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Tonight, we're doing something a little different. I'm going to share some photos of my weekend on a section of the Long Trail in beautiful Vermont. This of course will be accompanied by our usual eco-diary roundup.
Peruse the eKos Library to find previously listed diaries. You can also follow eKos on Twitter.
Tonight's editor: patrick
All views expressed by today's editor do not necessarily represent those of eKos or eKos listed diarists.
This wasn't a particularly long hike. Just 18 miles over a couple of days. However, it did include a summit of the highest peak in the state, with plenty of elevation changes and a number of scrambles.
The first day was a little cloudy, but fortunately there wasn't any precipitation. We got to the trailhead in the afternoon, and it was only a couple of miles to the first lodge. I was expecting more of an open shelter, but apparently the Green Mountain Club has some nice facilities available for only 5 bucks a night, and we had them all to ourselves.
The next day the sky cleared up nicely, and we left the frosty morning behind on our ascent up Bolton Mt. Along the way, we got a nice look from Harrington's View, at an elevation of about 2500 ft.
We encountered a couple of streams in the coniferous forests with the distinctive color of tannins (think tea and coffee).
We proceeded over Bolton Mt. (3725 ft) and Mt. Mayo (3160 ft), and then descended into Nebraska Notch, where we ate lunch next to a photogenic pond.
We also got a look at where we had been:
(At least, I'm fairly certain that's Mayo and Bolton).
From the notch, we still had a few miles and about a thousand feet to go to get to Butler lodge. This lodge was even nicer than the first one, and had an excellent view.
After settling in, we got to witness a gorgeous sunset.
The next morning we continued our ascent up Mt. Mansfield. Again, the weather was beautiful.
The climb got a little bit trickier the further we went, and I didn't take any more photos until we had made it most of the way up to the Forehead of Mt. Mansfield.
Mansfield has quite a ridgeline, including the Forehead, the Nose, and the summit at the Chin.
(From the forehead, the Nose (towers) and the Chin in the distance.)
The trail along the ridge was a lot of fun. The area is well protected because of the sensitivity of the alpine plants, and so the trail was clearly marked on either side where necessary.
The gondola for the ski area was in operation, and if my legs had a vote, they probably would have gone for it. But of course I wasn't going to miss the best part!
(looking back toward the Nose and the Forehead.)
(I'm certain there is an interesting story behind the name for this trail...)
(Apparently there is flora up on Mansfield that is found nowhere else in the state of Vermont.)
The view from the Chin was amazing. We could see New York (the Adirondacks), Canada, and New Hampshire.
The USGS marker was pretty easy to find:
And of course I had to have my picture taken at the very tippy-top:
After that, it was seemingly straight down (not really, but it was a bit steep for a while there). It's not as impressive in the photos, but a couple of us looked back up and said something like, 'wow, we just came down from there!'
One last view before coming down into the valley:
A Call for Editors!
eKos, your beloved one-stop-shop for environmental diaries and series, could really use a few more volunteers. We have a great crew, but with the nhttp://www.dailykos.com/story/2010/10/8/193116/507?new=trueew school year and election season in full swing, we're all pretty booked. We'll try to keep the 'ship going, but without some help, we'll have to scale back a bit.
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(All times Eastern!)
eKos diaries from Friday, October 08, 2010 |
Diary | Author | Time (Eastern) | Tags |
Gulf Watchers Morning Edition - BP Catastrophe AUV #405 | bleeding heart | 10/8/2010 6:48:36 AM | Oilpocalypse, BP, Deepwater Horizon, Macondo, Gulf of Mexico |
Giving Farmers a Reason to Stay | NourishingthePlanet | 10/8/2010 9:03:08 AM | ekos, Nourishing the Planet, State of the World, Innovation, Home Farm Project |
OR-GOV: Dudley's plan to increase deforestation | Laurence Lewis | 10/8/2010 9:46:03 AM | Oregon, deforestation, clearcutting, Chris Dudley, John Kitzhaber |
CA-Prop 21: Save State Parks (with pics and poll!) | Senor Unoball | 10/8/2010 10:39:31 AM | Proposition 21, Prop. 21, CA-Prop. 21, CA-Proposition 21, California |
eKos diaries from Thursday, October 07, 2010 |
Diary | Author | Time (Eastern) | Tags |
The Last Most Beautiful | erratic | 10/7/2010 12:24:45 AM | dogs, nature, beauty, ekos |
I'm In Love With My Car | Edger | 10/7/2010 9:13:09 AM | Cars, Climate Change, eKos |
White House hid the truth on spill: The truth and the oil is still out there. | Phil Radford II Greenpeace | 10/7/2010 11:02:30 AM | animals, chevron, Climate change, energy, environment |
Haitian Farmers: Growing Strength to Grow Food | Bev Bell | 10/7/2010 12:13:07 PM | ekos, Haiti, Earthquake, Haiti Aid, Haiti Reconstruction |
Oklahoma Town Fights Coal Ash | Bruce Nilles | 10/7/2010 12:35:54 PM | eKos, coal ash, coal, Sierra Club, Oklahoma |
eKos: Bee Colony Collapse Mystery Clues Revealed | FishOutofWater | 10/7/2010 4:36:46 PM | Recommended, eKos, environment, honey bees, bees |
White House and My House, Reflections on 10 months of Solar in Central Texas | Jakkalbessie | 10/7/2010 5:45:06 PM | Ekos, Green Energy, Solar Energy, federal government, White House |
Tales from the Larder: Mushrooms, part 2 | Patric Juillet | 10/7/2010 6:00:00 PM | Tales from the Larder, Food Series, Recipes, Mushrooms, Fungi |
eKos diaries from Wednesday, October 06, 2010 |
Diary | Author | Time (Eastern) | Tags |
VA AG re-files against UVA/Mann: Climate-change McCarthyism | seesdifferent | 10/6/2010 1:55:44 AM | ekos, Michael Mann, climate science, McCarthyism, anti-science |
Gulf Watchers Morning Edition - BP Catastrophe AUV #404 | peraspera | 10/6/2010 6:18:17 AM | Oilpocalypse, BP, Deepwater Horizon, Macondo, Gulf of Mexico |
Nourishing the Planet TV: Reducing Post-Harvest Waste | NourishingthePlanet | 10/6/2010 9:42:55 AM | ekos, Nourishing the Planet, Nourishing the Planet TV, NtP TV, Innovation |
Peabody Coal's Plan to Save the World...Or Itself? | Bruce Nilles | 10/6/2010 12:52:17 PM | eKos, Peabody Energy, coal, energy poverty, Sierra Club |
Obama's BP Oil-Spill Commision - Government Untruthful | southof | 10/6/2010 2:30:57 PM | BP, oil-spill; Macondo; NOAA; false estimates of the size of the spill; Gulf of Mexico; environmental damage; damage and destruction to people's lives in the Gulf; Hurricane katrina; Bush; criticism, eKos |
How to Say "Never Again" | Michael Brune | 10/6/2010 6:05:09 PM | BP, oil, transportation, ekos |
Virginia AG Cuccinelli continues climate science witch hunt | DWG | 10/6/2010 6:40:31 PM | climate science, Virginia, Attorney General, Kenneth Cuccinelli, University of Virginia |
Drumming For The Planet: MA Climate Action, 11/6/10 | WarrenS | 10/6/2010 8:44:25 PM | benefit concert, eKos, 350, drumming, music |
OMB Censored Accurate Calculations of BP Oil Flow | FishOutofWater | 10/6/2010 9:39:19 PM | eKos, oilpocalypse, BP spill, OMB, censorship |
eKos diaries from Tuesday, October 05, 2010 |
Diary | Author | Time (Eastern) | Tags |
Obama White House going solar! | Lawrence | 10/5/2010 6:48:01 AM | eKos, President Obama, Solar, White House, environment |
Fracking is SAFE! Just ask the "Energy Citizens"! S'okay if your tap water ignites. | Eclectablog | 10/5/2010 8:17:34 AM | Fracking, Frackaction.com, Rachel Maddow, Pete Seeger, Mark Ruffalo |
Gulf Watchers Morning Edition - BP Catastrophe AUV #403 | Darryl House | 10/5/2010 9:25:11 AM | Oilpocalypse, BP, Deepwater Horizon, Macondo, Gulf of Mexico |
Big Win: White House Goes Solar! | Bill McKibben | 10/5/2010 10:52:24 AM | 350.org, ekos, green, bill mckibben, climate change |
The Amazing charity: water, in Photos | Patric Juillet | 10/5/2010 1:22:48 PM | Recommended, DK GreenRoots, Water Charity, Water, Environment |
Finally, military intelligence that is not an oxymoron | DWG | 10/5/2010 2:59:42 PM | clean energy, military, energy policy, New York Times, Elisabeth Rosenthal |
New Jersey Residents Can Earn Actual Ca$h if They Go Solar | dotcommodity | 10/5/2010 4:47:05 PM | eKos, solar, cheap solar, free solar, solar SRECs |
First-Ever Solar Projects Approved for Federal Lands and Other Good Environmental News | askew | 10/5/2010 6:39:20 PM | Environment, Energy, Obama Administration, eKos |
On winning the climate war | converger | 10/5/2010 7:55:31 PM | climate, Obama, NRDC, EDF, Al Gore |
What the US Military Knows That Politicians Don’t | NoMoJoe | 10/5/2010 8:02:28 PM | climate change, fossil fuels, global warming deniers, renewable energy, ekos |
eKos diaries from Monday, October 04, 2010 |
Diary | Author | Time (Eastern) | Tags |
"The James Buchanan of Climate Change"? | RLMiller | 10/4/2010 12:22:57 AM | eKos, climate change, global warming, Barack Obama |
Perhaps I Should Put Up Flags | Miep | 10/4/2010 1:03:50 AM | strategy, eKos, community, politics, Little Texas |
Gulf Watchers Morning Edition - BP Catastrophe AUV #402 | Yasuragi | 10/4/2010 6:50:45 AM | Oilpocalypse, BP, Deepwater Horizon, Macondo, Gulf of Mexico |
Village Green: the Design & Context of Public Transportation | Kaid at NRDC | 10/4/2010 9:09:46 AM | cities, eKos, public transportation, urban planning, communities |
A Lame Excuse for Lame-Duck Legislation | A Siegel | 10/4/2010 10:00:57 AM | ekos, natural gas, senator harry reid, congress, lame-duck session |
"Even Jesus couldn't save their souls" | Edger | 10/4/2010 11:54:15 AM | british petroleum, BP, Deepwater Horizon, Gulf of Mexico, eKos |
Science Tidbits | possum | 10/4/2010 3:32:05 PM | Science, Teaching, Learning, eKos |
Macca's Meatless Monday...I'm Down Under | beach babe in fl | 10/4/2010 6:02:19 PM | eKos, climate change, meat production, livestock production, health |
Mental Gymnastics: The "Going Green" Year Long Project | webranding | 10/4/2010 8:19:45 PM | eKos, Garden, Green, Environment, DIY |
EcoJustice: Scars Upon Sacred Land II: Apache Leap and BHP Billiton/Rio Tinto | Aji | 10/4/2010 10:00:47 PM | EcoJustice, eKos, Apache Leap, Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton |
Underwater Hawai'i - A Photo Diary with bOObies | Haole in Hawaii | 10/4/2010 11:13:35 PM | photography, photos, Hawaii, marine life, eKos |
eKos diaries from Sunday, October 03, 2010 |
Diary | Author | Time (Eastern) | Tags |
AGW: Tianjin10/04-09 & 350 ppm | koNko | 10/3/2010 3:43:28 PM | eKos, Environment, Global Warming, Rescued |
Sunday Train: 1:36 NYC/Boston, 1:23 NYC/DC, $117b, 30yrs | BruceMcF | 10/3/2010 7:57:45 PM | ekos, HSR, transportation, passenger rail, Amtrak |
Gulf Waters Riddled with BP Carcinogens | rb137 | 10/3/2010 10:00:39 PM | Recommended, CCNR, Climate Change News Roundup, BP, climate change |
Public Lands, the Solar Fast Track, and a Greener Future ... hopefully | jamess | 10/3/2010 10:29:20 PM | Fast-Track, Renewable Energy Projects, Public Lands, Barack Obama, BLM |
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