3,000 footers in Vermont

[Mohamed Ellozy]

Audrey is temporarily unable to post to VFTT, she wrote the following trip report:

The gate was open, so we drove up to the grassy pullout just before the road descends to the stream. I wish we'd investigated the road further, as you'll soon hear...

We started up on a compass beeline from the car. Mohamed had an altimeter but it wasn't behaving very well. There was nothing very thick or steep, and we found herd paths about halfway up. A snack and some major flyswatting were in order at the summit.

Descending, we trended more to the left so as to conserve altitude. That route was a bit thicker. We hit the brook at about 2300' and started up towards Signal (magnetic North, as PB had suggested) in dense hobblebush, avoiding the patches of spruce we started to encounter to our left. At 3050' we reached the bump shown on the map, navigated through some wet spots, found a footprint which we imagined to belong to PBs group, and then cruised to the summit. I walked around to check out some bumps that looked similar in height.

The descent was, again, more leftward-trending, since we assumed we'd thus hit the continuation of the road. The woods were more open towards the bottom, although we hit some 5 to 10 foot drops in the mid section that added a bit of spice. We intersected a very well-maintained road and turned left, walked about a mile and got increasingly suspicious, although its bearing seemed OK. We had been on it too long and it refused to descend to the stream.

Luckily, I glanced to the right and saw a beaver pond, which fixed our location on the map. So, we took a right into the woods, past the pond and along its outlet stream for a short distance until we reached the main branch and then climbed a couple of hundred feet to the correct road, about a half mile below the car.

We later surmised that the other road might have been the one that forks right not far from 302, and that both roads may connect. If we had turned right instead of left after popping out of the woods, we may have been at the car much sooner.

Travel times: 1 hour to Butterfield, 50 minutes down to the brook, 1.5 hours to Signal, 1.25 hours down to the road and then 1 hour to flounder back to the car with many consultations, a bit of dickering, and examination of some impressive bear scat. Excellent trip!

East Mt. was an anticlimax but a good leg stretcher. We encountered a young man at the gate who is somehow connected to the owners. His uncle owns a cabin off Radar Road somewhere. He had unlocked the gate so he and his friends could drive up to the beaver pond and do some fishing. He warned us about the "locals" who apparently pillage tourists' cars regularly.

Travel time: 1 hour 35 minutes up.

I will never again complain about the unsightly summits of Redington or Sugarloaf.

We celebrated with some of Mohamed's excellent frosty beer - Red Hook Sunrye.

 

[Mohamed Ellozy]

More comments on the trip:

"We" were Audrey, Pat, Little Bear, Cantdog and myself. I wanted to do the only two bushwhack county highpoints in Vermont, and knowing that Audrey and Pat are doing the 3,000 footers I had emailed them asking if they still needed those two. We then decided to make a weekend of it, adding the road walk to East Mountain. Little Bear and Cantdog joined just for the fun of it; they are sane enough not to be doing these obscure lists

I was camped at Ricker Pond State Park, and got there early on Friday. I decided to scout out the start of the road (PB had left a message for Audrey saying that he had found it gated). Like PB I overshot the road and had to turn round, it is more visible coming from the south than from the north. On Friday PM the gate was open.

Friday night we had wine and cheese in the motel in Wells River where the rest of the group was staying, then went out to dinner in a nice restaurant. We were served by a delightful Jamaican waiter, soon he and Pat were singing old Harry Bellafonte songs!

Saturday morning we met at a breakfast place near the campground, and drove to the start of the road, the gate was again open. We left my car outside the gate (just in case!) and drove to the "trailhead" in Pat's car. Just want to add two things to Audrey's description of the trip. This was the first time that I had bushwhacked through blackberries, wearing shorts. You really do not want to see my legs! And though we "complained" of what looked like "dense spots" the vegetation was remarkably friendly compared to the thick spruce we often meet at higher elevations. More wine and cheese after showers, then we crossed into NH to have dinner at a sports bar the motel owner had recommended. Loud and smoky, but fortunately we were able to eat outside (the only ones) where there was no smoke and the noise was less.

Sunday morning we had breakfast at a truck stop just off I91, then drove way up north.

I think that we all had a great time (I certainly did), the weather was good and the company even better.

 

[Dennis C.]

Sounds like we have a new generation of climbers interested in the New England 3000s (for starters), Mohamed. Are you one of them? It's a very addicting sport that grows on you. Bushwhacking to me was always more fun when done with others. One peak at a time ...... Keep it up!

 

[Mohamed Ellozy]

Dennis,

I am basically a hiker who enjoys bushwhacks and likes "playing" with lists. These peaks are among the VT county highpoints, which I finished last Wednesday. Tomorrow I am doing Mt Blue in Nash Stream Forest, more for fun than to do anything serious on the NH 100 Highest list (I have not yet done Shelburn-Moriah, which has a trail plus excellent views, so you can figure out how committed I am).

 

[Papa Bear]

Mo

Wow! Looks like a great area with tons of 3ks - Goback, Teapot, Savage, NE Spruce, West, Sugarloaf, Gore, Blue, Pleasant, Cleveland, Whitcomb, Bixville, Rice, Cave, Crystal, Tucker.

It also looks like a lot of logging roads to the west of Blue and maybe right to the top: Terraserver picture.

Let us know how you go and what you see. It's an area I'm definately thinking about (after I've done a bunch more in Vermont).

Pb

 

[RoySwkr]

It also looks like a lot of logging roads to the west of Blue and maybe right to the top

To be politically correct, Blue is now Bunnell since Vicki Bunnell was killed over 5 years ago. There are plenty of logging roads on both sides, but now that the Nature Conservancy has bought the area they will probably be closed off.

B/B is the highest peak in NH outside the NF limits and perhaps the 15th most prominent with key saddle at Dixville Notch, or the most prom in NH not on NE 50 list. (This last not checked since Andy only did top 50, doesn't one of you guys want to spend a few evenings tracing divides and key saddles on maps?)

 

[Papa Bear]

Dennis,

... Tomorrow I am doing Mt Blue in Nash Stream Forest, more for fun than to do anything serious on the NH 100 Highest list ...

Mo

I'm interested in how this went. Since doing East Mountain in VT (around the same time you did) I've been intrigued by that group of 3Ks over in NH.

How was the hiking? Any good views? What route did you take? Any trails or logging roads or was it a bushwhack? Pictures? Any good diners or pubs in the area? Anyone else from here go with you? Was there a canister there that Dennis put in 20 years ago?

Thanks
Pb