Hiking America's oldest footpath

Author: By Mary Collins, Globe Correspondent

Date: SUNDAY, May 3, 1998

Page: N11

Section: Travel

As it turns out, Vermont's splendid walking path is a relatively gentle, undulating trail, ideal for new or moderate hikers in most sections. The mountain range has as many mossy glens and beaver ponds as remarkable overlooks at high elevations. Last summer, Cara Clifford Nelson and her sister, Amity, followed in the footsteps of their paternal grandmother, Catherine Robbins Clifford, who was a member of the historic threesome, by hiking the Long Trail end to end. They used their grandmother's legacy to spur themselves on and to raise $30,000 for the Long Trail's Land Protection Campaign.

The northern portion of the trail has always run on private land. In 1910, when a high school teacher named James Taylor conceived of a Swiss-Alp-like series of paths and shelters for Vermont's Green Mountains, landowners simply gave the Green Mountains Club their word that hikers could pass through. For years, area farmers even housed trekkers overnight, but by the 1980s rising land prices and a new generation of owners had put America's oldest long hiking trail at risk. At one point, an owner simply built a house right in the middle of the the trail, forcing the club to relocate that section of the path along a highway. The club realized it had to be more active in buying up land and securing easements or the unbroken line of the Long Trail would snap.

Cara is just one of thousands who have worked to save the trail since the club launched its land protection program in 1986. In just 11 years, the club has managed to preserve the right-of-way to all but 14 miles of the 265-mile trail. Three public officials, Governor Howard Dean and state Senators Dick Mazza and Robert Gannett, proved instrumental in getting support for the clubin the state Legislature.

My fiancee, Andrew Macdonald, and I set out to explore exactly what made these people and Vermonters in general so passionate about their Green Mountain walking path. We started at the Green Mountain Club's headquarters at Waterbury Center located off exit 10A on Route 100. You'll find three essential items there: the official Long Trail Guide Book, a detailed Vermont map, and helpful club members who can give you detailed directions. Without excellent directions, you could spend more of your time exploring Vermont's dirt roads than the state's hiking trails.

The Long Trail is generally linear, so many of the best hikes require either two cars -- one for the drop-off point at your final destination and the other to get you back to the start of your proposed hike -- or a bed-and-breakfast willing to pick you up at day's end and bring you back to your car. There are plenty of B & Bs along the trail willing to do just that, like the Fitch Inn in Johnson, but be sure to check before making reservations.

Since we had only one car during our first day in the Mad River Valley, we decided to hike a loop that included a portion of the Long Trail. A friend, Sue Shea, directs the club's land acquisition efforts, and suggested we try the Lake Mansfield Trail, which starts just a few miles up from club headquarters at the Lake Mansfield Trout Club. We arrived on one of those remarkably clear days when everything you see seems to have an edge to it -- the water, the fishermen's trout lines, the trees.

The Mansfield Trail wanders along the lake and in and out of meadow and forest for a mile or so before cutting up toward a waterfall that pours through glacier rock. The day was too cool for dipping in the mountain stream, but the lay of the rocks made me almost wish we'd come in July when the bugs and heat would have driven us into the inviting pools. An active beaver pond fringed with snapdragons lies just above the falls. The beaver's lodge is about as large and neat as the mountain club'sshelter up the way, which is called the Taylor Lodge in honor of the founder of the Long Trail.

None of the 65 shelters or tent sites on the trail are palatial but they free, clean, near a water source (in this case, a spring near the waterfall), and an outhouse. If you decide to stay overnight, just remember to always boil or chemically treat any water that you draw in the area. The pristine setting doesn't necessarily protect you from waterborne parasites and bacteria.

Three children were hanging out of the upper windows of the Taylor Lodge when we came by. They'd just come from Nebraska's Notch, which the kids, ages 8 to 9, described as ``great.'' That proved to be an understatement. After the soft lower reaches of the trail, after the waterfall and beaver pond and the overlook from the lodge, we thought we'd seen the best of it, but the Notch was unlike any section of hiking I've come across in New England. The trail runs along a sharp ledge and around enormous rocks that have been strewn like giant gray marbles by some unseen hand. Moss and lichens grow thick on all sides. At one point, I spotted some raspberries overhanging one of the ledges. We dined. Walking through there, you really get a sense of all the forces that cut the mountains into their modern form.

After the Notch, we quickly retraced our steps past the waterfall again and back to the car. We had had a late start and night always comes earlier in the woods. The trees seem to catch the darkness and hold it easier than the sunlight.

The next day, we rose early to hike a nine-mile section of the Long Trail with Sue Shea, who had just closed an elaborate deal that secured permanent access to the sections of the trail on the land we would cross. We dropped a car at Will Monroe's Farm, which is named after a founding club member who did as much as anyone to ensure that the trail ran along the highest ridges instead of along the easier fireroads. People feared the more rugged path would deter all but the fittest men. As it turned out, the three women who hiked the trail end-to-end in 1927 were only the second to do so -- male or female. Monroe and Taylor wanted a wilderness trail for all Vermonters, and that's what they built. Now more than 200,000 hikers of both sexes and all ages hike it each year.

We followed Sue along the circuitous route that led to the start of our hike, which would take seven hours and cross over Burnt Rock Mountain, Mount Ira Allen, and Mount Ethan Allen to the base of Camel's Hump. Most newcomers to the Green Mountains head to Camel's Hump or Mount Mansfield, the two highest and most popular sites on the Long Trail, but Sue knows her beloved trail and brought us to a luscious, quiet section.

We began along a new growth forest striped with streams that is still logged in an understated way by the Big Basin Forest group, which owns it. They did make a deal with the club that guarantees no logging or development on the parts of the trail that run over the top of Burnt Rock Mountain, but this side trail remains unprotected. The 2.5-mile path runs at a relatively easy incline. We reached the Cowles Cove Shelter in less than an hour.

As mountain trails go, the Long Trail is a gentle beast; certainly not as steep in general as paths in the White Mountains. But one of the trail's charms is how suddenly it changes, from undulating terrain to sheer rock faces, from beaver ponds to waterfalls with a 15-foot drop. Just above Cowles Cove Shelter, the path turns narrow and very steep. You really sense you are walking on the spine of the Green Mountains with the exposed rock under your feet. This is no longer a dirt trail or a path strewn with soft pine needles; this is the work of glaciers and thousands of years of weathering. Nature worked something much more primordial here.

A tight wall of red spruce and balsam fir lines the trail until just below the ridge of Burnt Rock Mountain. We turned off to the left before the overlook to check into the highest glacier pothole in New England. Andrew, who is a geologist, explained that thousands of years ago a waterfall probably ran here and carved the 3- by 3-foot bowl. Amber-colored rainwater fills it now. Rivers that flowed when the glaciers melted formed most of the valleys in the Green Mountains, which explains the soft, rolling landscape you see out your car window as you drive up Route 89.

A quick hop up a vertical mountain face brings you to the top of Burnt Rock Mountain and one of the finest 360-degree views in Vermont. To the west, we saw the pale shine of Lake Champlain and the ridge line of the Adirondack Mountains. To the south we could see Sugar Bush and the two other peaks we had yet to climb: Mount Ira Allen and Mount Ethan Allen. Camel's Hump, the only mountain with an exposed summit, sat just behind them. Cumulus clouds shadowed the forested landscape. Everything was layered with strong colors: white whites, deep greens, strings of blue in the sky and in the distant water. Mountaintops help you experience the clarity of things.

A yellow-rumped warbler in fall plumage joined us for lunch by dining on a dragonfly. The much rarer Bicknell's thrush also frequents this summit, though we didn't spot any that day. Just before we left, we did see a small frog in a pool bordered by wild blueberries. None of us could figure out how he hopped the summit. Perhaps some moose inadvertently carried some frog eggs along to this chilly overlook.

Sue chatted about the rising number of bear, who need the fatty nut from the beechnut tree to put on weight for the winter. We passed by a rich understory that included the ghostly Indian pipe, the blue bead lily and, my favorite, the common wood sorrel, which has a cloverlike leaf and a frail white flower veined with blue and pink. We started seeing less pine and fir and more yellow and paper birch, whose rough, peeling trunks make them look like cousins to the lichens that grow everywhere in these forests.

The Long Trail is often called a green tunnel, because the woods are dense and many of the peaks have limited views, but the closely set trees, ferns, and other understory, have a quieting effect. Saying the Green Mountains lack the grandeur of higher mountain ranges like the White Mountains is like saying a lake is not the ocean. The trail is lake-like in its tranquillity.

The elevations of Mount Ira Allen and Mount Ethan Allen are high enough to grace you with splendid views of Camel's Hump, but low enough that you feel you are walking up a hill rather than a mountain. Two beaver ponds sit at the base of Mount Ethan Allen, where the famed hook of the Hump rises up at an impressive angle. Purple New England aster and the sagging white blossoms of the turtlehead frame the ponds. Sue sighted a peeping spotted sandpiper by the water's edge.

Montclair Glen Lodge sits just before the beaver ponds at an elevation of 2,670 feet and sleeps 10. From there, the trail runs down easily through an impressive stand of white birch that reaches for the sky like a gloved hand. This portion is just strumming with the sound of feeder streams. After seven hours on the trail, we had tired legs, but Sue sidetracked to pick up a quarter-size piece of trash.

At the parking lot, Sue and I visited Will Monroe's grave, which sits off a side trail in a shaded, fern-rich enclave. He was right to fight for the summits rather than the easier slopes. People feared that a steep trail would deter ``the ladies,'' but Sue and I and the three women who mastered the entire Long Trail in 1927 are testimony to the rightness of Monroe's faith. As we headed back to Sue's Vermont home near Randolph, a deep blue glow caught the Green Mountains in silhouette. Jupiter gleamed, marking the period to the end of our Long Trail day.

The next day, Andrew and I elected to stay off the trail so we could explore the sights in the Mad River Valley. Our first stop was an eight-sided yellow barn we'd passed several times on Route 100, which is part of a resort called The Inn at the Round Barn in Waitsfield. Its elegant rooms and excellent kitchen are open year round to hikers and skiers alike. The Shaker barn is just one of eight such barns still left in the state (out of a previous high of 25). The building's well-spaced windows and curved wall space make it an ideal spot for the inn's art shows. The Shakers claimed they used a circular space because it scared ``the devil out of the corners,'' or so the brochure says, but it also made it easier to move equipment and animals in and out.

The inn itself faces the Green Mountain skyline and has a manicured, colonial style. For Long Trail hikers who might prefer less expensive or more laid-back accommodations, there are bed-and-breakfasts all over the area, including the Guest House in Warren or the Fitch Inn in Johnson, which will pick hikers up from trail heads and cost less than $100 a night. Waitsfield also happens to have a world famous pizzeria, RSVP Pizza, which is just down the street from the state's oldest covered bridge.

Earlier, in the day we'd stopped for lunch at the Warren Store in Warren, which also had terrific food. Andrew and I split an Italian sub and a chunky apple cake that's worth hiking to Vermont for. The outdoor eating area overlooks Kid's Brook, which feeds into the Mad River. The dramatic cuts in the rocks and the clear water look inviting, but watch out. The E. coli count for the stream was posted by the front of the store. Of the five times it had been tested for the bacteria in the last two months, the count had exceeded the recommended limit of 77 parts per 100 milliliters three times. The culprit: probably all the runoff from the dairy farms that line the waterways throughout the Mad River Valley.

Less than a mile down the road, a small bridge crosses a deep pool in the Mad River. At a depth of 10 to 12 feet, the clear, open water looks so inviting you're tempted to jump, but we played it smart and followed the side trail down to a lower ledge. The water moves fast, cool and deep here -- all good things when it comes to protecting yourself against E. coli, which doesn't seem to be a problem at this point along the river. The cold rush of the current was such a relief after riding in the cramped car.

In late afternoon, we stopped by the Vermont Historical Society Museum at 109 State St. in Montpelier. While the front of the building is a faithful reproduction of the original 1805 porch, it doesn't completely hide the fact that it fronts a modern office building. The exhibits proved a disappointment: a ski lift with a dummy in it; a Ben & Jerry T-shirt tacked to the wall. Some black-and-white photographs of pioneers of the Long Trail do hang on one of the side panels and are worth a look. It's amusing to see what passed for hiking gear in the 1920s. The last panther killed in Vermont (1881) sits stuffed and glassey-eyed by the entrance. Sue had told us there's some evidence that the big cats are making a comeback in the state, along with coyotes and bear.

As we cruised by dairy farms, stopped into restaurants and bakeries, watched gliders take off near Stowe, and toured the state's capital, I sensed that I was a step away from the Vermont that I had come for. Up in the Green Mountains you can see and tread on the range that gives the state its texture, its valleys, and views. The chunky apple cake from the Warren Store was sumptuous, but I'd take a basic bread and cheese sandwich on top of Burnt Rock Mountain over that any day. If you really want to put your hand on the pulse of New England, walk the Long Trail.

The Green Mountain Club, Route 100, RR 1 Box 650, Waterbury Center, VT 05677. Phone 802-244-7037.

Guidebook:

The Green Mountain Club Long Trail Guide, 1996 edition.

Higher-priced accommodations:

The Inn at the Round Barn Farm, RR 1, Box 247, East Warren Road, Waitsfield, VT 05673. Phone 802-496-2276.

The Pitcher Inn, Warren, VT 05674. Phone 888-TO-PITCHER. (Will pick up and drop off hikers from trail heads.)

Moderate accommodations:

The Fitch Inn, 258 Fitch Hill Road, Hyde Park, VT 05655. Phone 802-888-3834 or 800-639-2903. (Will pick up and drop off hikers from trail heads.)

The Guest House, PO Box 218, Warren, VT 05674. Phone 802-496-5306. (Will pick up and drop off hikers from trail heads.)

Inexpensive accommodations:

Green Mountain Club Long Trail Shelters. Phone the GMC at 802-244-7037.

Cheap eats:

RSVP Pizza, Bridge Street, Waitsfield, VT 05673. The Warren Store, Warren, VT 05674. Phone 802-496-3864. (Open daily from 8-7; Sundays, 8-6.)