Poke-O-Moonshine

Poke-O-Moonshine from Route 9

1,450 feet!

It started out friendly enough

A pretty pond, some leaves changing colors

Lake Champlain

Green mountains in the distance

The high peaks

Big Bad Whiteface

Camel's Hump

Burlington and Mount Mansfield

Tiny fire tower

A shadow of my former self

When it comes to names of mountains, Peekamoose, Big Indian and Katahdin are three of my favorites.  Do you get any better than Poke-O-Moonshine?  The name kind of comes from the Algonquins' name for the mountain. 

My guide had this listed as a 2.8 mile hike, but it turned out to be a 4.8 mile hike.  That would be OK, since the trail was less steep than I originally thought.  The main reason for coming here would be for its fire tower. 

The walk up was fairly gradual with a couple steep sections.  After about 2 miles, I hit a small pond that hinted at the climbing I still had yet.  Next I came across a lean-to and remains of an old building.  A bit more climbing led to the fire tower. 

This must be the smallest fire tower I've ever come upon.  It only went up 4 flights and the cabin would be closed.  What a shame, since that extra bit would have kept a tree from blocking some of the view.  This is a small complaint because this tower provided one of the best views I've seen in a long time. 

Lake Champlain spread itself out to the east.  What a massive lake!  I could see Burlington, VT directly across the lake.  Mansfield rose up to the northeast of Burlington and Camel's Hump (another cool name for a mountain) rose up from the southeast of Burlington.  To the south, I could see the High Peaks and southwest Whiteface was in view.