Trip Report
After three 6+ mile hikes, Nabeel and I were looking forward to
trimming down our packs for an easy 2.5 mile hike. The only thing
that we weren’t totally looking forward to was the 1000 feet of
elevation gain. But, heck, you can’t call it a summit, without
some sort of elevation gain, can you? Or, maybe you can’t call
the highpoint of Connecticut a summit at all?
Our hike actually started just over the border in Massachusetts.
As we followed our directions down Mount Washington Road, we found that
the road was actually closed for the winter. Lucky for us, it was
closed just after our trailhead. So, we parked our car, and
started up the trail. Nabeel actually chose not to carry a pack
at all. But, I went ahead and strapped on my pack, including
crampons and extra clothes, just in case. Actually my primary
reason for carrying the pack was so I had a way to carry my video
camera.
Nabeel led the way since he was running lighter. The first
½ mile or so was pretty flat. But, as the trail heads up
round mountain, it becomes very steep quickly. With packed snow
and ice on the trail, it was borderline class 3 – without
crampons. With crampons, it would have been much easier. Although
I was carrying the crampons, I didn’t bother to stop and put them
on. Actually, Nabeel and I were having a blast on the challenging
terrain for this otherwise easy hike. We made the summit of Round
Mountain in about 20 minutes. We didn’t stop for long, then we
started heading for Mount Frissell; still on the Massachusetts side of
the border. The trail looses some elevation at this point, then
climbs some additional steep terrain to regain Mount Frissell. We
made Frissell in about 12 more minutes. We tagged Frissell, then
headed for the highpoint of Connecticut which is actually not a summit
at all. The highpoint of Connecticut is on the slopes of Mount
Frissell. We made the highpoint in about 3 more minutes.
Nabeel and I spent about 7 minutes enjoying the highpoint of
Connecticut. This one turned out to be awesome after all:
great views, nice challenging course, quick and fun. After
pictures and video, we started back towards the Frissell summit, across
Round Mountain, back down and back to the trailhead. Our return
trip was just over 30 minutes; round trip in just over and hour.
Now, off to New Jersey for the Highpoint, called, simply, “High Point!”
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Pictures
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