The Burrow parking lot has been filling up fast and with towing being enforced outside of the parking lot, so we met at 7:15am at the Huntington Park & Ride and carpooled to the trailhead. There were still a handful of spots available when we arrived and we quickly headed to the trail. It was a little cool as we started out, but it did not take long for us to warm up. Forest City Trail was quiet as expected and we encountered almost no one as we ascended the trail. At the junction with the Long Trail we met the caretaker of the Montclair Glen Lodge on his way to the summit for the day.

This section of the trail is what makes this hike well worth the effort. As we ascended, we had many spots where the trees opened up, giving us views of the valleys and the upcoming ridges that we needed to scale. With the exception of a few muddy spots that were easily traversed, this trail was mostly dry. After descending from the ridge just south of the rocky peak, the trail starts to get progressively steeper which we definitely noticed as our pace slowed the closer we got to the top.

Nearing the top, we came to the junction of with the Alpine trail and with a solemn promise to stay and wait for us from our other member, two of us took the Alpine trail to see the remaining wreckage of the WWII era bomber that crashed on the mountain. At the first double-blaze, it appeared that there was a trail heading off into the woods, but that was not the location marked on the map, so we continued on. At the second double-blaze, another trail headed off the trail to the visible wing. We explored that for a few minutes and returned to the junction and the three of us entered the alpine zone.

This is where we first noticed some light wind and if we thought the views were good from earlier vistas, they just kept getting better and better. This section is all rock and it did not take long for us to leave the trees behind as we started our way up the bare rock face and made it to the summit where the views were excellent with a little haze/smoke cutting down on visibility. From here we could see the mountains in New York and New Hampshire and Mt. Mansfield twenty-five miles to the north.

The caretaker we had seen earlier recognized us and came over and told us about some of the plant life around us. A short time later, we overheard him talking to others about the wreckage and it was then that we learned that the side trail from that first double-blaze we saw led to the other wing that was still on the mountain. I guess that will have to be for next time.

After lunch and the required pictures, we packed up and headed north on the LT to the junction with the Burrows Trail, meeting many people coming up the trail. The descent was much easier than the ascent and we returned to the parking lot.

Participants: Chris Fredericks, Kathy Shapiro, Rich Douglass (leader).