With rain in the forecast, I've decided to jump ahead one section. The section I was planning to do today has at least one view. Tomorrow's section was pretty much viewless, so I've switched the two. So today I started on Phelps Avenue located in North Adams, Massachusetts. I'll hike my way back into Vermont. The southern terminus of the Long Trail is on the Massachusetts/Vermont border. There is no road access there so many Long Trail thru hikers use this location as a starting point. Lynn and I went out last night and bought a new camera, so today I get to try it out.
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As usual, Lynn started off with me.
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Bridge over the Hoosic River
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Hoosic River
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Lynn and Madison running up a long ramp
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At this bridge I handed the leash over to Lynn. Madison would spend the day with Lynn. Maddie didn't need a rest, but Lynn needed some company.
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The trail started off easy enough, but became steep and rocky as I headed up to Eph's lookout.
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Nearing the summit
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I don't think there is much of a view from the summit, even on a clear day. However, I did pass a side trail that I'm guessing led to the actual lookout. I'm almost at the state border.
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I thought it was cool how this tree grew around the rock.
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I reached the the MA/VT Border. Here's the Massachusetts sign for all the sobos.
There was also a sign for the southern terminus of the Long Trail and a sign stating I was entering the Green Mountain State Forest. I took pictures of each, but they were hard to read so I left them out.
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It was a lonely morning on the trail. It was about 5 hours into my hike when I met my first hiker, a sobo named Mr. Wiffle. I didn't notice until I got home and went through the pictures that he was carrying a wiffle ball bat which was obviously how he got his trail name.
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Congdon Shelter
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It was only a few tenths of a mile, but I ended today's hike with an extremely steep descent down to Vermont 9.
Bennington, Vermont
We got to stay 3 nights in this lovely cottage at Harwood Hill Motel.
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This was the view from our cottage. To the left in the picture and under the powerlines you can see a large pillar. This is the Bennington Battle Monument.
The battle for Bennington was a Revolutionary War battle. The American victory was an important step that led to the victory at Saratoga, NY.
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I pushed through today's hike so that we would have time to check out the 306' monument which is the highest structure in Vermont. That is quite a tall structure especially considering it was completed in 1891.
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Tickets were only $2, so Lynn and I decided to go inside. The stairs are now closed to the public, so you have to take the elevator up. I was relieved. If I had a choice to take the stairs, I would have forced myself to climb it. I was tired from today's 18.5 mile hike, so the elevator suited me just fine. The elevator only goes up about 2/3rds the way. You have to look out long slotted openings. The view was nice, but you could only see a piece of the panoramic view at a time. This was definitely not designed so that you could get a wide, sweeping view of the area.
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Here's a picture of the monument that I took from Monument Ave.
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There is a light on the top of the structure to warn aircraft. To change the bulb, someone has to take the elevator up 200 feet, walk up another 100 feet, go out onto a platform nearly 300 feet high, and climb up a ladder to the top.
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I'm going to do my best not to complain the next time I have to change a lightbulb.
