Date(s) Hiked: September 21, 2005
Trails(s) Hiked: Lake Morey Trail Association's Palisades Trail
Total Distance: About 2.0
Difficulty:Easy
Conditions:Dry trail. Bugs were bad at the top. Well marked trail that abruptly ended.
Special Required Equipment: Map of the area, guidebook, bug spray.
Trip Report:
I decided to be a romantic and take Ms. Trailboss on a sunset hike up The Palisades just above I-91 in Fairlee, VT. Getting to the trailhead is easy--I-91 about 20 miles from our place. But finding the exact trailhead was a bit more of a chore.
The GMC's Day Hiker's Guide to Vermont states that the trailhead is at the "backcorner of the parking lot" toward the interstate, well, the parking lot sits paralell to the interstate, so there are TWO corners that it could be in--one is an obscure path in the woods and the other was a grassy bypass by the exit. Take the latter. I wish that they made this clearer by saying, "walk to the SE corner of the lot and up the interstate exit," because in essence this is what you do :blink:
So we found the trailhead and started up the trail which is on the side of the exit. Passing by a couple of apple trees, the trail dives into the trees and climbs a narrow ridge that divides the Lake Morey Road from the interstate. This ridge becomes steep in the first section before leveling off and heading to the N away from the interstate. After passing through the fence, the trail climbs some more and then angles to the NE eventually coming to a powerline with great views of the Connecticut River Valley
If the peregrines are nesting (March 1-Aug 1), this is as far as you can go but we were able to go further.
From here the trail angles more to the E flirting with the dramatic cliffs and eventually coming to a large opening away from the cliffs looking down onto the village and the interstate. Stop here. Though the trail continues on to the NE, it abruptly ends in a wooded area that offers some obscured views at best and is not nearly as open.
We enjoyed the great views of the valley and the sunset on the mountains. It was buggy, but we had a good time. However, this hike proved to be a disappointment because the trail only really flirts with the dramatic cliffs and avoids standing on the top of the ledges and affording a dramatic view. :blink: The interstate, say 400-500 feet below you, makes this a less than enjoyable trek because you feel as if you have not gotten away from the road...it's noisy up there still! :x
So a luke-warm short trip with some good views for relatively little effort. :wink:
Trails(s) Hiked: Lake Morey Trail Association's Palisades Trail
Total Distance: About 2.0
Difficulty:Easy
Conditions:Dry trail. Bugs were bad at the top. Well marked trail that abruptly ended.
Special Required Equipment: Map of the area, guidebook, bug spray.
Trip Report:
I decided to be a romantic and take Ms. Trailboss on a sunset hike up The Palisades just above I-91 in Fairlee, VT. Getting to the trailhead is easy--I-91 about 20 miles from our place. But finding the exact trailhead was a bit more of a chore.
The GMC's Day Hiker's Guide to Vermont states that the trailhead is at the "backcorner of the parking lot" toward the interstate, well, the parking lot sits paralell to the interstate, so there are TWO corners that it could be in--one is an obscure path in the woods and the other was a grassy bypass by the exit. Take the latter. I wish that they made this clearer by saying, "walk to the SE corner of the lot and up the interstate exit," because in essence this is what you do :blink:
So we found the trailhead and started up the trail which is on the side of the exit. Passing by a couple of apple trees, the trail dives into the trees and climbs a narrow ridge that divides the Lake Morey Road from the interstate. This ridge becomes steep in the first section before leveling off and heading to the N away from the interstate. After passing through the fence, the trail climbs some more and then angles to the NE eventually coming to a powerline with great views of the Connecticut River Valley
If the peregrines are nesting (March 1-Aug 1), this is as far as you can go but we were able to go further. From here the trail angles more to the E flirting with the dramatic cliffs and eventually coming to a large opening away from the cliffs looking down onto the village and the interstate. Stop here. Though the trail continues on to the NE, it abruptly ends in a wooded area that offers some obscured views at best and is not nearly as open.
We enjoyed the great views of the valley and the sunset on the mountains. It was buggy, but we had a good time. However, this hike proved to be a disappointment because the trail only really flirts with the dramatic cliffs and avoids standing on the top of the ledges and affording a dramatic view. :blink: The interstate, say 400-500 feet below you, makes this a less than enjoyable trek because you feel as if you have not gotten away from the road...it's noisy up there still! :x
So a luke-warm short trip with some good views for relatively little effort. :wink:
