Today I took a hike up Bald Mountain. It is located in the Glastonberry wilderness next to the Appalachian Trail and rises to around 2,800 feet with a 1,600 feet elevation gain from the trailhead. It is 2.5 miles to the top and the runoff made the first mile of trail quite muddy, something that Loki, my canine companion, decided to utilize by walking down the middle of any puddle. It probably helped him keep cool, it was 85 degrees and 50% humidity.
Along the way I ran into this guy, not sure exactly what species but he was about 3 inches long. The blue spike was brilliantly colored, something the picture doesn't do justice.
So the commen nomenclature in Bennington for Bald Mountain is The White Rocks, named for the large exposed white rock face on the western slope. During this climb I learned that it is white because the mountain is mainly marble. The chunk in the shot above was one of a multitude that covered the trail. Note, marble when wet is slippery.
Just another cool rock, I wish the focus had turned out better. Poor Loki was suffering towards the summit, he is a bit porky and it was damn hot so I let him set the pace and kept stopping to let him breathe.
This at the summit, the ground is white with marble powder, rather surreal and the reason for the title of this post. The pines there only grew to about 6 feet at the most so I stood on the pile of rocks to get a view.
Self portriate with the auto timer. I had my camelbak with me and drained all 50 oz. by the time I got back to the car.
This is the view from the top. It was hazy so it didn't photograph well but it overlooked the Green Mountains and it was stunning. I took a seat and called my girlfriend Heather to share with her the exerience and as I am sitting there two backpackers walked up. Sure I am sitting on the summit of a moutain on my damn cell phone. Silly. Loki was very tired and going through heat exhaustion so we decended quickly to find some drinkable creeks. It was a good hike, I want to go up the other side so I can get to those white rocks and take some shots there.
Along the way I ran into this guy, not sure exactly what species but he was about 3 inches long. The blue spike was brilliantly colored, something the picture doesn't do justice.
So the commen nomenclature in Bennington for Bald Mountain is The White Rocks, named for the large exposed white rock face on the western slope. During this climb I learned that it is white because the mountain is mainly marble. The chunk in the shot above was one of a multitude that covered the trail. Note, marble when wet is slippery.
Just another cool rock, I wish the focus had turned out better. Poor Loki was suffering towards the summit, he is a bit porky and it was damn hot so I let him set the pace and kept stopping to let him breathe.
This at the summit, the ground is white with marble powder, rather surreal and the reason for the title of this post. The pines there only grew to about 6 feet at the most so I stood on the pile of rocks to get a view.
Self portriate with the auto timer. I had my camelbak with me and drained all 50 oz. by the time I got back to the car.
This is the view from the top. It was hazy so it didn't photograph well but it overlooked the Green Mountains and it was stunning. I took a seat and called my girlfriend Heather to share with her the exerience and as I am sitting there two backpackers walked up. Sure I am sitting on the summit of a moutain on my damn cell phone. Silly. Loki was very tired and going through heat exhaustion so we decended quickly to find some drinkable creeks. It was a good hike, I want to go up the other side so I can get to those white rocks and take some shots there.
