The Bread Loaf Wilderness in Vermont is the largest wilderness area in the Green Mountain National Forest. It contains approximately 25,000 acres. It is home to several of Vermont's 3500 foot peaks and the Long Trail passes through it. What else is there? How about mountain shelters and a high elevation pond.
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| Sign at the road near the trailhead |
That was enough to convince Leesa and I to cross over into Vermont for a day of hiking and it's time we do more hiking there. For this hike we chose the Skylight Pond Trail which goes from Forest Road 59 to the Long Trail at which point it crosses the LT and travels a short distance further to the Skyline Lodge and Skylight Pond.
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| Trailhead Sign |
We set off down the trail at 10 AM. The trail was smooth and dry and an easy trail to walk on. We were anxious to visit the Skyline Shelter, so we made our way there first. The Shelter is 2.5 miles from the Trailhead and slightly downhill from the Long Trail. We reached the shelter after 1 hour and 15 minutes from the trailhead.
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| Skylight Pond |
What a nice shelter! It sleeps 14 and has a lower platform and an upper platform, along with a table and bench. In the corner is a locked caretaker's box. Outside is a nice front porch and a view of Skylight Pond. There is also a brand new privy! Overnight accommodations are on a first come-first served basis and there is a $5/person charge. In our opinion, it would be well worth it. It is a nice facility.
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| Skylight Pond |
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| Skyline Lodge Shelter |
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| A brand new privy at Skyline Shelter |
After enjoying our lunch at the shelter, we returned to the Long Trail and headed north to Bread Loaf Mountain (3835'). From the point of the Bread Loaf Spur there is a nice view. We were at the point just after 12 noon.
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| The Shelter with pond below |
From Broad Loaf Mountain, we continued northward to the junction with the Emily Proctor Trail and the Emily Proctor lean-to. We stopped there for a snack at 12:45 and continued further to Mount Wilson (3790'). Both Bread Loaf and Wilson are on the Vermont 3500' list.
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| View of the Skylight Pond from Skyline Lodge Shelter |
We got to Mount Wilson at 1:15 PM and it was time to turn around. Other commitments meant that we had to be back at the car and on our way home by around 3:30, so we retraced our steps on the Long Trail and dropped back down the Skylight Pond Trail.
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| Rev enjoying the porch |
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| Built in 1987 and still in good shape |
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| View from Bread Loaf Spur |
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| Emily Proctor Shelter, midway between Breadloaf Mountain and Mount Wilson |
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| View from Mount Wilson |
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| Another view from Mount Wilson |
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| Cairn marks the high point of Mount Wilson |
It had been too long since we had been hiking in VT, but after this trip, we've got more planned. We'll be back...
Hike Stats:
Hike Distance: 9.2 miles
Hike Time: 5 hours, 30 minutes
Total Vertical Gain: 3030'
Trailhead Elevation: 1960'
Bread Loaf Mountain Elevation: 3835'
Mount Wilson Elevation: 3790'
My Bread Loaf Mountain & Mount Wilson GPS Track at EveryTrail
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| Our route as shown in blue on Google Earth |
Great report, looks like a nice day to be out in the woods. I did this hike a while back w/o going over to Wilson, but did run up to catch the views from Battell Mtn near the shelter. Recently I went back to do the Presidential Loop (Grant/Cleveland/Roosevelt/Wilson) using the Cooley Glen/Emily Proctor Trails and it was a nice hike. Enjoy Vermont and keep the reports coming, so glad somebody else is doing the VT35 besides me! Happy Hiking!
ReplyDeleteThanks. Yes, we'll be mixing up some VT hikes with some NY hikes. We just did Hopkins again yesterday and addedSpread Eagle to it. A nice day. TR tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteGlad you had a good trip to Henderson and the Santas last Friday.
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