Thursday October 1, 17.5mi/28.2km

Hazens Notch Shelter (253.6/2064ft) to Journeys End Cabin (270.6/1683ft) (VT) + 0.5mi Journeys End Trail

We got up at 6:15, and were walking down the trail at 7am.

It was a dry, crisp morning, and after an hour we reached the summit of Buchanan Mt. Unsurprisingly, it was again viewless.

However, a few minutes later we came to Chet’s Lookout, a ladder up to a boulder for a view.

We hiked on, and the next little summit was one of my favorite mountain names, Domeys Dome.

The ridgewalk ended on a shorter bump, Gilpin South Peak.

The descent to Jay Pass was steep, and I (and my knees) was relieved to be at the road.

The climb up to Jay Peak was long, but not steep, and generally a nice trail.

This was a very persistent tree, growing against gravity, ha!

We emerged at the Jay Peak treeline, and crossed a ski trail.

Another 10 minutes of rocky uphill, and we were on the summit.

The summit benchmark.

Looking south:

More views:

Group summit photo!

The view from the top of the ski gondola:

We ate lunch on top of the summit, in a spot sheltered from the wind under some krummholz trees. It was cold, so we ate quickly, and descended down the mountain. The views were pretty good.

We hiked over Doll Peak, a short 3300ft summit on the ridgeline. The trail was very moist and green.

The trail can’t seem to avoid unnecessary bumps on the ridgeline, so we climbed Burnt Mountain too.

We crossed our last road, and the sun came out more strongly.

Only an hour to the Canadian Border and the finish!

The trail was very nice and smooth for the last bit.

We climbed out last summit, Carleton Mountain. The lookout side-trail wasn’t worth it.

We passed a fun sign that I didn’t expect, the 45 degrees North Latitude sign.

A few minutes later, we made it to the finish!

We walked the few steps to the border clearing, where the forest is “shaved” off at the international border. The thin line is visible in the left side of the photo.

Mark contemplating the universe.

We ducked back into the woods, and hiked the half mile to the final shelter.

Journeys End Camp was a nice 8-person cabin, we arrived at 5:30pm. Long day!

We met the cabin’s other two occupants, a duo of SOBO girls from Vermont, just starting their journey. After a filling dinner, I fell asleep easily in my cozy quilt.