Hiking Up Mt. Philo

Finally!  A nice day for a hike, after so many days of rain.

We ran some errands this morning, and then set out around noon to hike the Mt. Philo trail, a moderate 3-mile lollipot hike up to the top of Mt. Philo in Mt. Philo State Park, a short drive south of where we're camped in Shelburne, Vermont.

The mountain looked welcoming as we approached it, with a promise of beautiful views:

Our hike took us up the House Rock Trail, and Kathy showed us the way:

Here is the view we had out west toward Lake Champlain as we started our hike:

The trail wasn't as sloppy as we expected, after so many days of rain.  But the wet weather has certainly brought out the moss on rocks, trees and logs.  Here, David poses with some mossy friends:

The trail is well maintained, and in the wettest sections, boardwalks or steps are provided.  This staircase leads up to a turn in the trail at a huge boulder that appears to have broken loose from the "Devil's Chair" formation above and tumbled down to this spot:

This long boardwalk led uphill, with what appeared to be an old log slide to the left, and huge, mossy boulders to the right:

About halfway up, we crossed the summit road and started up the trail to summit overlooks and the Devil's Chair Trail.  David tried to spy the route:

Here, we had to make our choice, and we decided to check out Devil's Chair:

Lots of boulders on this trail!  David peers through a passageway under a fallen behemoth:

A bit further up the trail, Kathy spied a view west:

We eventually found an abandoned trail leading up the mountain from Devil's Chair Trail.  When we got to the top, we were rewarded with this view of Whiteface Mountain --

-- and Giant Mountain, both to the west in the Adirondacks, across Lake Champlain:

In the early 1930's, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) build the summit lodge, shown below, as well as the current access road, the campground, the summit ranger’s quarters, and the summit picnic area:

We found a trail through the old, primitive campground and back to Rock House Trail.  What was most striking in the campground was that each campsite boasted a large stone fireplace for cooking, courtesy of the CCC!

On our way back down Rock House Trail, we spotted some post and rail fences guiding hikers down the switchbacked trail:

We had one major stream crossing.  Below, Kathy demonstrates with confidence how to hop rocks across a raging river:

We ran across these two cute mossy rocks, which Kathy thought so cute that we should offer to let them wear our hats in honor of the beautiful hiking afternoon:

We hope this warmer, sunnier weather will continue.  If it does, we have a paddle planned for tomorrow, and then we cross the border into Canada for an adventurous encounter with the Maritime Provinces.  Stay tuned!