RoySwkr
New member
- Joined
- Sep 4, 2003
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Drove Rte.9 from Brattleboro to Searsburg, whole way is paved 2-lane with some construction delays. Guardrail still missing in several places. County Road has new washout about .4 mile before trail which is iffy for cars but OK for 2wd trucks with good clearance. As this is on unmaintained section and beyond last house, it may not get fixed until next logging operation.
Had brought large saw to clear a couple old blowdowns and whatever Irene left, but somebody else had cut one of the old along with a new one leaving me only one old and one new. The major damage seemed to be a couple places where there were now brooks flowing down the trail in new places.
Since I walked only 2.6 miles up and back, how can I report the whole thing? Well, we met a southbound AT hiker who had done all the rest except the last 3 miles to the MA line. He said there were few blowdowns but a lot of wet spots. He had hiked the Killington section as there was no closure posted on the trail itself, and said there were no unusual problems with Killington itself. The problem is S of Governor Clement Shelter where part of the trail has been washed away and the route is hard to follow.
He felt the Forest Service and the state have handled things poorly, giving the impression the whole state is shut down which will keep foliage visitors and their money away. On the ground the FS apparently has made no attempt to enforce the closure, telling hikers stuff like "If we see you start on the trail before we drive off, we'll give you a ticket."
It would seem that the closure could have started at the summit of Killington to allow day hikers their customary access from the N. It also seems there has been plenty of time to create a temporary route S of Gov. Clement, using roads if the woods are really impassible.
One last note - VDOT is doing a more detailed reinspection of bridges after Irene, and has closed one lane of Rte.9 in Bennington where debris removal showed scour under a pier. So keep looking at that online map :-(
Had brought large saw to clear a couple old blowdowns and whatever Irene left, but somebody else had cut one of the old along with a new one leaving me only one old and one new. The major damage seemed to be a couple places where there were now brooks flowing down the trail in new places.
Since I walked only 2.6 miles up and back, how can I report the whole thing? Well, we met a southbound AT hiker who had done all the rest except the last 3 miles to the MA line. He said there were few blowdowns but a lot of wet spots. He had hiked the Killington section as there was no closure posted on the trail itself, and said there were no unusual problems with Killington itself. The problem is S of Governor Clement Shelter where part of the trail has been washed away and the route is hard to follow.
He felt the Forest Service and the state have handled things poorly, giving the impression the whole state is shut down which will keep foliage visitors and their money away. On the ground the FS apparently has made no attempt to enforce the closure, telling hikers stuff like "If we see you start on the trail before we drive off, we'll give you a ticket."
It would seem that the closure could have started at the summit of Killington to allow day hikers their customary access from the N. It also seems there has been plenty of time to create a temporary route S of Gov. Clement, using roads if the woods are really impassible.
One last note - VDOT is doing a more detailed reinspection of bridges after Irene, and has closed one lane of Rte.9 in Bennington where debris removal showed scour under a pier. So keep looking at that online map :-(
