Green Mountain National Forest

Green Mountain National Forest is a national forest located in Vermont, a forest area typical of the New England/Acadian forests ecoregion. The forest supports a variety of wildlife, including beaver, moose, coyote, black bear, and white tailed deer. It also supports an abundant variety of bird species, such as wild turkey and ruffed grouse. The forest, being situated in Vermont’s Green Mountains, has been referred to as the ‘granite backbone’ of the state.

The forest was established in 1932, as a result of uncontrolled overlogging, fire and flooding.[3] It consists of 399,151 acres (1,615.31 km2); and is the biggest contiguous land mass in the state. If Finger Lakes National Forest, which is managed as a unit of the Green Mountain National Forest, is included within it, GMNF is one of only two national forest northeast of the Pennsylvania-New Jersey barrier; the other being the White Mountain National Forest. Split into the southwest and central areas, GMNF has a total of eight wilderness areas. These were designated by Congress beginning with the Wilderness Act of 1964 to be areas off limits to mechanized gear down to and including bicycles.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Mountain_National_Forest
http://www.fs.usda.gov/greenmountain

Vermont WINS!

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After consulting the forecasts, I decided this weekend to go up to the Green Mountains of Vermont.

  1. Forecast looks slightly better in Vermont
  2. I can avoid congested expressways and local roads by taking the back-roads up to Vermont
  3. More dirt roads to explore in Vermont, as they aren’t seasonally closed like much of the Adirondacks
  4. I don’t have to necessarily camp at one of the sites on Branch Pond Road with nearby neighbors, so I can listen to music loud if I want
  5. I think I want to hike back to Lye Brook Falls or maybe Stratton Mountain (I checked it’s been 6 years since I last went up Stratton Mountain, and I remember great views).
  6. In a few weeks I’m planning to camp up on Jessup River Road, so I don’t want to drive NY 30 yet another time right away.

Sunday

Branch Pond Road

Vermont for Memorial Day?

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I’m increasingly thinking about doing a Vermont trip again for Memorial Day Weekend. Here are some reasons why:

  1. I’ve already camped up on the East Branch once this year.
  2. It’s so noisy camping up on the East Branch with the traffic from NY 8.
  3. Grout Pond might be fun to do a little swimming in.
  4. There are more hikes I could do in Vermont that I haven’t done before.
  5. I don’t have to drive on the expressway, with all the traffic if I go up to Vermont.
  6. There are lots of dirt roads to drive and explore in that area.

Asphalt Ends On Kelley Stand Road

Paddling Grout Pond

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Going for a little paddle, yesterday on Grout Pond. It may been cloudy, but it was scenic and pretty nice out on the lake -- and the black flies weren't that bad.