The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1879-08-22
A WANDERERS NOTEBOOK.

Y
party of four Young men left this place
/ for a short trip on The monhfaffis Z (ur
destination was Potato .yHiil4 this Il
the not altogether ,euphonious title ,by
which Lincoln mountain is known II,
this vicinity This mountain ~ IN about
the center of the state from east TO west
and from north TO south y 10 stands ont
prominently from the ridge of which IL
is peak, And may be- seen tfor' a long
Distance in nearly all directions. 1t is
the, farmers barometer for Centi'alVer.
lnontHthey being able TO IpfeaIbt itbe
\ fweather' br, tho ldhp werp dhccpfsfely
I from the afhanner in which, the clouds
hang on the peak. The summit Is g.
\ SOC feet above the level Of The sea. ','
|. Onr route lay through BfistolAa very
pretty village that is rapidly becoming
an important place. Ope unaccustomed
TO the vicinity would think. that there
would be. some hard climbing to get
over the first range Of imountains,s but
as You drive on past Bristol Won find
level road leading through the moun-
tains. They tower up grandly on both
sides, but you can trot along by the bed
of the stream, through this pass, Which
is called Chase Hollow. About two
miles fiom Bristol we commenced as
cending, and then we were bade to get
out and walk. From this, point to the
foot of the mountain we walked about
half the way. We passed through both
fof the Lincoln villages, and arrived at
Atkins, near the base of the peak at
eleven o'clock. Here VIC left the high
way. and took wood road. After
climbing about a mile we halted, found
spring, and encampgd near ID. inaii
I After dinner we hung our camp uten-
sils, etc., mp III. the trees and took the
horse and wagon down to Atkins and
put them in the barn. Then we fished
about an hour and half and returned
10 camp. We had caught ninety-fve
trout. About one-halfof these we fried
tor supper, and with roasted potatoes,
baked beans, fresh milk and bread
made out very palatable supper.
Packing up our overcoats, bed Quilts,
an AK and large telescope,d we began
the ascent of the mountain. For three
miles we climbed steadily; there was
not a single level stretch; it was con-
stantly upl up! upl on a tremendous
steep grade. )' 0il tlsi-ih % ieia'Dl
Your correspondent was fortunate
enough to reach the summit some ten
minutes before any of the rest of the
party, and as he left the line of trees
and shrubs he rushed up the rocky'sides
of the peak 10 the extreme top TO catch
a glimpse of the fast-dcclining, sun.
The view was glorious-heavenly would
be fit term to apply to it. This alb
,orbed his entire attention at first, but
he was very soon made aware of the
fact that terrible gale was blowing,
and that it was freezing cold. He final
Iy got his ovcrcoat on by standing on
his blanket to hold that, but 1t was
long time before he could get the blank
ct around him. Many of the mountains
were enveloped in smoke and clouds,
but all were covered with soft mel
low light. The ranges and peaks soon
fadedinto indistnctness, and we sought
shelter for the night. sis d--iigr
In a short time we found a place
about ten rods from the top of the peak,
where balsams grew up very thickly.
They were only about five feet high,
but we cut some away and by placing
he boughs on the cleared space soon
had bed fixed. The wind blew so
hard and everything was SO dry that we
dare not build a fire: At ten O'Clock
we settled ourselves down to slumber.
Most OF us had on three shirts apiece
flannel, white and blpe-and an over
coat, and we slept two together, and
therefore had two Blankets for each
couple. We were quite protected from
the wind, but it seemed as ii we would
freeze. About this time the moon rose,
and all around us the mountains could
be indistinctly seen. 1t was so cold we
could not enjoy the scene, and again we
tried TO compose ourselves to slumber,
and finally we dropped to sleep only TO
be wakened in few moments again by
the cold. We are informed that it was
a very cold night in the valley below,
and our position can be appreciated
somewhat when il is remembered that
the air is one degree colder for every
800 or $50 feet assembled. This weuld
make the summit some ten or twelve
degrees colder than the valley. Attwo
o'clock one of the party got so desperate
with the cold that he built fire, and by
careful watching we succeeded in keep
ing it from doing harm, although itdid
not do us much good. ,rs tad fbaalis
At four O'Clock we reused up, button
ed our overcoats up tightly, wrapped
our blankets about us. tied on our hats
and Went to the summit. Here we re-
mained nearly an hour, and saw scene
that rewarded us many times over for
our work and hardship. 1t was, the
most beautiful sunrise lever witnessed,
and, in reality it has been my pleasure
to see very few sunsets equal to 1t in
grandeur or beauty, and added to that
was the grand panoramic view, of the
entire state and portions of several 9TH
ers. d.. '' ,N'
10 the north, Camol's Hump and Mt.
Mansfield were in full sight, and away
in the dim distance was a peak that We
took for JAYS Peak, which is on the
Canadian line; on the east lay two lines
of the Green Mountains, then the beau-
tiful Connecticut winding in and ont
among the mountains; further OIL were
three ranges of the White Mountains
looming up against the sky; to the
south appeared a confused mass of
peaks, but prominent among them We're
Killington, Pico and Shrewsbury, and
past these were many Others that we
failed to recognize; on the west Bristol
Mountain, then Snake Mountain, (thc
latter is about 1000 feet high, hnt seem
ed like a little hill covered with woods,)
Lake Champlain was visible for its en-
tire length, part of Lake George was
also to be seen, and the Adirondacks
then stretched back as far sas the eye
could discern. Among the New York
mountains we recognized Old White
face and Mt. Marcy, Vefgennes and
Burlington were in sight, and the
country was dotted with little hnmlets,
as we'll as lakes and ponds and winding
streams, that resembled threads of sii-
yer from our elevated perch. 1t was a
picture never 10 be forgotten as long as
one lives. There are several mountains
more elevated even in this little state,
but there are very few, even in this
country, where more beautiful view
may be had In clear morning. OF
IL. 20 orra..d-