Mountain Wandering: TWO IN THE KINGDOM

In the past couple of weeks I've added two more peaks to my Northeast Kingdom Mountain Challenge list, bringing me up to 12 out of 20.

BIG ROCK HILL

On a fine summer day Carol and I headed up to Holbrook State Park in Sheffield for a mellow hike to Big Rock Hill and a trio of ponds.

When we arrived there midday we were surprised to find the parking area almost full. It turned out that Round Pond, just a short distance from the trailhead, is a popular swimming spot.

A short climb brought us to the larger and more secluded Long Pond.

The climb to the viewpoint known as O'Leary's Leap (named for a longtime Vermont State Parks employee) was fairly steep and rugged.

The Leap was a nice clifftop perch with a partial view of Round Pond and distant mountains beyond.

Closer look.

Looking down on Long Pond.

Beautiful hardwoods en route to the wooded summit of Big Rock Hill.

Carol's first Northeast Kingdom summit.

I was surprised to find a summit register up here. Must be on the Vermont 2000-footer list.

After descending from Big Rock Hill, we made the side trip to see Mud Pond.

A wide view of Long Pond.

All was quiet back at Round Pond in late afternoon, so we were able to enjoy the ultimate sitting rock for a half-hour sojourn.

A beautiful spot!

BELVIDERE MOUNTAIN

The next week we made the two-hour drive to the trailhead for Belvidere Mountain in the northern Green Mountains. This fire tower peak is on the western fringe of the Northeast Kingdom, which is defined as Orleans, Essex and Caledonia Counties. Carol dropped me off and headed out to do some geocaching and adventure labs in nearby towns.

This route to Belvidere is part of Vermont's storied Long Trail.

The lower half of the 2.8 mile, 2100 ft. climb is mostly at easy to moderate grades through hardwoods. The Green Mountain Club is currently working on a long relocation to move the trail off private land and into state forest.

As the trail gains elevation, there are more and more little ledge steps and scrambles.

Flourishing hobblebush.

The ledges are bigger and rougher on the upper part of the trail, making it surprisingly rugged climb.

Each of these scrambles slowed me down a bit, but I found it to be a fun and enjoyable trail with its varying grades.

Rough and rocky here.

The Long Trail meets the Forester's Trail (ascending from the NE) at a spot called Belvidere Saddle.

The last 0.2 mile to the 3360-ft. summit is on Forester's Trail.

The main east-facing summit ledges were occupied by a group, but I found a smaller perch on the north side peering out at what I consider the classic view from Belvidere - looking north along the wild ridges followed by the Long Trail as it makes its way to Jay Peak, with peaks in Canada beyond..

Big Jay and Jay Peak rise behind Tillotson Peak and Haystack Mountain.

Zoom on the Jays and Haystack.

O, Canada - Mount Orford hazy in the distance on the left, lumpy Sugar Loaf left of center, and sharp Owl's Head on the right.

After a nice sojourn on the north ledge, I moved over to the east ledges.

The view here includes the scar of the huge, abandoned asbestos mining operation on the SE flank of Belividere. It operated from 1902 until 1993, when it was closed due to health concerns for the workers and a decline in demand for the product.

The Belvidere fire tower is 50 ft. tall. The first tower here was built in the early 1900s. It was replaced in 1939 and rebuilt in the 1990s.

Unfortunately the sweeping views from the tower were quite hazy, so only the dimmest outlines of the Whites and Adirondacks could be seen. The views were still good, including this look south to the Worcester Range.

Mount Mansfield, Vermont's highest.

Zoomed.

The mysterious Cold Hollow Mountains to the west.

Down-look.

Pretty good stairs on this tower.

Adding to the interest of this hike was the discovery of a slide on the steep east face of the mountain, which I saw when scanning Belvidere on Google Earth. Naturally I had to try and visit it, though the terrain was imposingly steep on the Vermont lidar 1-foot contour map.

The whack to the slide was mostly through a nice boreal forest.

As expected, the terrain became crazy steep as I dropped down towards the head of the slide.

I determined that there was no way I could safely drop down onto the slide and then scramble back up into the woods. Measured on the lidar map, the average slope of the slide is 42-43 degrees (!).

Looking across to the trigger point of the slide. According to a report by the Vermont State Geologist, the slide fell in 2012.

I did manage to worm my way down to a spot right above the top of the slide, enabling me to peer down at its upper section before it drops away at an even steeper grade.