Miles: 14.1; Elevation Gained: 2,000 ft

This hike started on one of my favorite places on the LT – Harmon Hill. It’s a bit strange to say because there is nothing dramatic about the spot, and it doesn’t require a gnarly climb to get to it. It’s just an open, grassy spot on the ridge above Bennington from which you can see the obelisk-style monument to the Battle of Bennington, which was actually fought 10 miles away in NY. (The American side defeated the British there in 1777, led by John Stark and Seth Warner, the latter who led a detachment of Green Mountain Boys. Their names are evident in shelters and mountaintops on the LT). In any case it’s a peaceful spot and there are not a lot of open areas with a view on the LT that are not craggy, stony peaks.

From there it’s a steep, stone stairway (sort of) down to Rt 9, which crosses the state from Bennington to Brattleboro, and up the other side to Melville Nauheim Shelter (hiking thru “Split Rock” on the way), on to Porcupine Lookout where we lunched, and up most of Glastenbury Mountain to Goddard Shelter.

The mellow run up Harmon