Bear Mtn via Undermountain Trail, CT: Sunrise Hike, 8/26/12

Visiting a friend that recently moved to the Salisbury, CT area in the summer, naturally our first thought was his proximity to skiing in the Cats, but this past weekend we also discovered some amazing hiking in the Berkshires and the highest peak in the state of Connecticut.

Bear Mountain, CT (which when retelling this story, may confused with Bear Mountain in NY), stand at just over 2300 feet and is the highest peak in the state. Naturally, we decided it would be best to get on the trail at 4AM to catch the sunrise. We hiked the Undermountain Trail (blue blazes) from a perfectly placed parking lot owned by the Appalachian mountain club right on route 41 just north of Salisbury. Setting off with just one headlamp in the pitch dark, we set off from the parking lot at around 4:15am.

(You can make this a round-trip loop; the backside of the mountain is rather steeper and we saved it for another day)


At one point we turned off our only flashlight and could not see each other standing maybe 3 feet away. It got scary only when we heard coyotes in the distance.

At about 1 hour into the hike and at an elevation of around 1800 feet (up from about 780'), you reach the Riga Junction where the Under Mtn Trail meets with the AT. We turned right to head to the summit of Bear Mtn.




The sun started coming up about 15 minutes from the summit and it was a mad dash to the top to make the 6:15 sunrise, but it was certainly worth the view!









The top of the mountain is marked with a monument taht used to be a tower. After falling several times, the ruins were fortified and left as is.

Some pictures from the slower trip back down to the car...



It's really amazing to see this terrain we had climbed in the dark.





Overall, it was a really great hike..on the moderate side, but with a great reward at the end. I'm excited to get back up there in the fall when the leaves change!

Looks like a rewarding view, nice hike! Didn't realize anything in CT got up that high.

I'm also surprised to learn that parts of CT are above 2000 feet.

Always seems like when I start our in the dark to get somewhere by sunrise, I question my sanity until the destination and sunrise come into sight.  I was in Colorado skiing hut-to-hut, and we may a run for the top of a peak to see a sunrise. Never forget it.

Cool TR.