Mud, roots, and seeping water do their best to impede your progress as hikers struggle to a T at the top of the forested peak. Fifty yards to the left, flights of tower stairs rise above treetops into prevailing winds that share the outstanding view. Camel's Hump, Mount Mansfield, Jay Peak, and the Worcester Range encircle your position while the Lamoille Valley and expansive shores of Lake Elmore soften the terrain. Weaving through spruce, fir, and mossy bogs, the path finds an outcrop with impressive Mansfield views before rambling to the top of a straight-edged boulder that reveals a northern panorama from Lake Elmore to Jay Peak. When you tear yourself away from this gorgeous outlook, Balanced Rock is perched only 200 yards farther down the slope.
Most people return the way they came.
I followed an adventurous family on an alternate route that continues past Balanced Rock. Steep, muddy, and treacherous in short segments that drop off the face of the mountain, this path isn't everyone's concept of a good time as it zigzags down a ledge on the slickest mud in Vermont. If you survive the first 0.2 mile, the rest is really fun, rambling northward through a hardwood forest, turning right at another T, and returning to the gravel road just south of the beaver swamp. All rights reserved. HTML Coding Copyright by GORP - Great Outdoor Recreation Pages All Rights Reserved.