10 Classic New England Hikes, Including Mount Pisgah, West Burke, Vermont

Hiking Mount Pisgah, VermontArriving at Lake Willoughby from the south, the dark blue waters come into view, dwarfed by faces of rock that stand directly across from each other—Mount Hor and Mount Pisgah. Here, cliffs plummet precipitously over 1,000 feet to the glacial waters below. The scenery becomes even more enchanting as you snake your way to the 2,751-foot summit of Pisgah. The trail starts easily on switchbacks. Halfway up, take a slight detour to the left to stand atop Pulpit Rock. This small, semi-circular ledge juts out of Mount Pisgah like a box seat at a Broadway play. The arduous trail proceeds upward in a spiral fashion. On a clear day, you should be able to spot the spine of the Green Mountains and that distinctive peak seen across much of Vermont, Camel’s Hump. Who needs to visit nearby St. Johnsbury’s Athenaeum and view Albert Bierstadt’s famous painting, Domes of Yosemite, when you can see such natural beauty come to life less than an hour north?

3 hours. Moderate. From West Burke, take State Route 5A North for 6 miles to a parking area on the left-hand side, just south of Lake Willoughby. The South Trail begins across the highway.

This entry is excerpted from my latest book, New England in a Nutshell. The book/ebook is slated to published on July 2nd and you can pre-order now at Amazon. The ebook includes all hyperlinks to listings. The paperback includes front and back cover illustrations from Manhattan-based artist, Sarah Schechter, and a small sampling of photos from Lisa, who accompanied me on many of my assignments, resulting in published work for the Boston Globe.

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Great Late Summer Day Hikes, Red Rock Canyon, Nevada

A mere 20 miles west of the Vegas Strip, desert hikers can strike pay dirt at Red Rock Canyon. This is the edge of the Mojave, where red and yellow sandstone cliffs stretch 7,000 feet into the Nevada sky and Joshua trees scatter across the desert floor. Many of the better day hikes branch out from the 13-mile loop road maintained by the Bureau of Land Management. The 4-mile round-trip Pine Creek Canyon Trail carves into the cliffs through a narrow canyon lined with ponderosa pines. The strenuous 14-mile round-trip Summit Trail begins in a typical desert plant community and ascends through canyons harboring willows and sycamores. Wildlife in Red Rock is as abundant and varied as the plant life. Coyotes, kit foxes, and bobcats all live in the canyon. 

 

Bike Regionally with DuVine Cycling this Summer

Thankfully, coronavirus cases and deaths have plateaued and are hopefully now on the downslope in Massachusetts. Obviously, our health and safety are still the No. 1 priority, but slowly, we’re starting to see an interest in possible travels this summer and fall. Lisa and I, and are our son, Jake, have been holed up in our house like the rest of you for a good two months now. So we understand your need to dream about a new locale that’s anywhere but the backyard. But having gotten a number of you home safely from abroad in late February in early March, we want to be damn sure that the places we send you in 2020 have a good degree of social distancing, are regional, and, if not regional, can be found after one relatively quick flight. This is not a good time to be connecting in an airport. We also have to be concerned with individual state regulations. For example, Maine wants to quarantine all out-of-state visitors for 14 days upon arrival. This is currently on the books through August, which would restrict all hotel stays.

This week, we decided to reach out to some of our favorite outfitters and see what’s happening this summer and fall. First up, DuVine Cycling. If you had the chance to join Andy Levine, owner of the Cambridge-based DuVine Cycling, on the ride he created for ActiveTravels members in the fall of 2017 from Wellesley to Concord, you know they’re a top-notch biking outfitter. Lisa and I had the good fortune to bike with DuVine in Puglia the fall of 2019 on one of our most memorable trips. There’s been a demand this summer for private regional bike trips this summer and fall. Here’s what they’ve created. Pricing is based on a minimum of 6 guests, so 3 couples, or 1-2 families.

Hudson Valley Highlights:
• Enjoy all three nights at Troutbeck, a stylish and historic country retreat in the heart of farm country on the New York-Connecticut border
• Bike over covered bridges, through sleepy towns, and into fertile farmland in a pastoral paradise that’s surprisingly close to New York City
• At private visits and meals, sample farm-fresh produce with local producers and meet the chefs spearheading the region’s farm-to-table renaissance
• Taste artisanal whiskey and bourbon made from grains grown on the grounds of a boutique distillery
• Ride to lunch at Connecticut’s award-winning Arethusa al Tavolo restaurant

Vermont Bike Tour, 6 Days, Highlights:
• Cross the Green Mountain State on Vermont’s extensive network of unpaved roads, a traffic-free paradise of packed-dirt gravel
• Spend a day cycling to local farms in the Mad River Valley, culminating in a totally locally sourced picnic in a mountain pasture
• Enjoy insider access to local chefs and innovative farmers during private meals and visits
• Cool off after a challenging day of cycling with a dip in the local lake or swimming hole
• Stay at three of Vermont’s most luxurious and historic hotel properties

Vermont Bike Tour, 4 Days Highlights:
• Cycle beside the Ottauquechee River and past historic Taftsville Covered Bridge to a cheese tasting at Thistle Hill Farm
• Visit Vermont’s most well-known microbrewery, Long Trail, for a tour and tasting
• Go leaf-peeping from the seat of a bicycle, feeling the warmth of the fall sun
• Watch a glassblowing demonstration and dine at the riverfront flagship location of glassmaker Simon Pearce

ActiveTravels is here to help you get away during these difficult times. If you’re itching to leave the house, please let us know and we’ll toss around some travel ideas.

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Backroads Family Trip to Switzerland, Hiking the Classic Eiger Trail

Day Four of our Backroads family trip to the Bernese Oberland was the most strenuous and arguably the most memorable day. We took a short train ride from Grindelwald to Alpiglen to start our long uphill climb, over 3,000 feet on the well-trodden Eiger Trail. As we made our ascent, we could see the town of Grindelwald in the valley below. Lofty Eiger Peak, standing 13,020 feet, was socked in with clouds, until we were practically beside her near the trailhead to mountaineering’s epic climb, the North Face. Then the clouds started to part and we were treated to magical views of Eiger and Jungfrau and the hanging glaciers that snaked down the hillside in between. For the next hour, we walked alongside these craggy snow-topped peaks before reaching the village of Kleine Scheidegg, home to the highest major train station in Switzerland and thus a tourism hub in the middle of the Alps. After lunch, we left the crowds behind as we made our way on relatively level ground to the Männlichen Gondola. The only obstacle was a herd of cows we met up with on the narrow path. One cow came straight toward me and I wisely ran into the grass above the trail to avoid being trampled. My legs weren’t working too well at that point but I’m happy to see my brain was. 

 
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When a Friendship Becomes a Hardship

In 1990, I left my job as an insurance broker in Manhattan and booked a four-month trip to the South Pacific, New Zealand, and Australia. The day before I left on that fateful journey, I was strolling through the Fifth Avenue Book Fair when I found a book titled “Travel Writing, For Profit and Pleasure” by Perry Garfinkel. I did exactly what the author advised, kept a journal when I was away, and when I returned home I sold my first story, “Learning to Scuba Dive in the Cook Islands” to The Miami Herald. It was the start of a prolific travel writing career, where I would write more than 1500 articles and close to a dozen books. Another one of the stories sold from that inaugural journey was this disastrous hike I took in Fiji. It originally appeared in the San Diego Union Tribune, before other publications like The Boston Globe purchased the story.

 
If you want to know more about my early years as a travel writer, check out this Q&A with Highbrow Magazine. 
 
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The AMC Huts at 125 Years Young

The 8 AMC huts in the White Mountains are spaced a day’s hike apart. Though not all hikes are created equal. For example, the 7-mile long trek from Galehead to Zealand Falls Hut was a thigh burner with close to 5,000 feet of elevation change, including a grueling uphill climb on the AT from Galehead Hut to the 4,902-foot summit of South Twin mountain. While the 4.8-mile hike from Mizpah Spring to Lakes of the Clouds Hut, if weather is decent, is for the most part a level ridge walk with astounding mountain views all around you. 
 
Whether your legs are weary or feeling strong after your day of bagging peaks, you can rest assured that once you arrive at any of the huts, they are clean and exceptionally well-run by the Hut Crew or Croo as they’re known in these parts. The AMC runs a well-oiled machine. All rooms and bathroom are dirt-free. Lemonade, hot water for tea, and usually a snack like frosted carrot cake is waiting upon arrival. At Galehead and Zealand Falls, we were told by the Croo to find any available bunk bed. Mizpah Spring and Lakes of the Clouds had designated rooms. My wife and I brought bed sheets, which worked fine, but many hikers simply bring a sleeping bag to throw down on the mattress. There are hooks nearby to hang wet clothing (after a day of sweating), jackets, and enough room to store packs and hiking boots.
 
With such a long legacy, you would expect these huts to be small cabins in the woods. 125 years ago, they might have started that way. But the AMC has been revamping these lodgings for years. So now the Lakes of the Clouds has a glorious dining room with floor to ceiling glass windows that overlook the panorama of ridges and peaks. Both Galehead and Zealand Falls offer front porches with more magnificent mountain views. Mizpah Spring’s dining room is a big cavernous space, with high ceiling, where people love to congregate and share hiking stories. At Zealand Falls and Lakes of the Clouds, water is close by to go for a swim or simply cool off those overworked feet. Suffice to say that Joe Dodge, the founder of the AMC huts system knew exactly what he was doing when he chose these locales for his huts. So bite into that fresh baked honey-oat bread and gape in awe at the panoply of peaks, the reward for clambering over rocks and roots all day. 
 
(Photo by Lisa Leavitt)
 
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Veteran Travel Writer Everett Potter Leads UK Walking Tour

What do you get when you combine one of the most majestic locales in the UK with a gifted travel writer known for his insatiable curiosity and an outfitter keen on guiding visitors away from the typical tourist fare? A truly memorable trip! Everett Potter has teamed with Wayfarers to lead an 8-day hike through the English countryside in Devon County. You’ll explore the farms and historic hamlets of Dartmoor and Exmoor, the backdrop for Sherlock Holmes’s adventures in “The Hound of the Baskervilles,” grab a boat up the River Dart to Greenway, Agatha Christie’s summer home, and visit Castle Drogo, said to be the last castle built in the country. You’ll also walk some 12 to 14 miles a day, stay at country inns, and grab lunch at pubs that have been serving bitter since the times of Shakespeare. Dates are September 26-October 3 and the price is $3795 per person, including all accommodations, meals, and transport in the UK.
 

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