Mendon Peak (3,840 ft) & Killington Peak (4,235 ft) 5-26-18

Distance: 11.23 mi.
Elevation: 2,362 ft (overall) 3,192 ft (total)
Time: 2:51 (Mendon Peak) 5:07 (Killington Peak) 6:57 (Total)
Trails: Woods Roads, Bushwhack, Long Trail, Killington Spur, Buckling Trail

• The route for Mendon Peak starts out by using the gated road next to the Bucklin trail head. As it leads to the camp that is a short distance up the road, it could easily be driven by most vehicles.
• Past the camp, the road gets a bit rougher, but is still wide and easy to follow. A little further past the camp the road leads into a small clearing. From here recent vehicle tracks headed right, but you'll want to continue straight. The roads narrows up here and you'd be lucky to get much more than a tractor or ATV down it.
• Soon after this, you'll come to a fork in the trail. Currently straight ahead is partially blocked by broken tree top or branch. There is also a rock in the middle of it. Thinking the fork to the left looked like it would be the route I wanted, I started up it. But just a few feet up it you'll see the it turns left and heads away from the brook. I went through the trees to the other path.
• This route leads to the brook and the first crossing where the road on the other side is a bit obscured by bushes. I was able to easily cross here on mostly exposed rocks before going around the bushes and trees to the right. On the other side of the bushes there is a yellow sign letting skiers (and hikers) know to cross here to get the Wheelerville Road.
• The path now heads left and follows nearby the brook on the southern side of it. Today the path was muddy in spots. It was easy to walk along the side or the mud wasn't deep enough to really come up your boot very far.
• Further up the path you are one will fork. To the right the woods road will head uphill. To your left is the path you want to take to get down to the brook so you can cross it. If you start down to the brook, you can make out a path from past hikers. You cross the brook right in this area to a well define woods road on the other side. I crossed upstream about 50 or so feet above where the road actually crosses on some good rocks there. Looking back I could see another yellow sign for skiers on a tree down stream where the road does cross.
• The well defined road follows the north side of the brook until an obvious crossing further up. The brook is narrow here and there were good rocks to cross on. There is a sign on the other side of the brook reminding skiers to ski through the trees, and that cutting or pruning them is a bad idea.
• The path climbs steeply at first through a stand of softwoods. Eventually leading to the last brook crossing. At this crossing there was actually a cairn on the other side of the brook. This is NOT the first cairn that other trip reports mention during the switchbacks.
• The switchbacks now start and were easy to follow. There wasn't much debris on them which was nice, other than one blowdown completely blocking the path just before the second cairn. I was able to go around to the right pretty easily though.
• At the second cairn there appears to be a bit of a herd path from hikers venturing off the road here. I continued to the third cairn though, which isn't very big and is the easiest to miss. If you make it to the skier rescue sled, you have gone just a bit too far.
• I started out heading on a herd path that started about 20 feet past the third cairn. It was faint in places, but I was able to follow something of a herd path all the way to the summit. There is some flagging in the area. It appears to be from two different people as some is pink and some is orange. The colors seem to follow different routes and the herd paths might be more or less obvious depending on the route.
• The herd path becomes more obvious as it starts to climb more steeply and you get to the small subpeaks just before the summit. The second subpeak has a path that heads to the left to a rocky outcropping that provides some nice views to the south.
• After making it to the peak, taking a few pictures, and signing the summit register I headed back to this view point. It was nice watching 6 turkey vultures soaring around just to the side of me and sometimes coming by quite close.
• On the way back to the third cairn I thought it would be pretty easy to stay on the same route I took to the summit. But as I got further into the route, I was actually on another herd path that wasn't as well defined. I hadn't even noticed there was a split. This happened one more time, but routes were still close to each other and the woods were open enough you could try going between the two paths.
• Back on the woods road I headed off to Killington Peak. Pretty quickly there is a fork in the road where there is was looks like old metal runner from something used to pull logs or something else off the mountain. I took a right here as I believed the left to be the route that leads to a wet bog like area others mention in trip reports.
• The route to the right ended up being correct and easily lead me around the valley towards Killington. There were a couple very small brooks to cross through here and a few blow downs. All in all this section went quicker and easier than I thought since it stays pretty flat for a long time.
• The woods road starts to go away and becomes a herd path for a bit. The path then turns to the right and heads mostly straight up the mountain. It was still pretty easy to follow and eventually heads through some thick spruce you will have to push though. After that it opens up again and the path goes left and right some as it comes up to the Long Trail.
• From here it is a short mostly flat trail walk to Copper Lodge and the steep spur trail up to Killington's summit. I spent a fair amount of time on the summit as it was pretty nice up there (other than being hazy) and it was the first place the bugs weren't bothering me all day long thanks to the nice breeze.
• After coming down from the summit I quickly stopped at Copper Lodge again before then heading down the Long Trail to the Bucklin Trail.
• The hike down went pretty quick and just as expected. I've been on this route before and it was nice to have a clear trail to hike on.

For all the pictures from the hike, just go HERE

The first brook crossing

Following the woods road

Third brook crossing

In the switchbacks

The third cairn

Well defined section of herd path

Summit canister and limited view

View from the rocky outcropping

Back on the woods road towards Killington

Where the herd path turns up towards the Long Trail

Mendon from Killington

Pico to the north

Cooper Lodge

Coming down the Bucklin Trail

Google Earth representation of the hike

Mt. Abraham (4,006 ft) & Mt. Ellen (4,083 ft) 11-11-17

Distance: 12.6 mi.
Elevation: 2,548 ft (overall) 4,548 ft (total)
Time: 1:42 (Battell Shelter) 2:24 (Mt. Abraham) 4:26 (Mt. Ellen) 6:45 (Mt. Abraham) 8:13 (Total)
Trails: Battell Trail, Long Trail

• This was my second attempt at linking both Mt. Abraham and Mt. Ellen in an out and back hike of both peaks. My last attempt resulted in me accidentally turning around too early because I didn't do enough research before my hike.
• Even though the sun was shinning as I neared the trail head, it was actually snowing lightly when i got to the parking lot. Overnight snow made for a layer of snow from the base to the peak(s) instead of just at the higher elevations.
• I brought a pair of old microspikes with me for the day, but started without them since the snow was only about an inch deep. It took a little while, but eventually my plodding up the trail without paying too much attention to the conditions resulted in my feet slipping out from under me on a small patch of hidden ice. I still didn't put on my spikes, but now did pay more attention to what the snow looked like on the ground looking for smooth patches with ice under it.
• The only brook crossings of the day were right next to each other and both bridged or easy step overs. Above these, the forest turns into more softwoods/conifers and occasionally had some standing water in the trail in spots that are likely muddy during warmer months of the year.
• Before reaching the Long Trail and the Battell Shelter, there were only a couple of blow downs from the recent storm. At the shelter though, the trail is blocked with a cluster of downed trees. Around the shelter there are actually lots of downed trees scattered around, but none of them actually hit the shelter or caused and structural damage.
• Above the shelter, there was also some scattered trees that were down across the trail, but there were all pretty easy to either climb over or duck under. If the trees aren't cleaned up before snow falls for the winter though, some of them could get a little tricky to navigate over/under. There were also some patches of ice between the shelter and the summit that were easy to either go around, over, or across on rocks.
• Nearing the summit, the trail gets steeper and rockier. Through here microspikes could have been helpful in places, but by being careful I made it up to the summit without any real issues. The summit is nice and open, but with the strings up to keep people off the fragile vegetation, it was a bit crowded for my taste today with the number of other hikers that happened to be there at the same time.
• After taking some pictures and adjusting gear, I headed out towards Lincoln Peak. The stretch between these two peaks was the worst of the day for blow downs. They were the worst between Lincoln Peak and Little Abe, but the worst patch was right at the summit of Little Abe. There is a patch of multiple trees completely blocking the trail that either require a longer walk around or climbing up and over the trees themselves.
• After Lincoln Peak, the blow downs were sporadic and pretty easy to get around/over/under. Between the peaks the trail goes through a series of gradual PUDs with occasional views along the way. The "peak" that I turned around at last (possibly Cutts Peak) time didn't have the marker pin that made me think it was a summit anymore and the true summit of Mt. Ellen now has a new looking sign that wasn't there the last time I visited.
• On the way back to Mt. Abraham everything went as expected with pretty easy trails other than the blow downs. I knew the easy ways to get around them now though, so even those were easier. Just before the summit, I took the short path that leads to the plane wreck. I didn't know about this the last time I was on this route, so I wanted to check it out this time.
• I got to the summit of Mt. Abraham about 30-45 minutes before sunset, so I took in the quiet views all by myself. When leaving though, I put on my microspikes knowing that they would come in handy on the first part of the decent and then even more so as the sun would go down while I went through the patchy ice sections. At the shelter I put on my headlamp and proceeded back to my truck in the dark.

For all the pictures from the hike, just go HERE

Ice hidden under the snow

Hardest brook crossing of the day

Blow downs blocking the trail at the Battell Shelter

Battell Shelter with trees down around it, but no damage

Mt. Ellen from Mt. Abraham

Mt. Abraham

Snow/rime ice

Long Trail along the ridge

Mt. Ellen summit

Franconia Ridge as seen from near Mt. Ellen

4Ks to the north

Blow down mess at the summit of Little Abe

Plane crash site

Mt. Abraham nearing sunset

Adirondacks

Google Earth representation of the hike

Pico Peak (3,957 ft) 2-4-17

Distance: 5.90 mi.
Elevation: 1,820 ft (overall) 2,054 ft (total)
Time: 1:56 (Pico Camp) 2:25 (Summit) 4:03 (Total)
Trails: Shelburne Pass Trail, Pico Link

Finally having a chance to get back hiking the NEHH list, I picked Pico Peak for today. Trail reports made conditions seem good and it was a shorter drive from my house with potential for views. It seems like most people hike the Shelburne Pass Trail in winter rather than using the Long Trail. This route is more direct, shorter, easier to navigate, and access to ski slopes allows for a bit of variation with it as well. Not being a huge fan of ski slopes myself, my plan to to use them as little as needed and stay to the hiking trails. Even though this means a steep climb from Pico Camp up to the slopes just below the summit.

The trail was easy to find behind the trail head kiosk and quickly bears to the right and starts uphill. The trail has a steady gentle incline and continues this way most of the way up to the ski slopes. There are spots with short flat sections before gently climbing again. The trail stays in the open hardwoods during its lower sections and seemed to be protected a bit from the wind by the terrain on the right. After getting close to a section of ski trail briefly, the trail did soon come to a section that seemed pretty windy. The trail briefly follows the top of a ridge here though and has little to deflect the wind.

A nice easy start to the hike

There are a couple small brook crossings along this route, but none of them were very big at all. Easy step overs except for one, which was only a little awkward due to snowshoes and exposed rocks. Getting higher up on the mountain, the trail works it's way into the softwoods and starts through a few very gradual switchbacks. You might not even realize you have made the turn on the switchbacks in a couple spots. The switchbacks made it so that the trail was still a nice gradual incline and easy to hike up. Everything was also well marked and easy to follow. In the winter though, the closer you get to the ski slopes, the more likely you are to see ski and snowboard tracks which could make route finding a bit trickier with other possible paths.

Hiking through a winter wonderland

After a few of these gradual switchbacks, the trail comes out onto the ski slopes. There is a nice view here, although only in one direction really. This seems to be as far as many people hike at least this time of year. Above here I only saw one other hiker, but saw many below it and talked to multiple others who only went this far. After enjoying the view briefly and taking a few pictures, I started up the left side of the ski trail. On a tree that is in the ski trail, you can actually see one blue blaze that today was trying to hide in the snow covered branches. If you stay to the left, you'll see the hiking trail head back into the woods quickly. Honestly, it felt like less than 100 feet that I was on the ski slope. Today there were oranges signs at each junction of the trails, but they could be missed if you aren't paying that much attention.

View from the ski slopes

From the ski slopes to Pico Camp, the trail very gradually goes downhill. There isn't much overall elevation loss through here, but it does seem odd to be going downhill for this long of a distance. The trail again was easy to follow and was a nice walk over a few inches of fresh powder. When I got to the camp, there seemed to be a few old tracks that headed further past it, but none leading up to the spur trail that is here. Knowing it goes pretty steeply up the rest of the mountain, I looked around the small opening the camp is in and found it is just a few feet to the right of the camp with a small sign at the start. The sign of course had some snow on it as did the tree branches that were around it and partially blocking the start of the trail.

Pico Camp

The trail from the camp was steep and had a number of low hanging branches. There was a lot of snow clinging to all the trees and branches around. Luckily it was cold enough that anything falling on my didn't melt and get me wet. Instead, some of it seemed to freeze to parts of my pack at times. The trail is easy to follow up to where it crosses a ski trail. Here the snow was deep and showed no signs of previous traffic. There is however a small indicator on a post to help show where the trail crosses, follows the side of the ski trail, then turns back into the trees. Back in the trees, the trail stayed much as it did before until I got to one blue blaze partially showing from under the snow on a tree. Here, I couldn't see any other blazes in either direction I thought the trail might go. To make things worse, there were ski and snowboard tracks all over which made looking for other hiker tracks impossible. My two options were either straight or left. Straight looked like it had more promise of hiker tracks on it and there was no indication in the blazes of a turn in the trail. After going a short distance though, it became apparent that straight was wrong, but since I could see the ski trail in front of me, I just went for it. Once on the trail, I followed it uphill the short distance to the summit.

Where is the next blaze?

Pico Peak Summit

Killington from Pico

I walked around the summit a bit making sure to find the high spot and checking out what was around. Unfortunately, the clouds made the views a bit less than ideal. That combined with a temperature in the single digits meant I didn't really spend much time up top after exploring around. I had a snack and adjusted my gear, then headed back down. I stuck to the right of the ski trails and paid attention to the edge of the trees. I wanted to know where the trail should have brought me to if I hadn't gotten off of it. After going downhill just a ways, I found an orange rope going across an opening with a "Trail Closed" sign on it to keep out the skiers and snowboarders. This was where I should have come out. I went under the rope (like many skiers and snowboarders have) and headed down the trail. Blazes were still hard to find, the the ski/board traffic basically followed the hiking trail all the way down to the spot I stopped earlier wondering where the trail went.

From here down, stayed on the trail and followed my tracks all the way back to the car. The descent was quick and easy with many others still headed up. Some only planning to go to the slopes then turn around. There was even one group bringing sleds up and planning to slide down the slopes. I can't imagine that is within the rules, but it sounded like they have done it before. In the end, this hike ended up being easier and quicker than I expected. I wish the skies had been more clear, but if you stick to the trails, there really aren't lots of viewpoints anyways. The ski slopes also all look in mostly the same direction.

On the fast and smooth descent

Google Earth representation of the hike

For all the pictures from the hike, just go HERE

Camel's Hump (4,083 ft) 8-5-16

Distance: 6.48 mi.
Elevation: 2,242 ft (overall) 2,758 ft (total)
Time: 2:14 (Summit) 3:50 (Lodge) 4:41 (Total)
Trails: Burrows Trail, Long Trail, Alpine Trail, Long Trail, Forest City Trail, Connector Trail

I've been concentrating mostly on New England Hundred Highest (NEHH) peaks lately. Having not been on a 4000 footer for a while, I decided it was time to get back to them at least briefly. I decided to go back to Camel's Hump in Vermont. I'd been here only once before during my NE67 in one year attempt and it was a great peak. So I came back, but this time hiked from the western side instead of the eastern side. While doing the peak as a loop from the west, I decided to make a quick side trip to some of the plane wreckage on the mountain as well.

Nice gentle trail to start

I started up the Burrows Trail which eases into things smoothly, but it a bit rocky to start. Being a popular route up the mountain though, that isn't too surprising. It was predicted to be hot today, and it didn't take long before things were warming up. There wasn't much breeze in the trees either. The trail gradually works out of the hardwoods and into the softwoods. As it does this, it gets a bit steeper as well. As the trail steepens, it also becomes more rocky. It's still pretty good footing, just mostly over exposed rock.

Trail getting steeper and rockier

Just before the hut clearing, the trail levels off mostly with one quick and short descent just before the opening. The opening is a nice resting spot before the last push to the summit, and plenty of other hikers were making their way up and down through here. After a short rest and a few pictures, I headed up for the summit. The last hike to the summit starts with some steep stuff over rocky terrain. But soon it starts to come out of the trees and becomes a little less steep. Before long you are at the open summit and its 360 degrees views.

Coming out of the trees

At the summit it was a comfortable 65 degrees with a nice 10-15 mph breeze. A nice feeling after being in the trees. It was a bit hazy today, but the views were still quite nice. There was a decent crowd at the summit for a warm weekday. I talked with the head caretaker of the Vermont huts though, and he said it was about average. Significantly fewer than if it were the weekend.

View north from the summit

View east from the summit

View west from the summit

After spending nearly an hour at the summit, it was time to get moving again. I continued south on the Long Trail which loops around the summit some to avoid a steep drop off before crossing the bottom of it. After a short distance in the trees though, I headed down the Alpine Trail towards the plane wreckage. While I believe there is some wreckage right on the trail, I turned onto the first herd path that heads out to one of the wings. Most of the debris has been cleaned up or scavenged, but it's still kind of neat to see what is still there. It's sad though that the crash happened and as many people lost their lives as they did.

Large drop off on the southern side of the summit

Plane wreckage - Wing

Plane wreckage - Landing gear in the wing

Back on the Long Trail, I kept heading south. The trail descends steeply for a while before finally leveling off some. It's a bit rocky, but again footing was good. I saw more hikers through here than I expected since it was already part way into the afternoon. After the trail has leveled off for a while with a few views scattered along it, there is one last steep descent before the Forest City Trail. This descent also lead through a with very large boulders on both sides of the trail, making for a narrow passage between them.

Narrow boulder filled trail

Only about 100-200 feet past the Forest City Trail is the Montclair Glen Lodge and tent sites. A nice small hut/shelter where hikers can rest and sleep. I headed over too it took a break while checking it out. It's an interesting little shelter and about what I was expecting for something up on the mountains.

Montclair Glen Lodge

From the shelter back down to the car was an easy mostly gentle hike. It was a pretty easy grade headed down without many rocks. I was able to make good time through here and was at the junction with the Connector Trail back to the parking lot in what seemed like little time. There is an interesting bridge here over the brook, so I took some pictures. I then made my way down to the water so I could fill up the 2 now empty water bottles I had with cold water I would use back at the car to clean up my legs and dump over my head to cool down. And after a quick climb uphill to the car, I did just that.

Bridge on the Connector Trail

The hike went well today and I was glad to be back onto a 4K. I'm glad I did the hike in the direction that I did. While the other direction would have had a lot of easy or gradual inclines, it seemed like the steep parts would have been more tiring after the extra distance. All in all it was a good day even with temps back near 90 down at the car afterwards.

For all the pictures from the hike, just go HERE

Google Earth representation of the hike