Backpacker Magazine – October 2005

Top 3: Ridge Hikes

Live life on the edge as your dayhike three vertiginous ridges in Arizona, Vermont, and Colorado.

by: Annette McGivney and Lisa Densmore

Tags:
• Adventures
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• Top 3
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• Arizona
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• Vermont
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• Colorado
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©Lisa Densmore

Monroe Skyline, VT
Touch the sky on six summits

The Hike
This high ramble rolls across the roof of Vermont, linking many of the Green Mountains' high points. The 11.6-mile Long Trail traverse from Lincoln Gap to Appalachian Gap crosses the bald crest of Mt. Abraham, an isolated alpine zone where rare Bigelow's sedge and diapensia crowd between the rocks. The panorama from the platform atop 3,972-foot Lincoln Peak deserves a Howard Dean-style primal scream; the view extends along the spine of the Greens and across to the Adirondacks and Whites. The route crosses six summits, but with a modest 2,520-foot vertical gain. You'll also ramble classic boreal forest, peek over precarious rocky perches into the Mad River Valley far below, and slip through a natural cave.

The Wind Down
Gulp down free samples of Karamel Sutra at the end of the Ben and Jerry's factory tour in Waterbury. (802) 244-8687

The Way
In Warren, follow Lincoln Gap Road to the Long Trail North trailhead.

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