6.7 miles | 1,476 ft gain | Difficulty: Moderate | Rating ★★★

With only a few days left of our trip, we wanted to conquer one more peak. Unfortunately, we left some of our navigation tools back in Brooklyn, so a trail-less peak did not seem wise. And with the weather being a bit iffy, we opted for a shorter, less challenging hike, so as not to get stuck in a (rain) cloud. Windham High Peak was a bit of a drive from our place in Woodstock, but seemed to meet every other requirement.

When we arrived at the parking lot at 9am, we were the first car there. We had the entire mountain to ourselves. The Elm Ridge trail, which looked as it doubled as a snowmobile trail, remained relatively flat as it traveled through the woods, along a stream. Some mud to navigate around, but nothing out of the ordinary.

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About a mile in, we intersected with and switched to the Long Path – Escarpment trail. We started to climb, but still relatively mild. At one point, it felt like we crossed into a totally different forest. Fire harvest trees behind us, then crossing a remnant stone wall, a forest of pines. Five minutes later, just as quickly as they appeared, they disappeared and we were back in the fire trees.

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Only the last .75 miles were mildly challenging, as we climbed up to 3500 feet and wove our way around the mountain to the summit. Unfortunately, our hard work wasn’t met with the splendid views we hoped for. Instead, we had clouds, with tiny peaks of mountains occasionally popping out. After a quick lunch at the summit, and one more hope for a view, we made our way down. We passed a few people, but still only 3 cars in the lot when we returned 4 hours later.

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