Kelly Stand Road, VT.

[Jeff]

Anyone ever go up to this area? I've been up there quite often. Town of East Arlington. Off Exit 3, Route 7. It's on the backside of Stratton Mt. The road is not maintained in the winter, has a lot of snowmobile use though, but still accesible by vehicle if you're daring enough. Many many many places to camp. Some ponds to put in a canoe or kayak. Overall a very nice quick and easy get away area.

[Fox]

One of my favorite places

I try to do the loop into Stratton Pond and over the mountain at least once a year. This is the area that my father brought my brother and I on our first backpacking trip 35 years ago.

I just wish it hadn't been so well discovered by so many people.

Lot's of history in this area and lot's of beauty. Lye Brook Wilderness is still realitively unused and remains one of my favorite places to spend time.

Here's a shot of Kelly Stand last October. Kelly Stand

[Steve]

Kelly Stand

Nice walk and some history in the area if you want to look!
I normally come in from rt 100, or a nice ride is up Forest road 71, alongside the deerfield river, through Searsburg and Somersett. Great place, lots of Moose and all types of wildlife. The Catamount trail runs on the east side of the river and is a great walk.
steve

[Steve]

Kelly Stand

Does anyone have an idea of the naming of the Kelly Stand?
My thought has always been that the property was owned by the Kelly logging Co. (brodie Mountain Ski Area) they were one of the bigger and owners in the Vermont, Ma. areas for years. Anyone???
Steve

[Fox]

I'm pretty sure Stand means lodging

Isn't (or wasn't) there a little village called Kelly Stand somewhere near Arlington?

[Jeff]

Just spent another weekend up on Kelly Stand Rd. this past weekend. It was a little chilly at night, but a good sized campfire helped prevent complete freeze. And as usual, all my clothing is saturated with smoke from the campfire which my fiance' can't stand A good time was had by all; Kevin, Dave, Jim and myself.

[Kevin]

It was a good time. My closet still smells like it's on fire ...

[Grey-Jay]

Moose!

If you live in the capital region of NY and want the closest driving distance to see a moose, Kelly Stand Road is it. An early morning drive and visit to wetlands and muck should reveal fresh tracks if not a moose itself. Need to wait for end of mud season for road to be drivable.

[Kevin]

Re: Moose!

Originally posted by adkayaker
If you live in the capital region of NY and want the closest driving distance to see a moose, Kelly Stand Road is it. An early morning drive and visit to wetlands and muck should reveal fresh tracks if not a moose itself. Need to wait for end of mud season for road to be drivable.

Yup, saw some serious and fresh Moose tracks 500 feet from camp the following morning second to last time I was up there... you speak the truth!

[Fox]

I think it's a trick

I'm there every year....plenty of tracks and moose poop but, I've never seen a moose. Trailed a pair once in Lye Brook Wilderness for couple hundred yards. I'm pretty sure it was a mom and baby.

Any of you guys ever seen one up there?

[Mashmann]

I couldn't fine where the name "Kelly Stand" comes from but I did find this which I found interesting -

Kelly Stand and the Long Trail: An 1840's event that Arlingtonians love to tell about was the gathering of 15,000 people, traveling in wagons and on foot from four states, to rally in support of Presidential Candidate William Henry Harrison. This gathering took place in a tiny clearing off Kelly Stand road leading down into Arlington. The speaker that day was famous orator and U.S. Senator Daniel Webster. A monument now marks the spot where Webster's famous Kelly Stand speech took place. This marker is also only a short distance from where James P. Taylor in 1909 conceived the idea of a "footpath in the wilderness", which resulted in the Long Trail, the nation's first long-distance hiking trail. Here in southern Vermont, the Long Trail and the Appalachian Trail are one and the same.

http://www.selectregistry.com/inns/Attractions.aspx?InnID=202

and

"Stratton Mtn. claims a unique role in hiking trail history. James P. Taylor was on the mountain when the idea of the Long Trail was born, and the Appalachian Trail was conceived by Benton MacKaye on it's summit."

[Fox]

Stratton

"Stratton Mtn. claims a unique role in hiking trail history. James P. Taylor was on the mountain when the idea of the Long Trail was born, and the Appalachian Trail was conceived by Benton MacKaye on it's summit."

There's a plaque on the summit of Stratton commemorating this...

Plaque Photo

[Jeff]

We did another trip up Kelly Stand Rd. It turned out to be Kevin and Valerie, Gerard and myself. We camped out a couple of nights. First night it got down in temperature to the mid teens. It was a bit cool. Found that hand and toe warmers help considerably. Saturday morning we wer rudely awakened by a guy that got stuck in a ditch where there was a lot of run-off. Kevin had fun pulling the guy out with his Hyundai 4 wheel drive. Afterwards we went and found a nice little diner in Arlington called Chaunceys. Nice little place. I suggest that if you are ever out there to stop in. The waitress was very personable and told us some stories that gave us some laughs. We saw a light dusting of snow saturday night. The temperature was in the low 30's that night probably due to the cloud cover. It was much better for hanging out by the fire and even for sleeping. Around 9:30 or 10:00 p.m. that night we got board and decided to go for a little drive. Did a little sight seeing and tried to figure out some of the back roads. Got a lot of ideas for driving throughout the entire area back there to figure out where it all goes and ends up. We finally got ourselves a decent little fire going. The wind helped churn the coals into a nice hot little inferno. Sunday we broke out of camp a little early and came home. Stopped and did brunch at Valerie's. She has a really nice loon that she keeps in her living room. Can't wait until spring time to really explore out there.

[fvrwld]

shhh Jeff...that loon was supposed to be a secret. What if the DEC finds out?

It was a nice spot. Would be a good place to camp and explore with mountain bikes.

[jeclose]

Yup, saw some serious and fresh Moose tracks 500 feet from camp the following morning second to last time I was up there... you speak the truth!

Well, yours truly had the distinct, rare pleasure of sighting a bull moose with a full rack (no, not THAT kind of rack...) yesterday while skiing out the unbroken Stratton Pond Trail. He was a beauty, but he disappeared before I could get the camera out.