We didn't spend much time at the campground as we had plans to hike to Stratton Pond. We arrived at the trail head parking off of Kelly Stand Road, and were on the trail by 10:25 am. The hike to the pond is 3.7 miles. This was a pleasant, fairly flat hike. The trail is narrow and very well used. I would guess it to be very busy in the summer. There is also a camping point along the Appalachian Trail and Long Trail. We did encounter a number of hikers, mostly with full packs on their backs. The dogs did very well on the trail with high speed zoomies and crashing through the woods. There were a couple encounters with other hikers and at one point a trail runner came up from behind us and before we could secure Luna, she became frightened and ran ahead. The runner stopped and we were able to retrieve and leash her. Harry was on leash for most of the hike out, but he pulled the leash a lot. I can understand it after being allowed to run free through the woods for most of the walk.
The trail comes out to Stratton Pond and unfortunately there is a tent platform just about the shore which was occupied by a young couple. The guy was just hanging out by the water, so we walked the wooded trail along the water until we found a reasonably nice spot to sit and munch on our PB&J and other trail snacks. Saw newts in the pond here.
At some point on the way in I had knocked the lens cap off of my camera. I figured it was gone forever, but I would watch the ground carefully on the way back to the car. We came across a nice couple with full packs. When the gentleman noticed my camera, he stopped and said "I think I found the owner." and simultaneously pulled my lens cap out of his pocket! I thanked him and we continued on our way.
I would recommend this hike, but there is little in the way of views until you reach the pond. Here is a link from the Green Mountain National Forest site.
Once back in Jamaica, we stopped at D&K's for a few things. After dropping Mrs and the dogs back at the site, I returned to the ranger station to buy another cart of wood (3 total for this trip). We needed to replenish the ice in the cooler, so I got a block of ice, too. We made it 4 1/2 days with the frozen bottles of water we brought from home. After much needed showers, we enjoyed a fire. New neighbors at several adjoining sites including a lot of little kids. It pleases me that parents still bring their kids out to the woods.
Saturday September 15, 2012
Our last full day in Vermont.
We woke several times in the early morning hours to what was likely the horrid screeching of young barred owls. We also had our one and only rain shower of the trip. Mrs and I got up to grab towels, shoes and anything else we wanted to keep dry under the canopy or in the leanto. I also covered the firewood with a tarp that I had handy. The din of the large rain drops and residual falling from the leaves onto the camper roof kept me awake for a time. We decided against hiking today and instead drove an almost 100 mile loop on Rt 100 south to Rt 9 to Bennington where we took Rt 7A north, west on Rt 11 and then south on Rt 100 back to Rt 30 and Jamaica.
Mrs and I were not overly impressed by Bennington, but there were several nice areas along the route. We stopped in Manchester again, and Mrs went to the Equinox Hotel to get a map for the Equinox trails. I'm not sure we will ever walk the trails, but we may someday. It appears to be a very busy place.
One last stop at D&Ks for stickers and a few other things, then back to camp to relax and start breaking things down. We do love this little park and I hope to return here in 2013.
1 comment:
Wow, what a great trip. I loved the image of the dogs doing "zoomies". What a treat for them.
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