Vermont Green Mountains

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We felt like our four night stop in the Catskills was too short but now we know to come back. The Elks Lodge in town did work out quite well for us so maybe the return will be in the upcoming fall as we work our way back south for the winter? Our next destination will be at Green Mountain Family Campground just outside of Bristol Vermont for the full month of June. It is around 190 miles from Saugerties with about 2/3s of the drive on interstate and the rest on lesser roads in eastern New York before crossing over into Vermont. When we were planning our stops for this season back in Florida over the winter months, we had found this particular campground in what looked to be a good location and they were one of the few that had a monthly rate. The owners were very casual about the reservation as we made arrangements via email and didn’t require any sort of deposit. But they contacted a week or so before our arrival to confirm we still intended to stay with them so however they handle their reservation system, it seems to work.

We arrive at the small “mom and pop” style campground mid afternoon and the owner comes out to greet us and direct us to our site. There are around 50 sites here although it appears that many of the sites are occupied by seasonal or even year round residents based on some of the additions made to their campsites. The most common additions were large external propane tanks and some sort of skirting around the base of the trailers to help protect them during the cold winter months when the average high is below freezing from mid December to late February! Plus they average around 120 inches of snow per season. And we thought Rochester NY winters were tough.

The site we get is fairly level and should get pretty decent sun so we can try out using our solar system and batteries to augment the electric usage. The camp is on the western edge of the Green Mountains. In fact, there is a tall mountain just to our east that rises over 1600 feet above our site with slopes of over 70% - that’s steep. It will turn out that sunrise will appear a bit later in the morning for us than normal.

At Green Mountain Family Campground

Our Spot

The next day, we set out for some of the hiking we had come to this area for. We hope that we are in decent enough shape to handle some of the elevation gains we will encounter. Our first hike is the Silver Lake Trail south of camp in the Moosalamoo National Recreation Area. Listed as 5.3 mile route with over 700 feet of elevation gain, it should be a good one to start out with.

Heading Up to Silver Lake

The trail starts out as a gated service road that also doubles as a mountain biking route. Most of the elevation gain is in the first mile with a pretty decent hill to climb. There is a large penstock that goes over the trail carrying water from Silver Lake to a hydroelectric power plant somewhere below us. About 1/3 mile up the trail, we start to hear water rushing in the creek well off the trail. We could only make out some of Sucker Brook thru the trees. At the half mile point is a side trail with a bridge across the water. We decide to take this detour to see if we could get to the Falls of Lana.

A Group of Anemone in Bloom

Penstock Over Trail

Bridge Across Sucker Brook

After we cross the bridge, we attempt to find a trail to the falls but it turned out to be a bit more of a challenge than we had hoped for. There was a trail for some of the way but we ended up following what we would normally call a “social” trail - one that is used regularly but not a sanctioned route. At one point we do get a good view of Lake Dunmore to the west from a ridge.

Still Finding Pink Lady's Slipper

A View of Lake Dunmore

There were definitely some difficult descents to negotiate but we made it to the falls viewpoint. There are two different falls visible from one point. There may have been more trail to get to the bottom of the falls,  but what we had done was tough enough that we decided to we should get back to the hike we intended to do.

Upper Section of Falls of Lana

Lower Section

Falls of Lana

Rather than retracing our path, we found a way to go at the base of the ridge that hooked up with a real, marked trail. We were able to figure out the proper way to go to get us back onto the main trail up to Silver Lake. There was a long wooden staircase that made the climb back up much safer than the route we had taken down. At one point we came upon several rock climbers doing a section of the cliff. From here we get an even better view of the lake below.

Along the Base of Cliff

Stairs to Go Back Up

Pink Lady's Slipper

Lake Dunmore

Our diversion added over a mile to our route but it was neat to see the falls up close. We have another mile of the main trail before we make it to the northern shore of Silver Lake. From here, the loop around the lake is about an even 3 miles. At least it will be reasonably flat. We head around in a counterclockwise direction which has us cross over a dam that was originally built in 1922. This dam isn’t what created this lake, but it was constructed to raise the water level by 6 feet to help with the design of the hydroelectric power system. The lake has a surface area of just over 100 acres and is rather pretty. The trail along the western side of the lake is a rather rocky single track that was very nice.

Silver Lake

Section of the Trail on Western Side of Silver Lake

We find a rock outcropping right along the lake for our lunch stop. While we are sitting off the trail, we see a mountain biker coming on the same trail we’ve been hiking here on the lake. We are both flabbergasted since neither of us would have ever considered this section of the trail to be a bikeable route, but this guy proved us wrong.

Not a Bad Lunch Stop

Iris Along the Shore

Fungus

As we come around the south end of the lake, the trail changes back to a wider, less rocky trail that makes for easier walking. We also run into a few more people on this side of the lake. This is because there appears to be some primitive campsites right along the shore of the lake that can be reserved for your camping trip.

Easier Trail on Eastern Side of Silver Lake

As we come back around the loop and find a geocache hidden just off the main trail, we also spot the rather nice camp host site that was presently unoccupied. The hike back down the hill was pretty easy although we did come across several mountain bikers that were barreling down the trail at speed faster than looked safe. We also tried to get a look at the falls from this side of the creek but discovered that while we could find spots with a view of the rushing water, none of them were nearly as impressive as from the opposite side. I was glad we had done the falls detour on the way up since we might not have felt like we had the energy to attempt it on the way back down. In total, this hike came in at a little over 7 miles but it was a very pretty one.

Camp Host Site

Looking for something a little less strenuous, the next day we headed to the Morgan Horse Farm located just a bit north of Middlebury not too far from camp. The 215 acre property is part of the University of Vermont but was originally built and developed in 1878 by Colonel Joesph Battell to house his collection of Morgan horses. Today there are about 40 Morgans living on the farm and it is open to visitors from early May to late October. It isn’t free, but at $10 per person, it would turn out to be rather unusual stop for us.

You've Arrived at Morgan Horse Farm

The Main Barn - Big and Beautiful

We arrive 15 minutes before the hour so we make sure we get in on the tour. The volunteer that was going to be our guide suggested that we head over to check out some of the other out buildings that aren’t part of the tour. To the south of the main barn is the blacksmith shop. Nobody was working when we stopped by, but I suspect that this shop is still actively used and isn’t just some re-enactment setting like many living history museums have. There was an impressive array of horseshoes hanging on the wall. A few of the designs would not work very well for a horseshoe tossing event.

Horseshoe Collection

Blacksmith Shop

Back to the main barn, it turns out that we will be getting a very personalized tour since we are the only guests for our time slot. We get a good history of the Morgan breed and this particular farm as well. The first horse to become a “Morgan” was born in Massachusetts in 1789 and was purchased by Justin Morgan who recognized some of this horse’s characteristics were very well suited for many jobs and he started to breed the horse and by the mid 1800’s they were widely distributed across the country. They were used on farms in a variety of jobs and even were cavalry mounts in the Civil War. The back hallway of the main barn has several stalls with some of the yearlings.

Visitor Room in Barn

Morgan Horse Statue

Yearling Resting in Stall

Student Walking Horse

After our tour, we were directed to the Remount Barn on the north side of the farm. This is where the newly born foals and their mothers live. Our guide told us there were several newborns including one that was just a day or two old. The larger of the corrals had 4 mothers and their foals wandering around or laying in the shade. We tried to guess which one was the newest addition but were having a hard time.

The Remount Barn

Mare and Foal

So Tiny and Cute!

As we continue past this first corral, we saw a smaller pen that just had one mother/foal pair. We decided that this one looked to be younger than the others and was being held separate for a few days.  Mom and the newborn seemed to always be right next to one another and initially kept their distance from us. But over time, they showed some curiosity about us and came closer to the fence.

Mom and the Newest Addition

Coming Closer

Both Come to Say Hi

We had originally planned to hike on some of the trails on the property but when we got to the trailhead next to the Remount Barn, it was clear the trails haven’t been mowed or used in some time and we weren’t looking for a bushwhack. So we head back past the other 4 foals and watch them some more before exploring other parts of the farm.

Taking a Break

Let's Try Some Hay

Easier to Eat from the Ground

Just off the side of the corrals was a small cemetery for some of the previous Morgans from this farm. It was unique because there about 20 old metal tractor seats welded onto a railing shaped like a horseshoe surrounding the gravestones. In two corrals to the east of the main barn were a couple of the stallions that possibly are the studs of the farm. We enjoyed the hour or so we spent exploring the farm. It was not nearly as fancy as Jonabell Farms during a stop in Lexington Kentucky a few years ago but we felt it was an interesting stop.

Cemetery

Stud

Since we didn’t end up hiking any of the trails at the horse farm, it was still early in the afternoon so we head into downtown Middlebury to check it out. We had an Adventure Lab to help tour us around. It’s a very pretty town and definitely has a New England vibe to it. In fact, the Waybury Inn located in East Middlebury was used as the exterior for the fictional Stratford Inn from the 1980’s TV show “Newhart”. We never make it to that inn,  but it’s a neat connection to the area.

Park and Fountain in Middlebury VT

Beautiful Old Mill Building

Lion Made from Washers!

Probably the highlight of downtown are the falls on Otter Creek. Main Street has a bridge over the creek less than a hundred feet from the falls but the views of the actual falls are limited from this viewpoint. Fortunately our tour of the area brings us across a pedestrian bridge a couple hundred feet below the falls that provides the best view.

Falls View from Main Street

Falls View from Pedestrian Bridge

Log Jam

We finished our tour wandering around more of the old downtown. As expected there are several old churches with some great stonework. The Town Hall Theater is a very pretty building that was built in the 1880’s. I assumed it was the old town hall since converted to a theater, but turns out to have been built as a 600 seat theater with town offices in the basement. The most unexpected location was the Ben Franklin store. While no longer a five and dime store that I vaguely remember from my childhood, the sign on the front of the building looked almost new. There are definitely lots of quaint little shops in town that we will need to check out during our stay nearby.

Stone Church

Town Hall Theater

Ben Franklin!