Catamount Trail

If cross country skiing is your thing, a new trail called The Catamount Trail has just been completed that now allows you to ski all the way from Vermont's Quebec border to its Massachusetts border.

Obviously, the 300-mile trail couldn't be completed in one day. So, it's been laid out near inns and lodges where you can crash for the night. The website for the trail even says that some of the inns will transport your gear to the next inn for you if you ask them. Sweet.

Another nice aspect of the trail is that 60% of the trail passes along private property. The folks who developed the trail received permission from each of the landowners to allow skiers to cross their property. It's cool that people were willing to allow that access to ensure that the trail was continuous from Quebec to Massachusetts.

The trail is also broken up into 31 sections that could each be knock out in a day. However, I'm guessing there are a bunch of nutters out there waiting for the southern valleys to get their first heavy coating so they can be among the first to complete the trail from end-to-end.

Another trail that is pretty cool (although just for summer use) is the Northern Forest Canoe Trail. The trail connects numerous ponds and rivers so you can actually canoe from the Adirondacks across northern VT and NH and up into the top of Maine. The trail even takes you briefly up into Quebec around the Lake Memphremagog area.

So, now someone should create a Nature Boy Hat Trick where you have to complete the Catamount Trail, Northern Forest Canoe Trail and Long Trail all within twelve months. Take that Highpointers.

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