Thursday, July 7, 2022: Jay Peak and Big Jay. We did indeed leave before anyone else was up and hit the road for Jay Peak and Big Jay, our final Vermont 100 Highest mountains. We drove through beautiful rolling hills of farmland. I can appreciate it without ever wanting to live here, which was different than I how felt in the Dorset/Manchester Center/Burlington areas of Vermont. We accessed the Long Trail right off of route 242 and climbed the efficient (i.e., steep) trail to Jay Peak. It was another beautiful summer day with minimal humidity. On our first pass through, we only shared the summit with a couple teenagers who looked to be backpacking.
We stopped for a picture, then continued a few hundred feet on the northbound Long Trail until the herd path deviated on the left. I led the way breaking through cobwebs and wet overgrown foliage. There was a distinctive herd path and a lot of mud; more mud than we’d encountered on any of the other hikes this week. I signed our names onto the canister’s register, and we returned the way we had come, only this time without getting as wet and cobwebby. Back on Jay Peak it was busier with tourist who rode up on the gondola. I was happy to get back in the solitude of the woods.
Our final evening was at Stillwater State Park, one of many parks in the Groton State Forest. We had another prime site, with direct access to Lake Groton. Luckily our neighbors were decent, and we had privacy. We set up the tent, gathered kindling for a fire and cooled off in the water. By this point in the trip I was ready to get home, but we had a nice night with a fire and a game of Scrabble.
Other posts you might like:
Adventuring with Mel and John 