Division IV

MAD TOM CAMP TO WALLINGFORD-EAST WALLINGFORD ROAD

The Trail passing north in a stiff climb of 1 mi. brings one to the top of Styles Peak, at an elevation of 3404 ft. From here there is an outlook in nearly every direction. Then, continuing northward, the Trail drops down a mile into a saddle and up another mile to the top of Peru Peak (sometimes called Mt. Tabor). From Peru Peak the Trail descends 2 mi. to Lake Griffith, crossing Roaring Brook on a huge log 1/4 mi. east of the lake. All this territory will be included in the new National Forest. As soon as permission can be obtained a camp will be built on this lake.

The Trail skirts the east shore of the lake to the north end, where several trails meet. Notice the signs. A side trail leads around the lake to a barn and the old Griffith Lake House, now falling to ruin, on the west shore. Beyond, south of the house, is a spring of water. North of the barn an approach trail leads westerly down the mountain to Danby, 5 mi. In case of emergency shelter may be found in the barn. At the north end of the lake again, a trail leads easterly down to "Long Hole," a long, marshy deadwater on Roaring Brook. From the same junction of trails the Long Trail runs north over high ground, dropping in about a mile to Roaring Brook, which it crosses and then follows down the old logging road on the east side of the brook, 4 mi. to Griffith Camp. This is an open front camp with bunks and a fireplace outside, and is located in a large deserted clearing where once was a prosperous lumbering

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DIVISION IV

village called Griffith, for its owner, a prominent lumberman of Danby. The remains of the mill, houses and charcoal kilns may still be seen. Do not confuse Griffith Camp with Griffith Lake. Distance from Mad Tom Camp, 10 mi.; from Griffith Lake, 5 mi. Time from Mad Tom, 9 to 10 hr.; from Griffith Lake, 4 hr. (Southbound, a little more.)

Passing down thru the clearing about a mile along the old highway the Long Trail crosses Big Branch, and almost at once turns north up a side road, and soon, swinging to the left, enters an old highway which it follows west about 2 mi. Here it leaves the road and, crossing Black Branch, turns north 2 mi., most of the way beside a small brook, to the lovely Little Rock Pond, with its precipitous ledges on the opposite side, and runs along the entire east shore. It is planned to build a camp at the north end. Here a side trail leads to the left down to South Wallingford, 3 mi., while the Long Trail leads to the right, north-easterly, 1 mi. to the "Aldrich Job," now in ruins. Just beyond it crosses the brook and then crosses the old abandoned South Wallingford-Wallingford Pond road, swings north and then northwest as it climbs the southerly ridge of White Rocks Mt., and continues on the ridge some 2 mi. to the brink of the great cliff. Here the hiker beholds a wide panorama of the Otter Creek Valley and the hills and mountains beyond. The north end of these cliffs is one of the few points from which can be seen all six of the peaks in the group named by the Vermont Legislature the "Coolidge Range," in honor of Pres. Coolidge, whose old home is a few miles to the east, in Plymouth. The peaks are, in order of height, Killington (4241), Pico