The Monroe Skyline - Ellen & Abraham - Green Mountains, Vermont | Hiking New England 4000 Footers

Описание: On 7/17/23 my best friend, best hiking buddy, and wife Ash and I set out to complete our remaining 2 of the Vermont 4000 Footers; Ellen and Abraham. We have been tentatively working on our New England 67 4000 Footers and this is the first 2 new ones we had set out on since Hamlin, Baxter, and North Brother in the summer of 2021. This was also the first hike we had been on together with just us two since January of 2022 when we did Tabletop and Phelps in the High Peaks of the Adirondacks so we were excited to say the least. We also hadn't done any hiking in Vermont since the summer of 2021.

As I dug into my usual trend of research about routes I figured there was no better way to bag Ellen and Abraham than by making it a full traverse of what's known as one of the 273 mile Long Trail's most scenic portions, the Monroe Skyline. This 11.6 mile stretch of the Long Trail between Lincoln Gap and Appalachian Gap has lots of woods, but also contains great outlooks from ledges, open ski slopes, and one of 3 areas of alpine zone in the Green Mountains of Vermont on the summit of Mount Abraham. Ellen is totally wooded but there are views from a rocky outcrop shortly south of the summit, and north on the top of some ski slopes. The Monroe Skyline crosses multiple peaks across the tops of the Mad River Glen and Sugarbush Ski areas including Abraham, Little Abe, Lincoln Peak, Nancy Hanks Peak, Ellen, and General Stark Mountain.

After driving up to our rental property on Saturday which was conveniently 10 minutes from Lincoln Gap and about 20 minutes from Appalachian Gap, we saw the forecast for Monday and made a go of it. We car spotted at Lincoln Gap and got dropped off at Appalachian Gap. After doing some reading and with all the recent rain I opted to ascend the metal ladder sections coming out of Appalachian Gap on fresh legs rather than descend at the end of the day. While they weren't super challenging I still think it was a good call.

The only unfortunate part (other than realizing about halfway through that I forgot my extra camera batter) was that Canadian wildfire smoke and haze moved in as the day went on, but we still were afforded some pretty nice views. The temperatures were dry and breezy and there were incredible amounts of wildflowers, lush green vegetation, and butterflies all along the trail. While wet from all the recent rain Vermont had gotten, the trail was pretty decent with only a few portions being totally flooded.

All and all a great day to round out our Vermont 4000 Footers and I was able to capture some great shots of the wilderness up there. Thanks in advance if you take the time to watch!

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Shot with a ​⁠‪@PanasonicLumixVideo‬ GH6 and a ​⁠‪@Panasonic‬ ​⁠‪@LeicaCameraGlobal‬ 8-18mm 2.8-4 aspherical lens. Audio by from ​⁠‪@rodemic‬ Video GO.

Music by ​⁠‪@gypsyandthecatmusic‬.

Chapters:

00:00 Intro at Appalachian Gap Long Trail South Trailhead
00:19 Heading on the Long Trail South up to The Monroe Skyline
02:26 Ladders Approaching Mad River Glen Ski Area
02:40 Approaching Mad River Glen Chairlift
03:09 Mad River Glen Chairlift Viewpoint & Wildfire Haze
04:14 Long Trail South to Stark's Nest
06:31 Views & Exploring Stark's Nest
07:09 Up & over General Stark Peak
08:05 Orvis Lookout Between General Stark Peak & Mount Ellen
08:32 Approaching Mount Ellen on the Long Trail South
09:17 Views & Hanging Near the Summit of Ellen
10:04 The "Spectacular" Summit of Mount Ellen - 4/5 Vermont 4000 Footers!
10:27 Long Trail South to Nancy Hanks Peak
11:17 Views from Ledge Near Nancy Hanks Peak
11:38 Long Trail South to Lincoln Peak
12:05 Views from Lincoln Peak
13:46 Over Little Abe and onto Mount Abraham
14:22 Mount Abraham Summit
15:44 Outro on Mount Abraham Summit - 5/5 Vermont 4000 Footers!