Prospect Rock
Where: Prospect Rock
When: Summer, 1990
With: Bill, Tom
The first (?) Ritz Brothers hike. I drove out to Albany Saturday morning and met up with Tom and Deb at Bill's house. Bill was out running a last minute errand, so Tom and I compared notes and waited for him. When he returned, we pulled out map books and started discussing places to go. I finally suggested Bourn Pond and Prospect Rock. The others confirmed, and we were off. We took my car and drove over to Vermont on route 7. Along the way, we stopped at a grocery store. Bill and Tom had come all supplied, but I needed a food stop.
We continued on through Bennington before finally arriving in Manchester. I was jealous...the total trip, including the food stop, took only an hour and a half or so. My closest trailhead is 2.5-3.0 hours away. We stopped at a ranger station first and picked up some maps, then parked at the head of the Lye Brook trail. I remembered the time I'd gone on this route with Chip. It had seemed longer than expected then, but I chalked that up to inexperience. The map book listed it as a 4.1-mile hike, easy to do.
It was a pretty hike, following the Lye Brook gully up the hill, and we took our time. At times we hiked together and then spread apart. We stopped for a break at the trail to Lye Brook Falls and then headed out. The trail flattened out and worked its way through a thick wood. It seemed to be going on for quite a while, but we figured we had to be pretty close. We lost the trail at one point, but found it pretty quickly. The bugs started to be a problem when we stopped, so we tended to keep moving. The trail just kept going and going. There were a lot of false alarms when we all swore we could see the pond through the trees, only to find it was just a clearing or a swamp.
We hiked separately at this point, occasionally stopping to check on each other. A good thing, since by this time none of us were very sociable. Bill made it to the pond first. I followed and Tom brought up the rear. Bill had run back on the trail to leave "Almost There!" messages, but neither Tom nor I saw them. In any case, we had made it. Some other folks were there and we checked their map. It turns out our hike had been closer to 7 miles long. No wonder it felt like an eternity.
We rested at the shelter for a bit, but it was a pretty bombed out site so we searched for something a bit less trampled. We found a nice spot along the shore and set up camp. We each set up a tent, and then I set to inflating my rubber raft. We relaxed a while, played around in the raft on the pond, and then had dinner. The main course was trout Tom had brought frozen. A bit of moonlight paddling and we all went to sleep.
The next day we planned a short hike, so we were in no hurry to leave. I set off in the boat to explore the pond and Bill and Tom took their fishing poles to try their luck with the local aquatic life. I paddled around most of the shore of the pond, checking out other campsites and seeing what there was to see. Finally I came around to where the guys were fishing. No one had had any luck, though Tom had some nibbles. I gave Bill the boat to try some trolling, and hung out on shore for a while.
Eventually everyone gave up and we decided to pack up and head on. It was an easy hike around the lake and down the ridge on an old railroad bed and soon we were at the Douglas shelter and the Long Trail. We followed it over a bridge and down the hill. I knew there was no water at our destination, so I made note of any water we passed. Finally, we came to a rock and a side trail, and I motioned the others in. Prospect Rock. They were suitably impressed. The sheer cliff, the view into the valley, the town below, the mountains beyond. I got high marks for the spot.
We set up tents and Tom and I hiked back up to the water. I'd brought a plastic garbage bag that I placed inside a canvas sack I used for my cook gear to make a makeshift water bag. It worked fine. The sack provided support and the garbage bag was the water barrier. I managed to put several gallons in, slung it over my shoulder, and carried it back to the site.
For the rest of the afternoon, we played on the rocks (Bill and I did a bit of rock climbing), relaxed, and enjoyed the view. A nice breeze kept the bugs away. After dinner, we settled in and found our selves mesmerized by the town below. For several hours we watched the town as it moved from day to evening to night and then the town and we went to sleep.
The next morning we packed up and headed down the trail and back into civilization. The trail turned into a dirt road and then into a paved street, which we followed. We passed a fellow hiker going the other way and soon were back at the car. A stop for ice cream in Bennington and then on to home.
When: Summer, 1990
With: Bill, Tom
The first (?) Ritz Brothers hike. I drove out to Albany Saturday morning and met up with Tom and Deb at Bill's house. Bill was out running a last minute errand, so Tom and I compared notes and waited for him. When he returned, we pulled out map books and started discussing places to go. I finally suggested Bourn Pond and Prospect Rock. The others confirmed, and we were off. We took my car and drove over to Vermont on route 7. Along the way, we stopped at a grocery store. Bill and Tom had come all supplied, but I needed a food stop.
We continued on through Bennington before finally arriving in Manchester. I was jealous...the total trip, including the food stop, took only an hour and a half or so. My closest trailhead is 2.5-3.0 hours away. We stopped at a ranger station first and picked up some maps, then parked at the head of the Lye Brook trail. I remembered the time I'd gone on this route with Chip. It had seemed longer than expected then, but I chalked that up to inexperience. The map book listed it as a 4.1-mile hike, easy to do.
It was a pretty hike, following the Lye Brook gully up the hill, and we took our time. At times we hiked together and then spread apart. We stopped for a break at the trail to Lye Brook Falls and then headed out. The trail flattened out and worked its way through a thick wood. It seemed to be going on for quite a while, but we figured we had to be pretty close. We lost the trail at one point, but found it pretty quickly. The bugs started to be a problem when we stopped, so we tended to keep moving. The trail just kept going and going. There were a lot of false alarms when we all swore we could see the pond through the trees, only to find it was just a clearing or a swamp.
We hiked separately at this point, occasionally stopping to check on each other. A good thing, since by this time none of us were very sociable. Bill made it to the pond first. I followed and Tom brought up the rear. Bill had run back on the trail to leave "Almost There!" messages, but neither Tom nor I saw them. In any case, we had made it. Some other folks were there and we checked their map. It turns out our hike had been closer to 7 miles long. No wonder it felt like an eternity.
We rested at the shelter for a bit, but it was a pretty bombed out site so we searched for something a bit less trampled. We found a nice spot along the shore and set up camp. We each set up a tent, and then I set to inflating my rubber raft. We relaxed a while, played around in the raft on the pond, and then had dinner. The main course was trout Tom had brought frozen. A bit of moonlight paddling and we all went to sleep.
The next day we planned a short hike, so we were in no hurry to leave. I set off in the boat to explore the pond and Bill and Tom took their fishing poles to try their luck with the local aquatic life. I paddled around most of the shore of the pond, checking out other campsites and seeing what there was to see. Finally I came around to where the guys were fishing. No one had had any luck, though Tom had some nibbles. I gave Bill the boat to try some trolling, and hung out on shore for a while.
Eventually everyone gave up and we decided to pack up and head on. It was an easy hike around the lake and down the ridge on an old railroad bed and soon we were at the Douglas shelter and the Long Trail. We followed it over a bridge and down the hill. I knew there was no water at our destination, so I made note of any water we passed. Finally, we came to a rock and a side trail, and I motioned the others in. Prospect Rock. They were suitably impressed. The sheer cliff, the view into the valley, the town below, the mountains beyond. I got high marks for the spot.
We set up tents and Tom and I hiked back up to the water. I'd brought a plastic garbage bag that I placed inside a canvas sack I used for my cook gear to make a makeshift water bag. It worked fine. The sack provided support and the garbage bag was the water barrier. I managed to put several gallons in, slung it over my shoulder, and carried it back to the site.
For the rest of the afternoon, we played on the rocks (Bill and I did a bit of rock climbing), relaxed, and enjoyed the view. A nice breeze kept the bugs away. After dinner, we settled in and found our selves mesmerized by the town below. For several hours we watched the town as it moved from day to evening to night and then the town and we went to sleep.
The next morning we packed up and headed down the trail and back into civilization. The trail turned into a dirt road and then into a paved street, which we followed. We passed a fellow hiker going the other way and soon were back at the car. A stop for ice cream in Bennington and then on to home.
