Since I've had my Long Trail map, I've gotten a chuckle from a northern peak called "Domey's Dome." Just a stone's throw from Canada, three mountains border the southern side of Jay Pass along the Long Trail. North to South, Gilpin Mountain South Peak, Domey's Dome, and Buchanan Mountain form an impressive ridgeline with obstructed yet interesting views in all directions. With the interest of experiencing more of the Northeast Kingdom this fall, I choose to bring my Mountain Leader Course students on a fun and modest 2-day backpacking trip from Jay Pass to the magical Hazen's Notch.
From Saint Michael's College, we journeyed 1:30 to drop the end-van at the Long Trail crossing on Hazen's Notch Road. We drove about 5 miles up Hazen's Notch Road, which was mostly unpaved. Despite that, the road had no culverts and generally felt wide enough for two cars at most points. Just past the trail crossing, we had plenty of room to tuck the 12-passenger van on the right side of the road. The road got us excited for the hike before it even began. There were some historic sights, beautiful homes, maple lines, and of course the massive Sugarloaf Mountain cliffs to gaze at while cruising the road.
From the end-point, we drove 20 minutes north to Jay Pass, where the parking lot was packed with leaf peepers from all over. The second we pulled in, an older lady from Georgia started knocking on my window to ask if this was "the trail." 'Tis the season!
As per usual, the climb up the Long Trail from the road was rather steep, gaining about 700 feet in the first three-fourths of a mile. After that initial effort, the rest of the trip was moderate. We took a brief break on the shoulder of South Gilpin before trekking south to Domey's Dome. The stretch between these two neighbors was exactly a mile, which was evenly split in loss, flat, and gain. There was a tiny scramble just before Domey's Dome, but nothing of note. There is thankfully a summit sign here for the laughs, which is accompanied by a stealth spot clearing for a tent or two. This was a great spot to do a pack-off break for the group and assess exertion levels.
The Long Trail lost elevation pretty considerably down to the col before Buchanan Mountain. Along the way, we passed Chet's Lookout, which was arguably the best wide-lens view of the trip. This cute spot had a small ladder and sign up to a rock that had clear views back over Domey's, the Gilpins, and Jay. Though we had to gain a bit to summit Buchanan, it came very quickly on the side of a steep and leafy scramble 0.2 miles from the summit. This was the most "technical" part of the 2-days, which was not too troubling with some exercised caution.
Once we came down Buchanan, descent was the general theme of the trek. The decline was gradual and stunning, passing many maple and birch glades as we worked towards camp in the late afternoon. Several sections would benefit from bog bridges, as the trail has widened significantly due to streams coming through this low part of the ridge. Even with all the streams, it seemed there were plenty of camping spots between Buchanan and Hazen's Notch Camp that have been utilized by Long Trail hikers recently.
As we closed in on the camp, we took a 0.1 spur to perhaps the oldest shelter I have seen thus far. Though "rebuilt" in 1997, the shelter's 1948 build was plenty evident, especially in the tilted bunks and nearly broken door latch. This did not matter to us as our program is tent-based, which we had plenty of room to accommodate. To looker's left of the shelter, there was room for plenty of tents, at least four of which along flat ground. In addition to the designated tenting area, there was room in the open woods behind the shelter as well. Rather than tenting behind the privy, we chose to bear bag there. I feel as though I rarely find great bear-bagging trees along the Long Trail- but thankfully there was plenty through this area!
We had a great water flow on the spur trail in, the water was mostly flowing which was fantastic given our gravity-filter setup. After completing camp chores, we cooked dinner around the firepit area and promptly retreated to our tenting area to preserve warmth in the brisk October air. Just before bed, however, we were greeted by a barn owl just a few feet above our heads- the first time I'd seen one so close!
By morning, we were one of three groups at camp, and the second to depart. With a short journey out I wasn't in a rush, but we needed to take our time descending the shoulder of Sugarloaf due to the mud, leaves, and sizeable drop in the last mile. While I was interested in exploring the spur path to the top of the cliffs, we never saw an obvious path and by the time I realized we'd passed it, no one was interested in re-ascending to find it. Despite this, we had an unforgettable view of the Sugarloaf Cliffs that form Hazen's Notch from where the van was parked.
I found the difficulty of this trip very conducive to facilitating a first-time backpacking trip for the MLC folks, while still being fun for me with dozens of trips on my speedometer. The lack of crowds, tenting space, and unique position in the Kingdom thrilled me from start to finish on this weekend adventure!
Final Stats:
7.19 miles
1,875 feet of ascent
2,321 feet of descent
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