Mt Tremont & Owls Cliff
July 3, 2009
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The forecast for today called for sunshine in the morning and thunder showers in the
afternoon - same old forecast we have had for several weekends. With tentative plans for a
long hike on Saturday in the Presi's we (Dave, Geri and I) opted to hike Mt Tremont and making
it a one way by spotting a car near the trailhead for Sawyer Pond.
After spotting a car we drove back down Rte 302 to the trailhead which is located .5 miles
West of the Sawyer Rock picnic area on the South side of the road. Parking is just West of
the trailhead on the North side of the road.
The trail follows the Stony Brook for the first .7 miles which was raging with all the
recent rain. The woods were a deep green with lots of moss on rocks and trees. After leaving
the river the trail climbs to a ridge and then down again to another stream which we managed
to cross without getting wet.
From her the trail becomes steep, but has many switchbacks to ease travel. Along the way we
passed several spots where we had views to the East. But better than the views was the spots
of blue sky and sunshine! Reaching the summit we now had views to the East and South where
we could spot the Tripyramid's, Osceola's, and many peaks we have climbed.
From here we had great views of Sawyer Pond and could even pick out the shelter. After some
photos and lunch we continued on heading down the Brunel trail towards Rob Brook Road and
the spur to Owls Cliff. On this side of the summit there are no switchbacks - the trail goes
straight down.
After leveling off, we discovered that the trail has not been used recently. In spots it was
so overgrown that it felt more like a bushwhack than a trail. Soon we found the spur trail
to Owls Cliff where we had more wonderful views.
Back on the Brunel trail we found that from here to Rob Brook Road the trail is well
maintained. At about 1900 foot elevation we crossed a snowmobile trail. Still a ways to go
over gentle terrain until we reached the fire road. From here we headed East until we found
a wide clearly defined snowmobile trail that we knew intersected the Sawyer Pond trail. From
here the trail seemed more like a stream bed than a trail until we reached a crossing of an
outlet of Sawyer Pond.
The trail continues to the left, but we decided to explore the tent sites and shelter. Along
the way to the shelter Dave ran into a couple who recognized him from a 5K road race he had
competed in a week earlier - what a small world.
1 1/2 miles to go back to the car we had spotted earlier, and once again we were walking in
a muddy stream. Another 20 minutes and we were back to the car where we had bright sunshine.
Dave headed over to Barnes Field for the night with Geri and I going back to our trailer
where we found that Wenzel and Chris already had dinner on the grill. They, Steve and
Christa had the beer flowing starting what was a fun evening. A great way to start the 4th
of July weekend.
Length of Hike: 7:30 hours
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