Welcome to my Blog

This is the first time I have ever blogged so mistakes will likely be the order of the day! This past winter I committed myself to hiking the Vermont Long Trail (LT) in a series of day and overnight hikes over the course of hopefully no more than two summers. I have decided to create a blog to document my adventures and to provide a chance for any photos I take to be viewed by anyone interested in hiking in general or the LT specifically. I am a novice hiker whose prior experience basically consists of earning the hiking merit badge as a 12 year old. My father and I took five 10-mile hikes and one 20-mile hike as a part of earning the badge in 1974. Since that time I have hiked occasionally but never seriously. I was a long distance runner for many years and am in better than typical shape though in recent years my focus has been on weight lifting more than on endurance activity. I expect the trek to be challenging but manageable.

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Emily Proctor Trail Dayhike


On Monday, May 24, 2009 (Memorial Day) I took a day hike up the Emily Proctor side Trail to the LT along with my oldest son, Jon, and his boss at National Life, Tom Yevchek. This is only the second time that I have had company on a hike since I began this quest. It's good to be following someone else for a change. We arrive at the trailhead (1,520 ft above sea level) at 10:43 am on a beautiful cloudless day with the temperature about 70 degrees and a cool breeze blowing.

The beginning of the hike is a steady climb for about 1/2 mile on an old logging road to a clearing that was logged several years ago. From this point we begin a gradual ascent up Breadloaf Mountain. Along the way we come to a beautiful stream known as the New Haven River. Where we cross is an inviting pool of water that is crystal clear and appears to be at least five feet deep. I make a note that I will have to hike back to this point with Kim sometime and take a dip. It takes us about 40 minutes of hiking to reach this stream.

We continue the gradual ascent for a total of about 2 miles , crossing numerous smaller streams until, with about a mile and a half left on the ascent the trail becomes much steeper and rocky. My legs begin to tell me that they remember the 16 miles I did two days ago and my feet recall that they were sore. On the steepest section we pass two hikers with large dogs descending and, about 200 yards further on, one hiker with a beautiful, but huge, Husky.

We arrive at the Emily Proctor Shelter (built 1960, sleeps 5, 3,460 ft) at 12:30 am and eat a lunch consisting of a sandwich (mine was Bologna and Swiss) and a handful of M&Ms. We begin the hike back down at 1:00 a bit disappointed that there were no views from the shelter out over the valley. According to my map the nearest vista is 0.7 miles away and we decide it's not worth the extra steps. I forget to take a picture of the shelter before we leave.

The trip back down goes fast and smooth. When we reach the New Haven river pool I offer Jon $5 to take a swim but he is not up to the challenge. We arrive back at the car at 2:30 pm having covered 7 miles and climbed 2,000 feet in 3 hours and 45 minutes, including a 30 minute lunch. I have a cooler with a couple of sodas and a couple of beers and we relax for a few minutes before heading back to civilization. At the trailhead is a primitive camping area along the New Haven river that is the prettiest camping area I've seen in Vermont so far. Kim and I will definitely camp here this summer - hopefully more than once.

Finally, I have another flower picture for identification.
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