Summit New England Challenge - 6 states and 6 summits

So you want to the best views in New England?

Well dear reader, you are going to have to work for it.  As someone who loves the mountains I may be biased but in my opinion, some of the best views of New England are seen from her highest summits.  A year ago today, I was standing on top of Mount Katahdin, Maine's highest summit and my last New England peak to conquer.  Conquering all six New England summits took a lot of planning (like a lot, a lot).  But let me tell you, that feeling on the top of that last mountain, surrounded by awesome friends and the most amazing views of Maine knowing I had just planted my hiking boots on each New England state's highest summit felt g-o-o-d.  It's worth the planning, every hour in the car, and every uphill climb, even over those boulder fields. 

Hiking Mount Mansfield, Vermont

I forgot how beautiful the state of Vermont is.  And I guess I just never fully witnessed how beautiful it is during fall.  I knew Vermont was famous for its covered bridges and foliage, maple syrup and country roads, but I just hadn't witnessed it all as beautifully as I had this weekend.  The leaves were in their prime, and the hues of greens, yellows, reds and oranges were straight from a New England postcard.  While fall in Utah was absolutely beautiful with its shades of yellows and aspens, mountain peaks and alpine lakes, I am convinced the fall in New England just can't be beat.  Oh, those vibrant reds in contrast with all the other hues were just so dreamy.

Driving west from East Burke to Stowe 

Covered bridge on my way to Stowe 

One of the best places to see some awesome fall color is from the "ceiling" of Vermont. From it's highest peak, the "chin" of Mount Mansfield, you can see the amazing gradient of rocky peaks, changing to dense evergreens, before putting on a show of oranges, yellows, and reds before mixing more mixes of autumn foliage and green in the rolling hills of Vermont.

So far, I am half way through summiting the six New England Peaks.  I have hiked the highest peaks in Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New Hampshire, with only Vermont, Maine, and Rhode Island left.  I had plans to head to Vermont for the weekend to join a bunch of friends mountain biking at Kingdom Trails in East Burke, Vermont (that's an entirely awesome post next on the blog).  When I saw that the Town of Stowe and trailhead to Mount Mansfield was only about 1.5 hours away from where I was staying, I decided to seize the opportunity. I left the mountain biking crew to spend Saturdays on a solo hike with Olive- to the top of Vermont's highest peak and a "New England 4,000 footer" .

View from Sunset Ridge Trail above the treeline 

Hiking Mt. Greylock - Massachusetts' tallest peak

On a whim, I decided to make September "Hike all the New England Peaks Month". When the temperatures started to drop and the bugs were gone, I headed to the mountains. Hiking hiatus is over. The first weekend of September brought my first New England hike to Connecticut's tallest mountain summit, Bear Mountain at 2,323'. The second hike (why you are here today) is to the summit of Mt. Greylock, Massachusetts's tallest peak at 3,491'. And this weekend, it was the grand slam, up to Mt. Washington, New Hampshire's tallest peak. The only three peaks remaining are Vermont and Maine, oh and the hill in Rhode Island. 

But back to Massachusetts.

Farm at the Hopper Road Trailhead 

We really enjoyed this hike. It was a great loop hike around the mountain starting at an old farm. The materials (directions, maps, etc) available for the hike were great, online and at the trailhead. The trail had a lot of signage, but there were a lot of different trails weaving throughout the forest (pay attention to trail signs).

This was a great way to hike a portion of the AT, see a few waterfalls, hike along a river, stop at a few summits, and stop at the main summit. I loved the scenic overlook at Stone Ledge Vista. The hike was steep in parts and humid, but overall the elevation was spread out well over the distance. We had a great lunch at the summit and refilled our water, although we had absolutely no views with the clouds and fog. We continued on the loop hike but by mile 11 we were a little over the hike and ready to be done. The last two miles down Haley Farm Trail were steep, and felt like they took forever. Overall, the trail was beautiful and we were glad to bag another peak, the highest in MA.