Bear Mt----VT Long Trail

vftt.org

Help Support vftt.org:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

AntlerPeak

New member
Joined
Oct 10, 2004
Messages
419
Reaction score
32
Location
Western Wa
So today we took one of those half day hikes to a minor summit on the Long Trail. Last fall I had noticed on the new Long Trail map they had done a reroute in the section north of Wallingford. I had asked Poison Ivy as she had recently done the Long trail if Bear Mountain was worth a trip in its own right. She said no not really it was basically a wooded high point along the way. As I respect Ivy's opinion I dropped that idea in favor of more interesting peaks.

Why now, why a change of mind? Simply put it is a route of just under six miles round trip with an ascent of 1140 feet and a short distance from where I live. Also when I hiked the Long Trail the route bypassed Bear Mt climbing over a really worthless hill and had the added "joy" of walking several miles over a hard scrabble dirt road which was no fun at all. We sort of figured with the leaves down there may be something of value there.

What we found was a very nice trail through a hardwood forest in the lower portion turning into a mixture of evergreens near the summit but still including some hardwoods. There is also a parking lot above rte 140 for Long Trail hikers but you will need a four wheel drive to access it as there is a short steep dirt road leading several yards up to it. The road and lot was not plowed though there was only four inches of snow on the ground.

We bare booted the entire length of trail as there simply was not enough snow to need snowshoes. In fact there were several areas that were bare showing both earth and rocks. Plenty of views were available to the south in a western arc to the north. Most impressive were the cliffs on White rocks mountain directly south. The summit as Ivy said was wooded and viewless, but the trail is excellent. Its grade was moderate pretty much in a steady range of what you would expect with a four hundred foot per mile grade.

The views open up after less than a mile of hiking and stay with you to just below the summit. This hill offers a nice half day moderate hike.
 
It sounds like it was good that you weren't dissauded by my opinion! :) I don't remember that Bear Mtn. too fondly... but it was a super hot day and I was tuckered at the end of a long trip when I hiked it. Perhaps I should go back and take another look! :)

I definitely enjoyed your report (and not just because of your kind words.)

- Ivy
 
It does make a difference when you are hiking five point four miles round trip as opposed to having just descended White Rocks Mt and now trudging over this viewless summit with yet another to ascend before you can call it a day.

I don't know if you recall this one or not Ivy. A little gem called Surplus Mt on the AT in Maine. It is just south of Dunn Notch on your way to the Baldpates. We encountered Surplus after Wyman Moody and Hall mountains. After crossing the road we began what seemed to be an endless struggle with Surplus then made an abrupt descent to a sign that pointed back to the highway down and to our left. To the right lay the Baldpates and behind Surplus. I remember thinking a short walk up the road to the old trail could have avoided this. Oh yes we all have "fond" memories of certain mountains. I just wonder if the AT still goes over Surplus. What an apt name for that mountain.
 
AntlerPeak said:
I don't know if you recall this one or not Ivy. A little gem called Surplus Mt on the AT in Maine.

LOL... I sure do remember Surplus Mountain. I don't have fond memories of that one either. I hiked it in April last year... there were very, very faint blazes, lots of snow and a zillion blowdowns and I managed to lose the trail somewhere on the descent. (I ended up following an old woods road to a logging road.... it was not my finest hour of navigating.) I had to go back and hike it a second time a few weeks later to ensure I hit all those white blazes. :)

- Ivy
 
Old Blue a bit before that was real nice I really liked that mountain. It is funny how Moody, Hall and Wyman have faded from memory. Surplus was a different story. Perhaps it is because the reroute formed an arc to incorporate the hill into the route then dumped you back on the old trail. I employed the irrational thinking they did this on purpose and for what! To torture hikers of course, but later reason returned. The Baldpates were outstanding and made up for Surplus but not so much it allowed me to forget it. We had hiked the trail from The Kennebec south to Gorham in one trip. It was outstanding but at times brutal. There are many beautiful places on that trail which keep the trip on my list of great treks.
 

Latest posts

Top