Old Job Trail

On Wednesday, June 18, I took a half day of vacation in order to hike one of the side trails. I chose Old Job Trail. I'm not sure if "Job" is pronounced like a chore you have to do or like a biblical prophet so I'm using the prophet's pronunciation. I started at 12:50 pm on an overcast and cool day with a high temperature of about 62 degrees. The trail is intersected by a parking area and you must choose whether to start north or south. I choose north as that is the longer section. Unfortunately, the north part is not well marked so I take off on a path that I think is the trail. The sign saying "Lake Brook" lures me into travelling this direction. The trail was lightly hiked and I must climb over, under, or through thirty fallen trees as I progress. In many spots the weeds have grown up to thigh height.
I am still able to make out the trail because a few people have hiked it in advance of me this year and there is a beaten-down path. The route follows and old woods road and is not that difficult. I realize I had made an error from the start when I intersect with the Long Trail after just one hour's worth of hiking. The Old Job Trail takes 3.4 miles to meet up with the LT and I knew I had only gone a little over two miles. My map has no indications of the trail I am on but I have a general idea of where I am so I turn south on the LT. Within 30 minutes I meet up with an AT hiker that is coming north and he tells me he had passed the Old Job intersection about 2 miles south of where I was. The Old Job Trail is a relatively flat trail but because I had deviated from it I now climb Baker Peak (3,260 feet) on the LT. The view is impressive and the climb down rugged as I have to work my way down for several hundred yards over steeply declining granite slides.

Near the base I find my first pile of fresh Moose droppings. Since I have mentioned them in earlier posts my father did some research and came up with a recipe that I will have to try soon. He tells me that I should:

"Get some litmus paper from the college and you can soon determine which droppings Kim should prepare as a side dish. They should be near dry but not crumble. Dip in bacon drippings before you roll them in corn meal. They are served like toast on a stick. They are cooked like hush puppies. If dry and crumbly due to age you should finish crumbling them and mix a whipped egg with them then shape them to fit on a stick . NOTE: Do not fry with the stick in place unless the bacon drippings are shallow in the pan. They should be refered to as "NATURE'S BOUNTY PUFFS"
PS:add some salt to the bacon drippings. Guests that have a strong reason to impress the president will usually eat the most, Kim should be prepared to supply copies of how to prepare these tidbits supplied from God's bounty. New England "Waste not want not"

I believe it is based on my Grandma Norwood's cooking style as it involves the use of bacon grease, a staple of her fine fare.


1.9 miles from the top of Baker's Peak I arrive at the LT/Old Job Juntion. It is within 150 feet of Griffith Lake, a very pleasant body of water.I'm not sure what the difference is between a lake and a pond in Vermont as Stratton Pond was a larger body of water than Griffith Lake. I turn Southwest at the junction in order to finish the 2.0 miles covered by the Giffith Lake Trail. This is a very pleasant hike with only slight changes in elevation. Off to my right is Griffith Lake and it's southern end is marked by a series of low-land swamps that I can barely discern through the trees. I hear many bullfrogs and birds as I move quietly along this route. I also see fresh Moose tracks in the mud, but, alas, no Moose. I reach the Southern end of the Trail where there is a parking area and trail signage. I now get to retrace my steps and hike 2.0 miles back to the LT. I make exceptionally good time and complete the 4.0 mile round trip in about 1 hour and 30 minutes. I am almost giddy about my pace and, in a moment of euphoria, take a bad step and twist my left ankle. This ankle routinely gives me trouble and I should be more careful. It only hurts for a few hundred yards though and then I can return to a reasonable pace.

Back at the LT I turn east on the Old Job Trail that I should have come in on to start. This trail is also relatively flat and follows a snowmobile trail. The map says it is 3.4 miles back to where I parked. After a short distance the trail begins to run alongside Lake Brook, a very pleasant stream with many small cascades. I am treated to the sound of running water all the way back to my car. At my car I look for the trail marking I should have seen when I started this hike and find a very small blue blaze located about 25 yards down the road I should have followed. No matter though, I have covered all that I set out to and then some. My estimate is that I have covered 12.7 miles with only one mountain climb. The hike took just over five hours so this is the best pace I have been able to set so far. Of course, the trail was flat and there were not many areas requiring me to watch for roots and rocks. It was a great hike today and I am pleased to head home. I'll come back and finish the northern part of the trail some other day.


The flower of the day is an unusal one. It was growing all by itself in the trail and I have not seen another one like it. Can anyone identify it for me. It almost looks like a flytrap sort of flower.