On Saturday, September 26, 2009 on a crisp and cool morning (38 degrees) Kim drove me to my drop off point on Prospect Rock Road where I began hiking on the Long Trail at 9:30 am. From Prospect Rock Road (960 feet above sea level) I head north along the road for a few hundred yards before I turn to the right and head off into a pleasant pine grove complete with pine needles carpeting the path. If the hike stays like this my feet will smile the entire trek. (Just a reminder that you can double click on any picture that interests you and it will enlarge to fill your screen)
After 2.6 miles I have reached the top of three climbs I will make today. This one is called Roundtop and a short distance after summiting I reach Roundtop Shelter (built 1994, sleeps 10, 1,650 ft.) There is a hand written note telling hikers that the water source for the shelter has gone dry and will not have water again until the next heavy rain. I suspect that may surprise a few overnight hikers coming from the south as there is no water source in that direction.
From the shelter I follow a ridge to the north before descending to Plot Road one mile from Roundtop shelter. along the way I come to a sugarbush (a stand of sugar maple trees) and take a picture of the tubing that is used to collect maple sap. In times past the sap was collected in buckets (a technique still used on a limited basis today) but nowadays tubing is used and the sap drains to a collection tank. In high tech sugaring operations a vacuum pump is used to draw the sap from the trees.
I cross the road and begin my second climb of the day followed by a descent into Codding Hollow. Before I reach Codding Hollow Road (1,230 ft) I cross an interesting stone wall marking the boundary of an old farm. 
I turn right on the road and, in a few hundred feet turn north back into the woods. I soon come to a nice stream and pause to take a drink and a picture. The trail here becomes wider and I believe I am following an old logging road.
In short order I come to the base of a most impressive cliff. It is probably 75 feet of sheer rock wall that continues for several hundred yards. I climb over numerous rock slabs as I work my way along the edge of the base of the cliff. Clearly, the rocks I'm scrambling over have fallen from above so I keep my fingers crossed that known fall as I pass under them.
I now begin the 1,400 foot climb to the summit of Laraway Mountain. The climb is not excessively steep and I make good time. Before I reach the summit I come to Laraway Lookout (2,620 ft) which provides a panoramic view from the southeast (Mt. Mansfield) to the northwest and what I assume is the Adirondack Mountains of New York. A short distance of 0.3 miles further on I reach the Peak of Laraway Mountain.
Laraway Mountain (2,790 ft) has a wooded summit and no views to speak of. i do pause and take a photo of the summit sign, however. I have know made my third and final climb of today's hike having covered 7.0 miles so far.
The descent is quite nice with few sections that require me to pause and think about where I will step on the way down. It is 2.7 miles downhill to my next stop, Corliss Camp. Corliss Camp (built 1989, sleeps 14, 1,900 ft) is the "cutest" camp I have come to so far with a proper door and windows making it look much more like a cottage than a camp. The inside looks like it will only sleep about 6 so I wonder how 14 could sleep there as the guide book suggests. When I come back out of the cabin I find a ladder that ascends up to an open "attic" that sleeps the rest. I pause here for a few minutes to each some roasted Cashews and drink some Gatorade.
When I push off, I leave the LT and begin a 1.5 mile hike out the Davis Neighborhood Trail to my car. In no time I come to a gravel road with no indication of which way I should go to get to my destination. I choose to go left and, in a few hundred yards come to a blue blaze on a tree that indicates I chose correctly. I arrive at my car at 3:35 pm having hiked 11.2 miles in six hours - not a bad pace for the Long Trail.
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