I wasn’t really interested in doing any paddling today so I put together a nice hiking loop starting at a parking area just south of a lake called “The Tarn” on Highway 3. After a short connecting trail, I took the Canon Brook trail for 1.8 miles before turning north on the South Cadillac Trail and climbing to the summit. As you might expect, there was not another person on the trail other than the throng of tourists at the summit.

I decided to “bag another peak” and head east on the Notch Trail toward Dorr Mountain. Slightly over a half mile in length, this trail drops from 1500 feet down to about 1000 feet before quickly climbing back to the summit of Dorr Mountain at 1270 feet. Another mile of descending on the Ladder Trail and a easy half mile on the Tarn Trail and I’m back at the parking area.

One tip for anyone heading east descending from Dorr Mountain on the Ladder Trail: there’s a iron rung ladder that’s relatively easy to down-climb facing outward. At the very bottom of the ladder, there’s a iron bar that makes a very easy hand-hold but unfortunately, when you lean out to this bar to take the final step off the ladder, you’ll likely miss the sharp right turn through a narrow (about 18 inches) crevasse that continues the trail. Continuing straight ahead, you’ll wind up on fairly steep slab wondering where the heck to go next. Folks heading west on this trail, when emerging from the crevasse can’t help but see the ladder to their left. Obviously the bar is meant to stop you from proceeding straight but it’s such a clear opening that you can’t help take a few steps outward and by then, you’re not really looking backward toward the ladder. Other than that, the trails have all be beautifully maintained and well-marked.

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