| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Jay Peak, Big Jay, Doll Peak, North Jay Peak, VT |
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 | Trails: |
Ski trails, Long Trail, herd paths, bushwhacks, logging roads |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Sunday, July 12, 2015 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Parked at the Tram parking lot at Jay Peak Resort. Busy, but still room to park. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Dry Trail, Wet/Slippery Rock, Mud - Minor/Avoidable, Mud - Significant |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
No blowdowns on this stretch of the Long Trail. What is a water bar? |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
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 | Bugs: |
Some deer flies and black flies. May have been some ticks. |
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 | Lost and Found: |
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 | Comments: |
We generally ascended the Ullr's Dream ski trail, which generally had some gravel or tire tracks going up the otherwise grassy slopes. There is a gravel access road that weaves up from Stateside, but is rather circuitous.
From the top of Jay Peak, we descended the Long Trail northbound to behind the big fence, then soon took a left onto the herd path to Big Jay. Decent amount of stepover/duck under blowdowns to contend with, as well as quite a few mud pits. There is no register on the summit, but one knows they are there when they see the ski patrol sled and small sign.
We then took the Long Trail northbound, which was initially quite tricky to descend due to steep terrain on greasy or disintegrating rock. In hindsight, we could have avoided this by descending the ski trails to the corner of Ullr's Dream (near the pond), where the Long Trail briefly pops out.
There was a decent mud bog to cross on floating logs prior to reaching the Laura Woodward shelter.
From there, it was a steady climb up to Doll Peak (ie Middle Jay), where the summit sign is now missing. There is a view as one descends northbound.
We then continued to the false peak of North Jay, at which point we started to bushwhack along that ridge. We quickly walked into what appeared to be a somewhat recently cut bootleg ski trail that slabs across the ridge (favoring the west side) until reaching the base of the summit cone. It bypasses one or two areas of thicker spruce.
From there up, there was an occasional pocket of thick spruce, as well as some cliffy areas and some mud. One also crosses the Long Trail boundary corridor near the top, which can be seen on the aerial photo dropping down the east slope.
There were a few directional views from near the recognized highpoint.
We then retraced our steps back to the Long Trail on the false peak, then descended northbound to the next col, then bushwhacked down the fall line toward the golf course. Perhaps halfway to two thirds of the way between the Long Trail and golf course, we popped onto a logging road, which we took a right onto, which gradually descended to the cross country ski trail network (muddy in some places), which took out down to the snowmaking pond next to the Tram base area. |
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 | Name: |
rocket21 |
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 | E-Mail: |
rocket21@franklinwebpublishing.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2015-07-12 |
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 | Link: |
 https://www.franklinsites.com/hikephotos |
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Disclaimer: Reports are not verified - conditions may vary. Use at own risk. Always be prepared when hiking. Observe all signs. Trail conditions reports are not substitutes for weather reports or common sense. |
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