Mt. Garfield (4,500 ft) 9-8-18

Distance: 10.4 mi.
Elevation: 2,988 ft (overall) 3,169 ft (total)
Time: 2:58 (Garfield) 5:43 (Total)
Trails: Garfield Trail, Garfield Ridge Trail

• Another year with the same core group for Flags on the 48, plus a few more joining us. This years memorial hike started off with a great weather forecast except for being a bit cooler temps. But compared to some of the weather we have experienced in the past few years, we'll take anything good we can get
• The trail stays pretty gradual and free of large rocks almost all the way to the summit, so we made good time all the way to that point. We took turns carrying the flagpole and even had lots of other hikers on the trail offer to carry it for a distance as well. This was very helpful and we appreciated the effort of all those other hikers. The attitude of everyone that learns about this hike is always positive
• As always, our group got a little spread out as we hiked, but we always seemed to bunch back up when we took a break or needed someone else to carry the flagpole for a while
• Once we reached the junction with the Garfield Ridge Trail, we found the group from Henniker Brewing Company taking a break there waiting for us out of the breeze. We knew they would be on the mountain and we would run into them eventually
• After staying at the intersection for a bit, we made the final push to the summit so we could set down our gear and start getting the flag ready
• After everyone was at the summit, we gathered a few rocks so that we could help hold the base of the flagpole in one corner of the old fire tower foundation. We got out the flag gear and rigged up the pole shortly after. We had the flag flying by 11:30
• There was a nice breeze most of the time while on the summit that helped keep the flag moving. That was good as the summit was quite busy today and lots of people were taking pictures
• After 12 o'clock passed, the group from Henniker Brewing Company started passing out some of the 36 cans of 48 Flags beer they brewed and brought for the event. They had about 460 gallons of the beer made and part of the proceeds go to the The FealGood Foundation
• While on the summit, we were able to make out 13 other flags flying from nearby peaks, thanks to Jim's spotting scope
• About the time we were ready to take down the flag, the crowd had mostly continued on with their hikes. After packing up the flag and gear, we headed back down the mountain
• It was a fun casual hike down with lots of stories being told. After getting back to the trail head, we continued the stories over some pizza before checking online to start getting a list of confirmed peaks
• All in all it was another great hike with a great group of people for a great tribute

For all the pictures from the hike, just go to my Mt. Garfield gallery on SmugMug

The full group at the start

Our group at the summit

One of the brook crossings

Near one of the switchbacks

Preparing to raise the flag

Final anchoring of the ropes for the pole

A group from Henniker Brewing Co. brought up some of the 48 Flags beer they brewed in honor of the event

The flag flying proudly

The flag flying proudly

The summit was busy today

South Twin, one of many flags we could make out today

Great views today

Google Earth representation of the hike

Scar Ridge (3,774 ft) 8-12-18

Distance: 10.05 mi.
Elevation: 2,759 ft (overall) 3,358 ft (total)
Time: 2:12 (Loon) 4:20 (Scar Ridge) 6:01 (Loon) 7:10 (Total)
Trails: Brookway Ski Trail, Lower Walking Boss Ski Trail, Haulback Ski Trail, Sunset Ski Trail, Bushwhack

• Scar Ridge is one of the most popular peaks to end the New England Hundred Highest (NEHH) on because of the difficulty of the bushwhack, the lack of views, and the reputation for notorious patches of blow downs. Knowing this, I didn't want to finish on a peak like that so I had to get it done soon.
• Today's weather was supposed to be cloudy with a chance of rain in the afternoon/evening, so it was a good time to hike through to trees to a view less peak. Of course mother nature decided the rain should come early and it rained for about half of my drive, ending just as I neared Lincoln.
• I started my hike from the parking lot for Loon Mountain Ski Area. The lot had lots of room when I started. It was much fuller when I was done.
• I took the path in front of the resort buildings and followed it past the bottom of ski trail until over on the Brookway Trail which has a dirt access road up the length of it.
• At Camp III Lodge, I made the usual turn onto the Lower Walking Boss ski trail. It was lightly raining at this point and the tall grass was all wet as well. So I put on my summer gaiters hoping my feet might stay drier (they didn't).
• Since I haven't been able to hike much this year, the Lower Walking Boss Trail got steep and was starting to tire me out some.
• When I got to the Haulback Trail, I decided that while it would be further and probably take longer I was going to skip the Upper Walking Boss Trail and use the Haulback and Sunset ski trails instead. These provided a more gradual incline except for one short climb just before the top of the Sunset trail.
• At the top of the ski lift I took a break on the wooden walkway where it was flat and protected from any light rain that might have come. From here you can see the start of the bushwhack just a short distance away.
• The bushwhack is easy to find next to the out of bounds signs. At the start there is some brush that has been laid down in the path, but you can still get around it.
• This part of the bushwhack is pretty easy with a cut path to follow and good footing without much elevation change.
• There isn't much that really marks where to turn off the path to start the real bushwhack. The GPS tracks that I used for some reference all turned off near a blow down that has been cleaned up some. I didn't find anything that looked like a herd path here, so I just started into the woods where the trees looked thinner.
• I tried to pick a route that went the direction that I needed but avoided the thicker sections of trees. I came across a couple spots where I thought I found a path, but each time I followed it it seemed to quickly come to a steep drop off that I couldn't easily go down.
• After taking a path that seemed to wander around some trying to find an easy route, I did finally start to come onto some faint sections of a herd path. Eventually this became easier to follow until it would get to a blow down or something difficult to get through/around. While easier to follow, it is far from well defined though. You need to pay attention while following it.
• Every time the herd path would lead me into a blow down, I would look around to see which direction would be easier. After going far enough that I thought I was around the obstacles, I would angle back towards the direction the herd path was going. Eventually I would come back across it as long as I was paying attention.
• Nearing the summit the herd path headed into what seems to be a new large blow down patch. There didn't appear to be a good way through or around it, so I started going left (north) to avoid it. It was still kind of thick and and I dropped more elevation than I would have liked going. You would probably have found the same thing going around it the other way though.
• After the big blow down patch, the woods got thicker and it was more pushing through trees than going around and between them. I did make my way back to the herd path, but it was narrower and also required pushing through more branches.
• Just before the summit the herd path again goes through some blow downs. Luckily these ones are easier to climb over and under so I could stay on the path and head more directly to the high point.
• There are blow downs all around the summit as well, so I was still negotiating those until at the summit. It wasn't until I was about 20 feet from it that I was able to see the summit canister. I wouldn't bet on trying to look for that in the distance to help you find the summit if you aren't on the herd path (even though it is bright orange).
• Returning back from the summit, I took the same route back as much as I could. The herd path seemed a little easier to follow in this direction and I feel that I stayed on it more on the way back.
• As I got closer to the cut path, the herd path led me around the steep spots I kept finding on the way up and around a small boggy area. Near the boggy area is where I lost the herd path and just went mostly straight to the cut path as it was pretty close by.
• From the cut path back to the truck I took the same route as I did on the way up. The grass on the ski trails wasn't as wet at this point and I got to see a small flock of turkeys on my way down the Lower Walking Boss.

For all the pictures from the hike, just go to my Scar Ridge gallery on SmugMug

Follow this access road to the Brookway Trail

Turn in the Brookway Trail

Lower Walking Boss ski trail

View from Haulback Trail

Bushwhack starts here at the opening to the right of the dead tree

The bootleg ski trail

As well defined as the "herd path" got

The mess of trees to climb through just before the summit

Scar Ridge summit

Miles at the summit canister. He stayed dry today though

Everything was wet today

The top of the ski lift provided a dry and flat place to rest and change wet clothes

Google Earth representation of the hike

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. Monadnock (3,165 ft) 2-3-18

Distance: 4.89 mi.
Elevation: 1,661 ft (overall) 1,921 ft (total)
Time: 2:31 (Summit) 4:08 (Total)
Trails: Dublin Trail

Having not gotten out to hike much yet this winter, a day that was predicted to be sunny, but cold and windy seemed like a great day to go hike Mt. Monadnock. I took it as a chance to test out some of my gear that I bought for cold days like this where I would be exposed for some time about treeline. I had an insulated jacket and pants that I hadn't had a chance to really try yet. Mt. Monadnock seemed like a great place for a test hike since the summit is exposed, but it the clothing didn't work well I wouldn't be exposed too long and it would be a sort hike back to the truck.

• The snow depth wasn't very high today, but with warm temperatures and rain earlier this winter I knew the real challenge would be ice. I could see that 2 or 3 other hikers had already been out on the trail.
• Even though I had someone else's tracks to help show me where the underlying ice was, I decided it was smart to put on my microspikes early. You never know when you will find that patch under the snow no one ice has found yet.
• As the trail kept climbing, more ice started showing up under the snow. One section of trail that is wet for much of year was completely covered in a thick layer of ice under the snow.
• Higher up, some of the normal rock scrambles were covered in a thin layer of snow that make they look very nice. Others though were covered in snow and ice which make them even trickier than normal. By the end of the day, other hikers routes could be seen taking multiple ways around them.
• Higher up also meant the start of some views from the trail. At first small limited views before turning into bigger more expansive ones.
• As the trail started to come out of the trees, the ice was on almost all of the rocks under the snow. The normally grippy rocks were slick and there weren't many ways to avoid the ice and a chance at slipping.
• Once above treeline I put on my goggles since it was getting a bit windy. There was lots of exposed rocks, but still enough snow and ice to keep on the microspikes.
• A number of people showed up at the summit while I was there, but most didn't stay long since it was only 10 degrees and the windchill made it feel like -10.
• With my cold weather gear though, I was plenty warm and enjoyed the sun and the view for quite a while.
• The hike down saw more traffic on the trail, but not bad since the road leading to the parking lot isn't plowed all the way in the winter and the parking lot itself was pretty rough.
• Some of the spots higher up were a bit tricky with all the ice underneath making for some cautious moves while coming down some sections. You could tell other hikers had just decided it was easier to slide where possible.
• Back down towards the base, the ice had gone back away and I was able to pick the pace back up some. All in all the test of my cold weather gear went well, but I did determine that it ended up being a bit too warm for my pants with the additional layer underneath them.

Snow covered trail down low on the mountain

Plenty of ice under the snow

Exposed rock section of trail

Coming out of the trees

The summit

Snow sculpture on the summit

Miles with the Dublin Trail behind him

Google Earth representation of the hike

The Old Dublin Road was not plowed

For all the pictures from the hike, just go HERE