About the Hike

Hike Description

Contact leader for reservation. This moderate in-and-out hike will be at over 5000 feet elevation. We'll take the Big Butt Trail and ascend to Point Misery, Little Butt and then to Big Butt, at just under 6000 ft. The hike goes through a northern hardwood/spruce forest with excellent views of the Black Mountains. We'll hope to see an abundance of blooming Turk's cap lilies and perhaps a few ripe wild blueberries. This hike is 86 of the 100 Favorite Trails.

Scout Report

We had an unusually cool and clear day, perfect for hiking. As Donna and I started on the MST, we heard the sound of weed trimmers off in the distance and soon realized that the trails were overgrown and in bad need of maintenance. We waded through the tall grasses and came upon the first two trail maintainers. It was wonderful to pass through the area they had just cut back. We continued on and I was having thoughts of turning around. We came upon another trail maintainer (CMC), and he chatted with us for a bit. I thanked him profusely as this was such a good example of how much we depend upon their volunteer work. We continued on and missed the trail to Big Butt as we were carefully watching our feet. My All trails beeped at me and we found the trail, grown over. This slowed us down substantially. After lunch at Big Butt, we went down and still found the CMC maintainer hard at work. His goal was to get to the steps. Much to our relief, he said the rest of the way had been finished so our trip back was much easier. Again, without the trail maintainers, hiking would be an exercise in perseverance instead of the enjoyment we take for granted.

Hike Number
68
Hike Leader
Lorraine Bernhardt
Hike Co-Leader
N/A
Canceled
No
Group
All-Day Weekend
First Meeting Place
Back parking lot of Folk Art Center at 08:30 AM
Second Meeting Place
N/A
Rating
C-A ?
Total Elevation Gain (Feet)
1650
Challenges
N/A
Drive Distance
45