Tuesday, November 16, 2021

Prospect Rock

Tuesday August 24, 2021                                      Most Recent Posts:
Camping on the Battenkill                          Lye Brook Falls and Its Wilderness
Arlington Vermont                                                  Visit to the Sugar Shack


At the trailhead for Prospect Rock I read this sign and got very excited though I knew my chances of seeing an American Marten were slim to none and I was right – none.  But it was fun to imagine it.

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The Prospect Rock Trail follows the old Rootville Road up along Downer Ravine

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I could see the water through the trees and hear it as I climbed.  But in order to get better pictures of it, I had to climb down a steep cliff. 

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I managed to get down and take this video since I wanted the sound of the falls in the post.

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I climbed further down to get this picture and another video.   I had picked a good day for this hike since it had rained the day before.  The falls were more full than would be typical of late August.  Though the rain made the trail somewhat muddy.

*aside – when I viewed these videos before uploading them, they were clear as a bell but looking at them through these links they are a bit blurry.  What do you see?

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The trail is all up hill and crisscrosses several mountain streams.  The sound of the water is absolutely wonderful.  Water running on either side of the path is so very peaceful.


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The road gets rougher and steeper.

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At about a mile and a half  the trail meets up with the Appalachian/Long Trail. Just past the junction it is VERY easy to miss the  spur trail on the right that leads 200 feet west to Prospect Rock.


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I saw this sign and did the requested look up.

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Ok…….. what am I supposed to see?

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Didn’t seem to me that there was a good reason to look up until I saw the small white sign posted much too high on the tree with an arrow saying Prospect Rock.
You have to look closely in this picture to see the signs and how far apart they were.


Here’s a better look.   Very easy to miss this and just head on up the mountain thinking the view is at the top rather than on a spur trail.

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The trail at first  led into the dark woods but shortly lightened up.


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When I arrived one lucky hiker had Prospect Rock all to himself.

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The elevation on the Geological Survey marker wasn’t clear.

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The view too was a bit cloudy.

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The rock has a  view of the Manchester Valley. They say to the west is the prominent Mount Equinox, the tallest mountain in the Taconic Range. The lesser peaks of Little Equinox (south of Mount Equinox) and Mother Myrick Mountain to the northwest are also visible.   I couldn’t tell clearly which was which.


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Unfortunately for me, it got more and more hazy as I stayed.

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I left when another group of hikers arrived.  Interesting that I hadn’t seen anyone on the trail.

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The trail is up hill the whole way, steep at points and very rocky and gravely which made the walk down more difficult than going up.  Still a wonderful morning hike I would very much recommend especially on a clearer day.  Who could ask for more than waterfalls on one side of the trail, streams on the other and a view as the prize.


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9 comments:

  1. Beautiful waterfalls burbling away. Fun to click on the video and hear them. You are right.

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  2. The "look up" sign seems a bit silly? Why didn't they just put the white one further down? Haha. Your videos are fine to me, not blurry. The sound is loud! Definitely a lot of water coming down.

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  3. Great views. The waterfalls are lovely, and the videos were fine to me.

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  4. Lovely videos and pictures. Waterfalls are wonderful. Why didn't they just move the white sign down or just replicate it there instead of adding the "look up" sign?! Pretty silly...! Glad you didn't miss it even if the views were cloudy.

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  5. The water falling is so delightful. I love listening to its babble. The high zoom is a bit fuzzy, mine would be too. Don't get the signs.

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  6. Very pretty hike. We spent today in Sea World and it was sunny, dry 78 degree day with light breeze. The park is completely decorated for Christmas. I guess Thanksgiving was sent to the land of lost holidays.

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  7. Sound seemed fairly clear. Nice videos. Great hike.

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  8. Another amazing rock in your post. I'm going to get a PhD in geology just by following your blog adventures. :cD

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  9. I love running water when I'm hiking, too—rivers or falls are the best! Both of your videos are clear to me. We've only seen a marten once—it was on Lopez Island. We were thrilled! They're very cute little critters. :-)

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