Tom Rankin
Well-known member
What a looooooooong hooooooooooooot (hot) hike!
We joined JayH for a 6:40 AM start on Glastonbury. The sign said 10.1 miles to either the shelter or the summit, which are .3 miles apart. It was already 69F when we started up the trail at 1400' elevation. Laurie and I had 5 bottles of water between us. The brook at the start, which had obviously seen massive amounts of water from Irene, was running weakly. The first mile or so, you gain a fair amount of elevation to the first shelter. Here the water supply was just a tiny trickle, so we kept on. At about 2600' the trail tops out on a small PUD, called Maple Hill. Then we dropped 400' or so to the Hell Hollow Brook. It would have been hell if this brook was not flowing, but thankfully it was. We did not need water here yet, but at least we knew it would be here when we returned. The slog continued with a slow ascent of South Glastenbury. We did not realize what it was until later, so we made a mental note to whack up to the summit on the way back. After South, the trail again dips about 300'. A few small puds later, and you are finally climbing the 1000' slog to the top. At this point, we were very glad for the shade of the trees, as it was sunny, humid, and HOT! There was very little breeze along the way. There were a few nice view points to the East and West that we stopped to admire.
Eventually we made it to the Goddard shelter. There is a spring, and with a small PVC pipe, you can get good cool water. We drank liberally, and filled up a few bottles. A short walk later, we were finally at the summit! This was easily the longest fire tower hike I have ever done, and one of the longest and most arduous of any sort of hike, given the 4000' of elevation gain, the 20+ miles, and the heat. The views were a tad hazy, but we were able to climb the tower and get the cool summit breeze. (This was going to be fire tower 100, but the 3 we did last week near Lake Tahoe made it 103). There is a trail at the summit with a 'DO NOT ENTER' sign on it!
After Jay told me it was a snowmobile trail, it made more sense. For you marker hounds, we only found one, affixed to one of the guide wire foundations.
Eventually we gathered ourselves together for the long haul back. We met quite a few NOBO's on the way 'down'. I say 'down' because there is 1000' of elevation gain on the way back! We took a quick detour from the trail to find the jar on South Glastenbury. Believe it or not, it was a Crispo special, from 1994! We stopped at HH Brook and dipped our feet and few other parts in the refreshing water, treated a few brown looking liters, and resumed the trudge. My feet, knees, legs, shoulder and a few other places were sore, chafed, etc., etc. But I knew we would be done sooner or later. It did take us almost as long to descend, as to climb the mountain, with the clock stopping at 6:00 PM, but this was better than standard AMC book time.
We staggered into Madison's Brewing in Bennington and had some tasty pale ales, venison burgers, and several glasses of water!
We joined JayH for a 6:40 AM start on Glastonbury. The sign said 10.1 miles to either the shelter or the summit, which are .3 miles apart. It was already 69F when we started up the trail at 1400' elevation. Laurie and I had 5 bottles of water between us. The brook at the start, which had obviously seen massive amounts of water from Irene, was running weakly. The first mile or so, you gain a fair amount of elevation to the first shelter. Here the water supply was just a tiny trickle, so we kept on. At about 2600' the trail tops out on a small PUD, called Maple Hill. Then we dropped 400' or so to the Hell Hollow Brook. It would have been hell if this brook was not flowing, but thankfully it was. We did not need water here yet, but at least we knew it would be here when we returned. The slog continued with a slow ascent of South Glastenbury. We did not realize what it was until later, so we made a mental note to whack up to the summit on the way back. After South, the trail again dips about 300'. A few small puds later, and you are finally climbing the 1000' slog to the top. At this point, we were very glad for the shade of the trees, as it was sunny, humid, and HOT! There was very little breeze along the way. There were a few nice view points to the East and West that we stopped to admire.
Eventually we made it to the Goddard shelter. There is a spring, and with a small PVC pipe, you can get good cool water. We drank liberally, and filled up a few bottles. A short walk later, we were finally at the summit! This was easily the longest fire tower hike I have ever done, and one of the longest and most arduous of any sort of hike, given the 4000' of elevation gain, the 20+ miles, and the heat. The views were a tad hazy, but we were able to climb the tower and get the cool summit breeze. (This was going to be fire tower 100, but the 3 we did last week near Lake Tahoe made it 103). There is a trail at the summit with a 'DO NOT ENTER' sign on it!
After Jay told me it was a snowmobile trail, it made more sense. For you marker hounds, we only found one, affixed to one of the guide wire foundations. Eventually we gathered ourselves together for the long haul back. We met quite a few NOBO's on the way 'down'. I say 'down' because there is 1000' of elevation gain on the way back!
We took a quick detour from the trail to find the jar on South Glastenbury. Believe it or not, it was a Crispo special, from 1994! We stopped at HH Brook and dipped our feet and few other parts in the refreshing water, treated a few brown looking liters, and resumed the trudge. My feet, knees, legs, shoulder and a few other places were sore, chafed, etc., etc. But I knew we would be done sooner or later. It did take us almost as long to descend, as to climb the mountain, with the clock stopping at 6:00 PM, but this was better than standard AMC book time.We staggered into Madison's Brewing in Bennington and had some tasty pale ales, venison burgers, and several glasses of water!
