Date Hiked: 24MAR07
Conditions: Jerusalem and Dwire Roads where frozen in the AM but very muddy and rutted by the afternoon. My non four-wheel drive car had problems. Lower Jerusalem Trail is well packed and blazed with no blow downs. Upper Jerusalem has one or two minor blow downs. It was also unpacked with several false trails were others had lost the trail. This part of the trail could use a few more blazes. Long Trail was virgin snow and very hard to follow, very few blazes and a lot of blow downs and deep drifts. Last half mile to the ski trails is well blazed with yellow survey tape.
Special Required Equipment: Snowshoes. Had crampons but found no ice to use them on.
Comments: The Long Trail was very hard to follow due to lack of blazes, blowdowns, drifts etc... Very surprised that such a major trail had no evidence of anyone hiking on it. The summit is not the chair lift, the summit sign is about 20 more feet into the woods after the lift. Darn glad I looked around a little. If your on the Long trail from the South heading North note that there is NO sign where to enter the Long Trail from the slopes. Look for the dead tree. Despite reports from others I had no issues with the ski patrol.
Jerusalem trailhead on Dwire road. Note that sign is parallel to the road and easy to miss.
Jerusalem Trail from the Long Trail.
Trail goes off to the right and looks easy to follow but that is deceiving.
First glimpse of Mt. Ellen from near the trail intersection.
Through the trees on one of many bushwhacks along the ridgeline. Getting closer.
The Green Mountain Express chair lift from the Long Trail.
Plodding along up the slopes.
Hey, I'm walking here!
Entrance to the Long Trail South bound from the ski slopes.
Yeah, the summit! 51 of 67.
The easy way.
Camels Hump and Mansfield in the distance.
Entrance to the Long Trail North bound from the slopes. Note the lack of a sign.
The Sugarbush parking lot from the slopes. Gotta love that zoom feature!
Kinda felt sorry for this tree. Somewhere on the Jerusalem Trail.