Our team of Ninjas started with hoping for buckets of snow to make for a nice snowshoe walk but ended up like the rest of Vermont hiking on almost bare ground, then crust with a teeny dusting of fresh snow. We walked the Beane Trail (1.5MI) to the Long Trail & Birch Glen Camp, then and headed south on the LT for about 1.3 MI to the Molly Stark balcony, and returned the same way. The trail is in Camel’s Hump State Park and the Beane Trail starts in Hanksville, south of Huntington Center and south of Huntington Gap (and north of the Appalachian Gap). This was a moderate hike overall with a few small scrambles nicely coated in a crust of ice. Nothing that micro spikes couldn’t handle. Maybe 6 miles total but Jeff recorded it as being closer to seven, which could well be. Elevation gain about 1,600’. The view from the Balcony was like looking into a cloud with dancing snow blown around by the winds coming from the west. Considerable chillier even though we were not even at 3,000’ elevation. Ninjas included Phil, Bamby with Fiona the wonder-dog, Jeff, Helena, Bridget, and Ted outing leader. Photos by Jeff, Bamby, Ted, Bridget.
