Inventory of Fall Outings
By
Elizabeth Bassett

Snake Mountain, Addison- It's close (half hour), it's short (an hour
up), and the panorama is spectacular. Gaze upon farmland, migrating
hawks and geese (the latter at Dead Creek Wildlife Management Area),
and to Lake Champlain and the Adirondacks beyond. Elevation gain of
900'.

Hunger Mountain, Waterbury- In the Wooster Range, 3,586-foot Mount
Hunger offers a bald summit with sheltered nooks for lunch and views
of the Adirondack, Green, and White Mountains. A steep 2.2 mile trail
gains 2,290 feet- similar to Burrows Trail up Camel's Hump.

Sunset Ridge, Underhill State Park- Rare in the east, this 3.3 mile
hike explodes into the open about halfway up. Western views extend
over the Lake Champlain Basin. Exposure cuts both ways. This trail to
Mt. Mansfield's Chin can be windy but in good weather it's glorious.
Elevation gain 2,500 feet.

And now, for something completely different:
Rock of Ages Quarry, Barre- Shame on you if you've not visited this
geologic wonder. It's scale confounds- 200-ton blocks of granite, the
hardest of rocks, extracted from a dome two by four miles at the
surface and ten miles deep! Tours depart Monday through Saturday,
9:15-3 PM, through October 16.

Hunting Season Outings

Causeway Park, Colchester- Once upon a time the Rutland Railroad line.
Feel like a yachtsman without the headaches! The trail, on huge chunks
of marble, slices across Lake Champlain to just yards from South Hero.
New bike and pedestrian bridge connects this Colchester neighborhood
to the Burlington Bike Path. About six miles round trip from Airport
Park.

Intervale to Ethan Allen Homestead- Burlington. An incubator of
sustainability, the Intervale is home to wood chip-fired McNeil
Electric plant, the Intervale Compost Project, organic growers, and
community gardens. Trails parallel the meandering Winooski. At the
Homestead boardwalks criss-cross interpreted wetlands and walking
paths lace the fields and woods. A maze of paths on this fertile
floodplain.