Long Trail Day fell just after my birthday so I coerced some friends into hiking with me.  Unlike last year’s Long Trail Day, with group hikes going out all over the state, this year it was a social fundraiser and hiking challenge.  While raising money from friends and family, everyone signed up to hike a segment of the Long Trail so that the whole trail got hiked in one day.  I was waiting to see if any segments would remain open last minute and need to be hiked, but they all got signed up for, and I chose a side trail to work on my Long Trail Side-to-Side patch – the Clark Brook Trail up to the Long Trail and Mount Roosevelt.

It has an easier start as you follow Clark Brook in, but then it starts to get steep about halfway up as you approach the Long Trail.  The trail is in the Green Mountain National Forest the whole time and the Breadloaf Wilderness for the top half.

Once we reached the Long Trail it was just a short jaunt north along the muddy ridge to the view on Mount Roosevelt at 3528′.

We sat for a while, enjoying cupcakes they’d brought up for my birthday, then doing a Long Trail Day photoshoot.

It was so nice up there, I hated to leave, but not everyone likes sitting around as much as I do, and I still had to make it to a brewery for work.  The way back down was a little faster so I even had time to stop at home and shower before going to Pro Pig.

I love my job.