Wednesday, 27 August
Up at sunrise for the long drive to Mountain Top and then back to Manassas. An overcast day made for nice driving weather.
A summary of the hike as tracked by my Garmin watch is below. Bob and I hiked short mile days. The short days combined with the flat terrain kept the ascent down. Walking through the evergreen forest, mostly hemlock, felt like a soft carpet. We had a difficult half mile or so on the trail detour at Mud Lake. The rest of the trail was easy when compared with our other hikes. There were a few blowdowns but nothing too bad. The trail was well worn and marked. The timing was perfect, cool nights, nice days and no bugs. The cabin stay at the end was just icing on the cake.
The only real downsides to the Northville Placid Trail is also a big plus, it’s remoteness. There were days we hiked without seeing another person. However the drive was eight hours for me and a little less for Bob. If you are hiking the entire 138 miles, resupply options are limited, and you end up with a heavy pack carrying food. The remoteness also comes with loons which are magical to hear.
Bob and I hiked a 50 mile section of the NPT forty five years ago but we were unable to remember which section. The availability of fishing opportunities disappointed but the trail did not!
| Date | Miles | Ascent (Feet) |
| 18 August | 5.1 | 367..5 |
| 19 August | 5.6 | 803.8 |
| 20 August | 7.5 | 754.6 |
| 21 August | 1.6 | 164.0 |
| 22 August | 5.7 | 797.2 |
| 23 August | 5.5 | 607.0 |
| 24 August | 5.6 | 216.5 |
| Total | 36.6 | 3,343 |
As a final note the track of our day hike to Echo Cliff is below. The ascent over the three quarter mile hike up exceeded the ascent on four of our hiking days. This little day hike gave us a reminder of what our usual hikes are like.