the trail?) a couple times - I was sure, he's just used to hiking out in Utah! The trail turned left and went into the woods. We noticed just a few very faded blue blazes, I guess from before this was a wilderness area? The trail then truly PLUMMETED down to the brook, with soft, careful footing needed to avoid slipping. It was borderline comical how steep this drop was. 

After a few minutes of praying our feet didn't slip, we landed in the valley, which was actually delightful and scenic. Soon after flattening out, we arrived at teh crossing of the scenic Whitewall Brook. It was pretty easily rock hoppable, even though I dipped a toe into the water. If I was using my poles I am fully confident I would have survived unscathed, but truly the water felt nice! Christien followed in my footsteps, except he decided to dunk a whole foot. He was not happy about this, but ultimately he said it felt kind of good!

After the river crossing, we hiked past some swamp asters and goldenrods, and then arrived at the base of an old slide, which marked the start of the climb up. I found some information on it through Steve Smith's document "LANDSLIDES OF THE WHITE MOUNTAINS": 

"There has apparently been at least one slide in the 1900s on the west side of Zealand Notch, scarring the steep eastern flank of the prominent ridge that descends south from Zeacliff. For more than half a century from its opening in 1923, AMC Guide descriptions of the Zeacliff Trail (originally designated as part of the Zealand Ridge Trail) have noted that it used a slide for the first part of its ascent out of the notch. As the 1963 edition described it: “Crossing the [Whitewall] brook it ascends the foot of a slide. About one-fourth of the way up the slide the trail diverges R and follows near the slide although the slide itself may be followed.” By the 1972 edition the slide was described as “overgrown,” and it was last mentioned in the 1983 edition. Part of this small slide can be seen in a 1939 aerial photo, but it has long since been completely revegetated"

We slogged up the initial boulder mess and onto the next... mess of boulders. This was steep climbing! Footing was... fine, but relatively unpleasant. The two of us were basically fighting for our lives and pouring sweat (I used the word pouring becuase I don't think there's a single word that accurately how intensely we were sweating). It wasn't hot out, but my god was it humid. 

Partway up the initial climb, we heard commotion - it was a man with a full backpack and his dog! This would be a beastly trail to descend. The dog was definitely surprised to see us. He was an addorable mid-sized dog probably in the poodle hybrid family. His coat was dark grey with black splotches and a dark green doggy backpack. We said our hello's and continued on. A couple minutes later we met another down-hiker who asked if we had met Ernie - the dog's name was Ernie! We chatted a little and she said this was her first hike, to which both of us were shocked. I said "you really picked a hell of a trail!" and she said it was her cousin's idea, which was Ernie's owner. She then yelled to him "ROBBIE!" and took off.

We continued to suffer up the mountain side, but eventually the trail rounded a shoulder and mellowed out for a bit in a more-open forest full of hobblebush and old blowdowns. I caught a bug in my hand and offered it to Christien as a gift. His response was "you are so thanks," which paints a picture of how tired we were. There was a very light passing shower overhead, which was more than welcomed. 

We began to climb a bit moderately again, climbing along a spide with hardly noticeable tree views to mountains on either side. We saw our first and only pile of moose poop and felt something we hadn't felt in a white - a breeze! The trail skirted a cliffy area and then we arrived at the next segment of the trail: the wet scrambles!

The wet scrambles were just as such - wet, and required use of all fours. Thankfully, three points of contact were always achievable, and my upper body is only a little tired today as I am writing this. We started to feel glimmers of hope as we could see a couple very obstructed peek-a-views to Carrigain Notch through the trees. We hit one particularly tricky scramble, but it led to a slightly better view of Carrigain and Carrigain Notch, so it was more than welcomed.

The trail's footing improved afterward (but did not get good), as it climbed through seas of bluebead lily (I am now realizing that I was calling all bluebead and trout lily trouy lily this past spring - who knew there was a difference! The leaves are the main tells). The USDA website describes the berries as such: "These blue berries may look appetizing, but they are not blueberries. Although they are not poisonous, they are quite foul tasting and should be avoided. The appreciation of this plant should be in its viewing, not its flavor."

We soon rounded the shoulder of the mountain, the trail turned into a bedrock sidewalk, we exited the Wilderness, and we made it to the Twinway!

[12:51pm - Twinway]

We did a quick pit stop at the Twinway junction so I could wring out my shirt (NECESSARY) and swap out my water bottles. The Twinway was an absolute delight after twhat we had just hiked! It was wonderfully flat at first and lined in blueberries! We spent a couple minutes descending easily with pretty good footing and then reached the Zeacliff Pond Spur.

[1:11pm - Zeacliff Pond Spur]

[1:14pm - Zeacliff Pond]

As a sucker for a side quest, of course I had to follow the spur. The spur entered the Pemigewasset Wilderness and descend mostly easily with rocky footing down the shoreline of the small pond, which was truly a delight to see. Water levels were expectedly low, but we couldn't walk too far out because the ground was extraodinarly squishy and moist. We watched the dragonflies buzz about, and especially liked the bold red ones (the white-faced meadowhawk). We noticed the rocky knob on the right that we would soon be scrambling up to. 

Our return trip to Twinway was nice and easy, and we were soon back on task!

[1:20pm - Twinway]

Back on the Twinway, we had a brief moment of relatively flat walking before we started to climb-climb again! The trail first got rocky, then it got scrambly, and then maneuvered up a large wooden ladder that is missing it's second rung. We worked our way around some mud and up a slab to the top of the knob seen from Zeacliff Pond. Poking around, there were some views, too! We could make our Stairs, Resolution, and Crawford through one hole in the trees, Mt. Webster through another, Mt. Carrigain a bit further over, and we could make out Zeacliff Pond, which was effectively straight down. I excited said "we can see the pond!" as two thru-hikers passed, and they were just as excited for me!

We descended slightly from the knob and reentered some lovely trail. We saw some tree views to the Twins (with an impressive slide on North Twin) on the right and a minute later could just make out some of the Northern Presidentials, which still had some cloud cover. A topic question came up: how many rocks does one step on during a hike? And to clarify: stepping on a rock means the sole of one's foot touches a rock detached from the earth that is at least one square inch in size. We roughly concluded it was 1.25x or 1.5x the hiker's overall step count for the hike. This is open to refinement.

From here, the trail rambled through some boards and mud pits, keeping a relatively steady pace. We climbed up and over a false summit area strewn with old blowdowns and young conifers that exfoliated our legs. Christien helped me get my visor out since we were facing directly into the sun here, and after a bit more hiking, we were at the Zealand Mtn. Spur trail!

[2:00pm - Zealand Mtn. Spur]

I can't remember if the spur trail had this adorable sign when Gen and I hiked out here in 2021, but I was sure delighted to see it! What I do remember is that when Gen and I hiked it, it was a busy superhighway of day hikers, Bonds traversers, and Pemi Loopers all trying to tag the viewless summit. Plus, last time it had rained a bunch so the full spur was a sloppy, flooded mess. Thankfully, it was more or less a delightful 0.1 miles on this day!

[2:03pm - Zealand Mtn. Summit]

In just a few minutes we were at the top of Christien's first 4000 Footer! I told him that if he gets bit by the hiking bug he'll have fun telling people this was his first one, becuase I feel like this is a relatively uncommon first. We booped the sign and found spots to sit for our snacks and hydration. Christien ran out of water just before here, but I always bring extra, and we had the hut not too far away.

We sat for some good time just enjoying the solitude. There were very obstructed tree views out to nearby peaks, and eventually a juvenile grey jay joined us! I had told Christien about them, but I was glad he was able to see them! The juvenile had more of a speckled pattern to his feathers, and he was very brave! Eventually, two more adult birds joined him - they did NOT get any of our food! 

As we sat, we could feel the cold front beginning to blow in. Some breezes were warm and some were CHILLY. We both got a little chilled up here, so after 20ish minutes we packed up and started our return!

[2:25pm - Zealand Mtn. Spur]

[2:28pm - Twinway]

We cruised down the Zealand Mountain Spur and turned left back onto the Twinway for some backtracking. In the higher, flatter stretches we had a lovely breeze that alternated between warm and cold. We pretty mindlessly made our way to the top of the knob over"looking" Zeacliff Pond, and then carefully worked our way down the wet slabs and semi-tricky scrambles. We caught a few views to the Presidentails that were poking out of the clouds just for a moment. I had a medium loud yawn near the top of the scrambles, and it had the most insane echo I had ever heard. It reverberated incredibly quickly, almost like a yodeling woodpecker? 

[3:06pm - Twinway/Zeacliff Pond Spur]

[3:15pm - Twinway/Zeacliff Trail]

The steep section concluded at the Zeacliff Pond Spur, and then some more easy hiking brought us to the junction with the Zeacliff Trail. Time to continue the loop section of our hike! We noticed a bunch of mountain holly on either side of the trail - not sure how we missed it before. The berries looked so yummy but after a quick search on the computer just now, it turns out that we made the right call to only stick to blueberries. The trail was MUCH warmer here, and I knew we were approaching the Zeacliff Spur when we entered the land of 1,000 bog boards, some of which were rotted and flooded.

[3:18pm - Zeacliff Spur]

The Zeacliff Spur junction was incredibly scenic, formed by a three-way junction of bog boards over water. The spur followed a few more boards and then wonderfully soft dirt. We crossed paths with a duo who told us to enjoy the view, and landed at the viewpoint as another duo was departing. 

[3:20pm - Zeacliff]

For lack of a better word, the view is absolutely insane. I remember when Gen and I were planning out Hale-Zealand-Bonds hike, I read over and over again that Zeacliff is touted as one of the best views in the Whites, and I sure do agree. Similarly to all of my recent White Mountain hikes, I absolutely love revisiting old viewpoints because I know what I'm looking at now, which is just the best!

The first thing we noticed was the Ethan Pond Trail cutting through the talus slope of Whitewall Mountain and then the Whitewall Brook river valley below - we were able to mostly trace our route up on the Zeacliff Trail, which was so much fun. Behind Whitewall was Jackson and Webster, and behind them on the right was Stairs, Resolution, and Crawford. 

Moving to the right, we had the mountains surrounding Carrigain Notch, the Hancocks, and many, MANY more peaks beyond. Far on the left we could see Jefferson, Clay, and Washington, which was back in the clouds. We were both tired and ready for dinner, so we didn't stay too long, but boy did we enjoy the view!

[3:26pm - Twinway]

We backtracked to the Twinway to start our descent, which was ultimately fine but felt a bit like a slog. The grade was moderate with decent, rocky footing basically the whole time. Nothing exciting, nothing dreadful, all of it was just... the same. I noticed my watch was on low battery, which was also a huge bummer! We were tired and in and out of the void, but again, it ultimately was totally fine. 

[3:54pm - Twinway/Enters FPA]

We felt some relief when we entered the Forest Protection Area after crossing a little stream. Just a few minutes later we made it to the crossing of Whitewall Brook above Zealand Falls, which Gen and I had to fully submerge our feet in last time to cross! There were a bunch of guys swimming in a swimming hole a bit further down the trail - it was a BEAUTIFUL day for it! If we weren't hungry for dinner, we would have probably stayed a bit longer. 

[4:03pm - Twinway/Lend-a-Hand Trail]

We crossed another branch of the brook, which was just a sliver of a natural water slide, and then came the junction with the Lend-a-Hand Trail. I joked about adding in Hale real quick, and he said "see you at the car!" From here, the Twinway descended along the brook and falls moderately, soon landing at the beloved Zealand Falls Hut!

[4:07pm - Zealand Falls Hut]

We took a sit at the hut, refilled waters, and enjoyed the falls for a bit. Someone was celebrating their birthday in the hut, so we kept to the outside. I washed my face off in the water and Christien enjoyed staring off into the void. Whatever they were cooking inside smelled wonderful! Again, we could have styaed up there for hours, but we had dinner on the mind!

[4:20pm - Twinway]

The Twinway descended moderarately with more rocky, but stable footing for a few more minutes, passing a wonderful falls lookout on the way, before bottoming out at the outflow of Zealand Pond, which I guess flows both toward Whitewall Brook and Zealand River.

[4:29pm - Zealand Trail]

[4:33pm - Zealand Trail/Departs FPA]

[4:35pm - Zealand Trail/A-Z Trail]

Back on the Zealand Trail, we started our cruise out. We loved seeing folks swimming on the Falls from Zealand Pond, and then we left the Forest Protection Area and passed the junction with the A-Z Trail again. We briefly admired all the views of the ponds, but kept a steady pace.

[4:46pm - Zealand Trail/Boardwalks]

We were absolutely loving the flat railroad beds and had a good discussion on the difference between a boardwalk and a bridge as we crossed... the boardwalk over and through the beaver ponds (we never hit a conclusion). Blue skies were still shining, but there were also some dark clouds rolling in. 

A red squirrel stopped to pose for us for a while, so naturally I took dozens of photos. We then began our wiggle across the two streams and over many, MANY bridges. As we got onto a relocation, the woods became DARK and a light drizzle ensued. My watch tragically died around the 12 mile mark, but thankfully we were amost done! We also crossed a cross-country trail we didn't notice on the way in - I'm curious about the network of cross-country ski trails in the Whites.

[5:20pm - Zealand Trail/Enters FPA]

We enjoyed some flat and then it was back on a rocky, now-wet relocation again, which required just enough brain power to force us to lock in. We rejoiced when we rejoined the old rail bed again and even more at the Forest Protection Area sign. We turned a corner gently, and were soon back at the parking area, with NO TICKET on the car! We did it!

[5:27pm - End of Hike]

We changed into our apres clothes once back at the car, had a very careful drive out (his Civic did NOT care for the dirt roads), and worked our way to the Woodstock Inn and Brewery! We each had a drink, shared some soft pretzles (the beer cheese was to DIE for). He had a mediocre burger and I had a wonderful pulled pork quesadilla. Afterwards we did a quick walk around North Woodstock and started the long drive home. We listened to two episodes of Normal Gossip and I stopped a couple times - once for an energy drink and once for some popcorn. 

That night, I would have the best sleep I would have since the family issue of August 10th!

Step-by-Step

- Start hike on Zealand Trail.

- At terminus, continue onto Ethan Pond Trail (AT).

- At jct., turn left onto Zeacliff Trail.

- At terminus, turn left onto Twinway (AT).

- At jct., turn left onto Zeacliff Pond Spur.

- At terminus, turn around.

- At terminus, turn left onto Twinway (AT).

- At jct., turn right onto Zealand Mtn. Spur.

- Summit Zealand Mountain.

- Turn around and retrace steps on Zealand Mtn. Spur.

- At terminus, turn left onto Twinway (AT).

- At third jct., turn right onto Zeacliff Spur.

- At Zeacliff, turn around and retrace steps.

- At terminus, turn right onto Twinway (AT).

- At terminus, turn left onto Zealand Trail.

- Return to car.

Map

Photo Album

White Ledge Loop (White Mountain National Forest)

White Ledge Loop (White Mountain National Forest)

Hike Type: Lollipop Loop

Distance: 4.30 miles

Elevation: 1,440 feet

My Time: 1 hour, 51 minutes

Book Time: 2 hours, 52 minutes

Parking: Parking for only 4 non-camper cars at White Ledge Campground.
Hiking Challenges: N/A

The Hike 

Hike #2! I finished my second Dunkin breakfast sandwich at a picnic table near Christien's car and then I started my trek up and over White Ledge. 

[1:34pm - Start of Hike]

From the car, I turned right to hike further into the White Ledge Campground, following the road and staying right at the fork. At Campsite 6-7, I saw the actual trailhead sign for the White Ledge Trail.

[1:36pm - White Ledge Trail]

I hiked into the woods under spooky skies (my weather app still said I was fine). The only thing propelling me forward was knowing that people had already been on this trail today, meaning I would not have to deal with the same caliber of spider webs that I just dealt with on the Middle Sister Trail. There was running water on the righthand side of the trail with many, many mushrooms, and I did find a joy seeing stream with water actually in them (versus the many dry streambeds of the Carter Ledge/Middle Sister trails).

[1:41pm - White Ledge Loop Trail (CCW)]

After a few minutes, the White Ledge Trail split, starting the White Ledge Loop Trail. I turned right first per the AllTrails suggestion (plus I typically like a longer approach and being closer to the trailhead after the top). I crossed a stream, turned a corner, and began to climb moderately. It looked like this trail used to be blazed in orange before it was blazed in the typical yellow?

The White Ledge Loop Trail flattened and turned to cross a stone wall and I was blown away by all of the mushrooms in the area! I was displeased with how much I was sweating again, and I was also displeased by the new episode of farts I was dealing with, but overall, it was a good time!

I eventually turned again to join an old woods road that rose straight and easy before crossing yet another stone wall and bisecting another old woods road - it was clear which one was mine.

I paralleled another stone wall for a minute or so before crossing the corner into yet another stone wall with some spectacular shelf fungi to welcome me in. The trail then swung left and began to steepen. I could hear a breeze overhead but it was not hitting me, which felt cruel. The steep push was a butt kicker and led to a momentary height-of-land that featured the breeze - thank god.

The woods up here were absolutely beautiful but the flies were absolutely annoying. I began to descend after the height-of-land, which felt good on the legs, especially paired with the breeze. That was, until, I kept descending - no thank you! The trail eventaully began to flatten out and swing left through a young birch forest. The sun came out as I passed many piles of rocks - I'm guessing from when they built this old road.

This flat stretch led to another left turn at a property boundary and then my final climb began! The grade was moderate with decent footing and occasional loose rocks. It got a little car-wash-like at time, but overall it was fine, especially because there were no spider webs! I hit the first slabs when my watch was at 2.22 miles, and my calves felt like they were about to rupture!

After hitting the slabs, the trail narrowed and got a bit scratchy, and navigation was a little tricky. Generally, there was always a cairn or blaze to help, but you sometimes had to really look for it. The skies were definitely looking spooky!

I started to catch some obstructed views from the ledges - first, I could make out South Moat and Kearsarge behind me. I poked around a bit and could see North Moat and Cranmore. Later, there was a neat obstructed tree view to a ledgy landmass. I used PeakFinder here to identify left to right: Bear Mountain, Mt. Nancy, Mt. Bemis, Mt. Field behind, and Table Mountain. To the left of Bear Mountain was Tremond, which was dwarfed by Carrigain behind of it. This was a neat view!

Just after there was another view to the Conway area and then the hiking became easier, alternating between nice mossy woods and easy slabs. 

[2:51pm - White Ledge Summit]

The summit area is the most open slab with no clear high point, aside from the high point clearly beind off-trail. There were little views around the summit, but it was mostly grown in. I did my best to boop the high point, and then I continued on!

From the top, I began my blast off back down and to the car. The viewless slabs continued at first, which made for some pretty hiking. I caught a spooky view to Chocorua before the trail began to descend more moderately along the slabs - thankfully they had good grip. 

The trail descended into the woods, where it would alternate moderate/steep descending with occasional walking breaks as rewards, with some spots of slippery, loose scree. The occasional moments of flat dirt felt amazing! My legs were feeling absolutely cooked, to the point where a muddy section felt wonderful. 

The muddy stretch led to another descent, but I could now hear the stream and NH-16. Eventually, I crossed the stream again on slippery rocks and followed it downstream to the end of the loop!

[3:18pm - End of Loop]

I did notice some purple flagging tape near the end of the loop - I wonder what's up with that? I hit the junction right around 4.0 miles and I felt like I was cruising! My feet were aching from the rocks and roots and the sky was DARK from the clouds!

[3:23pm - End of Trail]

[3:24pm - End of Hike]

I felt a rain drop the second my foot hit the pavement, and the second I changed and got in the car it began to rain! Talk about wonderful timing! I was sad (and stressed) that I didn't have my car, but I was very grateful for Christien to loan me his for the day. Now for a long drive back to his place!

Step-by-Step

- From hiker parking, turn right.

- At split, stay right.

- At trailhead, continue into woods onto White Ledge Trail.

- At split, turn right onto White Ledge Loop Trail.

- At the close of the loop, retrace steps back to car.

Photo Album

Middle Sister via Carter Ledge & Middle Sister Trails (White Mountain National Forest)

Middle Sister via Carter Ledge & Middle Sister Trails (White Mountain National Forest)

Hike Type: -o- Loop

Distance: 8.69 miles

Elevation: 2,713 feet

My Time: 4 hours, 54 minutes (4 hours, 16 minutes moving)

Book Time: 5 hours, 42 minutes

Parking: Parking for only 4 non-camper cars at White Ledge Campground.
Hiking Challenges: Terrifying 25

The Hike 

Yesterday I made a couple phone calls to local mechanics, and they universally said "nope" and to contact the dealership... I spent some time digging through my files, found the warranty I was more or less bamboozled into buying, and found that all the buzzwords in the diagnosis were in the warranty. Christien came over and we paraded over to Parkway Honda, I dropped off my car and we waited... Robert, my service technician, eventually came up to me, knelt by my bedside, and showed me an email with highlights and circles. Honda recalled the failed part of my motor literally yesterday morning, and the fix would be totally free! I was SHOCKED. And so happy to finally catch a win. They said they'll call me early next week as they're just waiting for the parts and tools. Fine! We drove back to my place, and then I hopped in Christien's car and we went over to his place. He offered to let me borrow his car to go for a hike tomorrow (which is today, now), and I reluctantly took him up on it.

Now, it's the next morning, and I have my sights set on the damned Carter Ledge Trail! I famously hiked it years ago, not realizing it was on the Terrifying 25, and had a bad freeze at the sketchiest spot. To qualify for the Terrifying 25 list, I needed to hike the whole trail, so I started my day up at 5:15am and out at 5:30am for the White Ledge Campground. I christened the New Hampshire welcome center off of I-95 and managed to soak my shorts in someone's pee... That was a huge bummer. I later christened the Circle K in Ossipee, and eventually made it to the campground at 8:15am! The hiker parking is super limited. It can be found on the right after entering the campground, going straight past the little kiosk, and before the campsites in an open area. 

My original thought was to hike White Ledge first, but there was weather coming this afternoon, so I opted to get the sketchy part of the hike over with - time to go!

[8:24am - Start of Hike]

The hike starts by backtracking on the campground access road and turning right at the kiosk. I hiked past a few campsites, only one of which was occupied, and the trail starts at the far end of the little loop road at a clear sign.

[8:26am - Carter Ledge Trail]

I hiked past the sign and immediately caught a bunch of spider webs - the perils of weekday summer hiking! The yellow blazes were bright and clear and I couldn't help but think about how pretty this deciduous forest would be in a couple of weeks! The Carter Ledge Trail wiggled around some boulders and over some relatively fresh-looking bear poop before entering a darker pine forest. The grades were mostly easy with some short moderate pitches, and while it was nice out, it was humid in the woods. 

The trail crossed over some dry drainage beds, and I passed a White Mountain National Forest survey monument about 0.5 miles from the car. My legs were feeling unreasonably tired. Maybe because I have four liters of water? It was also humid, and I also had a LOT to eat and drink last night at Maggiano's... Who knows!

I followed a delightfully flat stretch at 0.88 miles from the start, and I realized that I left my bonus breakfast sandwich in the car! Sad! The trail steepened up to the junction with the Middle Sister Trail, which marked the start of my lollipop loop.

[8:51am - Carter Ledge Trail/Middle Sister Trail]

I drank some water at the junction and got my first bug bite du jour, but only because I was standing still. I was DRENCHED in sweat (per usual). 1.0 miles to the Nickerson Ledge junction!

The relatively gentle ramble continued for a while while the Carter Ledge Trail crossed over a bunch of dry, mossy stream beds. The trail naturally moderated again and I was feeling HEAVY. I passed a decently sized blowdown around 1.5 miles that was fully blocking the trail, and I slowly made my way into a younger birch forest. There was finally a breeze and little walking break up here before climbing back into a coniferous forest and flattening out on a wonderful, soft trail. There were blue skies ahead through the trees and a bunch of crazy squirrels.

This next bit was pretty easy and full of a few ups and downs, it felt reminiscent of the area where I had already been near the Nickerson Ledge Trail junction...

[9:16am - Carter Ledge Trail/Nickerson Ledge Trail]

...and it was! The junction was just a couple minutes down the trail. The sign said 2.0 miles to Middle Sister and 3.1 to Mt. Chocorua. I was nervous but excited for my redemption of the ledge - and at worst, at least I knew the views would be beautiful!

The ramble continued after the trail sign and I soon caught the first tree views high up to the ridge of the Sisters. I tried to purposefully slow down as the trail began to steepen, which is where the fun began! I climbed steadily with rough, gravelley footing to a slab with the first view over to Chocorua.

There was a very short flat stretch before another super gravelley, eroded push straight up, followed by a flat, and then a "square wave wiggle." There were tree views to the ridge on the other side of the Piper Trail's drainage, and a few more scrambles led to a better view of Mt. Chocorua.

I climbed some more and saw a few more nice views, including one back to the Ossipees before dipping into the woods. I re-emerged onto semi-open slabs with a nice breeze. I was drenched in sweat, but the trail was momentarily easier, so I was accepting! The trail bed was alternating as a narrow footpath lined with berries to open slabs. The breeze was actually chilly becuase I was so wet! The views over to Chocorua were just insane.

I could now see the scrambles going up to Middle Sister, which also looked ridiculous. I think I said it last time, but Carter Ledge really is a destination of its own! At a sunny spot, I swapped my Nalgenes and applied some ointment on some problem areas... 

[9:51am - Summit of Carter Ledge]

After my ointment application, I scurried on up to the "summit" of Carter Ledge. There was a really wonderful view over to the Moats and Southern Presidentials - Mt. Washington was hiding up in a cloud. 

From the high point, the Carter Ledge Trail descended to sag where I saw my first frog of the day! Ratio is at 1:0!

There were a few blueberries at the base of the climb and my watch pinged 3.0 miles right at the start of the uphill! This was a wonderfully segmented hike. Some of the maples were starting to turn red, which gave me some hope, and then I steeply climbed up, and up, and up! Clouds were starting to roll in as I broke out into the open again - if worse comes to worse, I don't need Chocorua. I'll check the weather when I'm up on the ridge. 

[10:21am - "Terrifying" Scrambles]

Per usual, the climb alternated straight-up gravel or scrambles with short, flat stretches. The scrambles slightly reminded me of the Spellman Trail up Mt. Monadnock, which is one of my favorites! Soon, I found myself at that spot, and I made it over with absolutely no rpboem at all. I think the problem last time was that I just went and didn't think until my foot slipped a centimeter, which threw me off. The following scrambles were more difficult than that one, but they were just less exposed.

I continued hiking, eventually checking the weather and seeing I'm still looking good! I caught a nice view of the Piper Trail's drainage as the trail mellowed out for a moment. I took a pee break and wrung out my shirt before the next uphill, and then I worked my way up some really fun scrambles! I got some nice views towards the Conway area with the Moats, Kearsarge, and Cranmore.

[10:36am - Middle Sister Trail]

Oh, yay! I was delighted to run into the Middle Sister Trail. I turned left and minded the "watch the vegetation" sign and then ascended again. The trail was scrambly and decently eroded, but I caught a really nice view into Carter Notch, so I was pleased. The trail eventually flattened out and stayed rugged with many views.

[10:48am - Middle Sister Summit]

I hit the summit of Middle Sister right at 4.0 miles, and I forgot how neat the summit is! The old tower foundation is super neat and a sign on the door read:

"NOTICE

Ancient ruins, archeological resources, fossils, and historical remnants in the vicinity of this notice are fragile and irreplaceable.

The Antiques Act of 1906 and Archeological Resources Protection Act of 1979 protect them for the benefit of all Americans.

ENJOY

BUT DO NOT DESTROY YOUR AMERICAN HERITAGE.

DO NOT DIG, REMOVE, INJURE, OR DESTROY ANY HISOTIC OR PREHISTORIC OBJECTS, RUINS, OR SITES."

There were old cables laying around, no discs, but such a fantatsic view over to the Sandwich Range, Carter Notch, Crawford Notch, and the clouded Presidential Range. I wondered what the newer tower was for and took a nice sit, staring at Mt. Chocorua. The weather app still said no rain until 5:00pm, but it simply looked like it was on it's way, and I didn't want to play with Chocorua in the rain, so I decided I'll revist her another day. I also didn't think four liters of water was enough for how much I was sweating. I enjoyed my sit for a bit longer and then got ready for my trip down!

[11:08am - Middle Sister Trail]

I had a medium tricky time following blazes as I backtracked down the Middle Sister Trail, and it was steeper than I realized as I descended down to the Carter Ledge Trail junction! I also had missed a small, dead bird that was absolutely covered in flies - so badly that they were under its wings, making it look like it was twitching. 

[11:18am - Middle Sister Trail/Carter Ledge Trail] 

I passed the junction with the Carter Ledge Trail and continued to scramble on down. I drank some Gatorade that I brought with myself and continued to plumble down the trail. This trail appeared VERY less traveled - it literally had moss on the trail! Once the scrambles were over, the trail continued to plummet, but thankfully with decent footing. I was back to caching endless spider webs as the narrow trail scratched me up. At least the moss was pretty!

There were a couple of cairns in a slightly more open area that had a peek-a-view of Bear Mountain (of Bear Notch Road), Mt. Field, and Mt. Carrigain on the right. The Middle Sister Trail eventually opened up onto a big slab with standing views all around from the Moats to Passaconaway. The cloud ceiling looked lower and the clouds thicker - I felt very correct in my call to skip Chocorua. 

The trail resumed it's scratchy and webby character as it descended steeply with an eroded footbed. The trail wasn't great at all, but I was enjoying the quiet! I entered a younger forest area that was pretty and spooky before the trail mellowed out with ferns and flowers, eventually reaching the col between the Sisters and Blue Mountain.

[11:53am - Middle Sister Trail/Col]

The col was beautiful and the grade was gentle in here. I saw the first rays of sunlight in a while while in here. The trail rose and fell many times through many webs, but the breeze made up for it. There was a small dried up bog down on the left, and the trail eventually turned right to start descending out of the col.

It was wonderfully windy here as the trail followed a drainage that looked like it was raging after the last storm, but was mostly dry now. The trail again was eroded after a bit and the footing was generally awful for a bit. 

In an area with massive boulders, the trail left the drainage bed and the grade mellowed before rejoining and leaving the drainage again. Eventually, the trail turned to the to follow the contour and was much gentler now. Some flies were awake and annoying, but I was more concerned with the spiders. I swear I almost broke my hand smacking a spider that was on my shoulder!

The trail mellowed out, turning into a gentle roller coaster with rolling ups and downs. I crossed another dry stream bed and hit at least 500 more webs - I was really at my limit. I eventually found a stick to swat around to at least protect my head (and it was lighter than my poles so hopefully I wouldn't have my Redinton situation come back). There was a short, moderate descent to another flat area, where I managed to kick a rack onto my leg? Which hurt like hell! I was taking a beating on this one!

I heard the quietest whisper of a truck far away on NH-16 as I crossed yet another dry drainage, and if I stopped to take a note or have a sip of water, the mosquitos would find me! I kept daydreaming of being back on the Carter Ledge Trail so I could stop worrying about webs! 

[12:50pm - Carter Ledge Trail]

I was absolutely DELIGHTED to make it back to the Carter Ledge Trail, which I pinged right around 7.5 miles. I crossed some red-blazed land boundary, maybe a border before it was all the WMNF? I truly have no idea. The land boundary monument was soon after with scary acorns falling off the trees above (or being thrown at me by squirrels, who's to say). NH-16 was now super loud and I could hear it through the trees!

[1:14pm - End of Trail]

[1:17pm - End of Hike]

I had a short walk from the end of the trail back to the car. I wasn't sure about hiking White Ledge, but there was a family at the trailhead talking about the hike they just did over the ledge, which near guaranteed that there wouldn't be any spiderwebs, so I thought about it for a minutes, and then I said FINEEEEEEE. I did sit and have my sandwich first, and then I exploded my Fresca all over Christien's car... Nice!

Step-by-Step

- Start hike by turning left onto campground road from hiker parking area.

- At jct., turn right.

- Continue onto yellow-blazed Carter Ledge Trail.

- At terminus, turn left onto yellow-blazed Middle Sister Trail.

- Summit Middle Sister, then turn around.

- Hike Middle Sister Trail to it's terminus.

- At terminus, continue left onto Carter Ledge Trail.

- At end of trail, continue left on road.

- At jct., turn left to return to car.

Photo Album