On Saturday the Third I finished the New England Fifty Finest list on Gore, in Vermont's Northeast Kingdom.
The day started out with stratus clouds, but was completely cloudless by the time I got to the summit. It was chilly enough to wear a jacket, and, for a little while when the breeze kicked up, mittens. Autumn has definitely arrived in northern Vermont; there were a fair amount of red and yellow leaves, but the area is still not yet at peak.
The hike was all along Gore Mountain Trail, which is 4.0 miles from Rte. 114 to the summit. It's mostly easy to follow, and well blazed, but there were a few exceptions. There are a few muddy sections, and a swampy section I thought must be awful after a heavy rain, and a few sections which were in dire need of brushing, but mostly it was a pleasant flat or not too steep uphill forest trail. There was one brook crossing which might be trouble in high water, but I could do it with only getting the bottoms of my boots wet.
The first tricky area is a place where the trail comes to an old overgrown road and it's not really clear which way to go from there. If you find yourself there take a right and follow the road keeping a sharp lookout to your left for blazes. The blaze for where the trail reenters the woods is not by the road but in a little ways. Soon after you'll get to another old overgrown road. Don't cross this. Turn right; the trail follows the edge of the road and then veers off into the woods.
Twice the trail crosses roads which are obviously in use. In both cases you simply reenter the woods directly across the road. There are signs at both reentry points, but for one of them some saplings have grown up in front of the sign and I didn't see it at first.
The summit of Gore has an old dilapidated cabin, with a log book inside. It used to have a fire tower, but all that's left of that now are the concrete supports.
A little shy of the summit there's a spur with a sign saying, "lookout". I took it on the way down, but it led to a spot where any views were blocked by some young spruce.
I had more trouble route finding while descending than ascending. During one of the overgrown sections I got off trail and had to backtrack, and in that area I called the "first tricky area" I had trouble finding where the trail reentered the woods on the downhill side.
I didn't meet another person on the trail, but when I signed out at the register I saw someone had signed in after me (and there was a new truck in the parking area). I guess they'd taken Middle Mountain Trail to Middle Mountain. MMT is the only trail which intersects GMT.
I saw several moose prints, and saw moose scat, but I didn't see a moose on the trail, although I did see one in the middle of Rte. 114 while I was driving to the trailhead.
This completes the New England Fifty Finest list for me. I first climbed a NEFF peak (Washington) in 1964, but I didn't find out about the list, let alone start to actively pursue it, until the past decade. I'm not sure, but I believe that the first peak I climbed specifically because it's on the NEFF list was Dorset, in 2010.
Here are some statistics for my NEFF hikes. These only cover hikes starting in 2004, when I first started keeping good records, although I know I first climbed Washington in 1964 and Katahdin in 1977. For these I'll use "FC Saddleback" to mean Franklin County Saddleback (the 4000 footer) and "PC Saddleback" to mean Piscataquis County Saddleback.
The Fifty Peaks, in order of first ascent:
2004: Washington
2005: Carter Dome
2006: Lafayette, Osceola, South Kinsman
2007: [none]
2008: Carrigain, Cabot, Moosilauke, Stratton
2009: Killington, Ellen, Camel's Hump, Mansfield, Jay, Monadnock, Katahdin
2010: Ascutney, Dorset, Greylock, Old Speck, FC Saddleback, Sugarloaf, Bigelow
2011: Equinox, Big Spencer, Big Moose[1], Blue
2012: Boundary Bald, Baker, White Cap
2013: Shaw, Kibby or Caribou[2], Coburn, Moxie, Grass
2014: Kearsarge, Signal, East, Cold Hollow, Putnam, Elephant, Snow, Baldpate
2015: Cardigan, Smarts, Belknap, PC Saddleback, Traveler, Doubletop, Gore
Number of peaks hiked solo: 37
Number of peaks only hiked once: 35
Peaks Hiked in the Winter:
Ascutney, Cabot, Camel's Hump, Carrigain, Carter Dome, Jay, Killington, Lafayette, Osceola, South Kinsman
Peaks which included Bushwhacks:
Baker, Big Spencer, Cold Hollow, Elephant, Grass, PC Saddleback, Signal, Snow [3]
Peaks I Failed to Summit on the First Attempt, but Succeeded on the Second.
Cabot, White Cap
Notes:
[1] a.k.a. Big Squaw
[2] Only one of these is on the list, but nobody knows which one, so I climbed them both.
[3] I know Snow is a trailed peak, but the way I did it included a bushwhack.
Here are the pictures.
--
Cumulus
NE111 in my 50s: 115/115 (67/67, 46/46, 2/2)
NE111 in my 60s: 24/115 (19/67, 5/46, 0/2)
NEFF: 50/50; Cat35: 36/39; WNH4K: 36/48; NEHH 81/100
LT NB 2009
"I don't much care where [I get to] --" said Alice, "-- so long as I get somewhere," ...
"Oh, you're sure to do that," said the Cat, "if you only walk long enough."
- Lewis Carroll
The day started out with stratus clouds, but was completely cloudless by the time I got to the summit. It was chilly enough to wear a jacket, and, for a little while when the breeze kicked up, mittens. Autumn has definitely arrived in northern Vermont; there were a fair amount of red and yellow leaves, but the area is still not yet at peak.
The hike was all along Gore Mountain Trail, which is 4.0 miles from Rte. 114 to the summit. It's mostly easy to follow, and well blazed, but there were a few exceptions. There are a few muddy sections, and a swampy section I thought must be awful after a heavy rain, and a few sections which were in dire need of brushing, but mostly it was a pleasant flat or not too steep uphill forest trail. There was one brook crossing which might be trouble in high water, but I could do it with only getting the bottoms of my boots wet.
The first tricky area is a place where the trail comes to an old overgrown road and it's not really clear which way to go from there. If you find yourself there take a right and follow the road keeping a sharp lookout to your left for blazes. The blaze for where the trail reenters the woods is not by the road but in a little ways. Soon after you'll get to another old overgrown road. Don't cross this. Turn right; the trail follows the edge of the road and then veers off into the woods.
Twice the trail crosses roads which are obviously in use. In both cases you simply reenter the woods directly across the road. There are signs at both reentry points, but for one of them some saplings have grown up in front of the sign and I didn't see it at first.
The summit of Gore has an old dilapidated cabin, with a log book inside. It used to have a fire tower, but all that's left of that now are the concrete supports.
A little shy of the summit there's a spur with a sign saying, "lookout". I took it on the way down, but it led to a spot where any views were blocked by some young spruce.
I had more trouble route finding while descending than ascending. During one of the overgrown sections I got off trail and had to backtrack, and in that area I called the "first tricky area" I had trouble finding where the trail reentered the woods on the downhill side.
I didn't meet another person on the trail, but when I signed out at the register I saw someone had signed in after me (and there was a new truck in the parking area). I guess they'd taken Middle Mountain Trail to Middle Mountain. MMT is the only trail which intersects GMT.
I saw several moose prints, and saw moose scat, but I didn't see a moose on the trail, although I did see one in the middle of Rte. 114 while I was driving to the trailhead.
This completes the New England Fifty Finest list for me. I first climbed a NEFF peak (Washington) in 1964, but I didn't find out about the list, let alone start to actively pursue it, until the past decade. I'm not sure, but I believe that the first peak I climbed specifically because it's on the NEFF list was Dorset, in 2010.
Here are some statistics for my NEFF hikes. These only cover hikes starting in 2004, when I first started keeping good records, although I know I first climbed Washington in 1964 and Katahdin in 1977. For these I'll use "FC Saddleback" to mean Franklin County Saddleback (the 4000 footer) and "PC Saddleback" to mean Piscataquis County Saddleback.
The Fifty Peaks, in order of first ascent:
2004: Washington
2005: Carter Dome
2006: Lafayette, Osceola, South Kinsman
2007: [none]
2008: Carrigain, Cabot, Moosilauke, Stratton
2009: Killington, Ellen, Camel's Hump, Mansfield, Jay, Monadnock, Katahdin
2010: Ascutney, Dorset, Greylock, Old Speck, FC Saddleback, Sugarloaf, Bigelow
2011: Equinox, Big Spencer, Big Moose[1], Blue
2012: Boundary Bald, Baker, White Cap
2013: Shaw, Kibby or Caribou[2], Coburn, Moxie, Grass
2014: Kearsarge, Signal, East, Cold Hollow, Putnam, Elephant, Snow, Baldpate
2015: Cardigan, Smarts, Belknap, PC Saddleback, Traveler, Doubletop, Gore
Number of peaks hiked solo: 37
Number of peaks only hiked once: 35
Peaks Hiked in the Winter:
Ascutney, Cabot, Camel's Hump, Carrigain, Carter Dome, Jay, Killington, Lafayette, Osceola, South Kinsman
Peaks which included Bushwhacks:
Baker, Big Spencer, Cold Hollow, Elephant, Grass, PC Saddleback, Signal, Snow [3]
Peaks I Failed to Summit on the First Attempt, but Succeeded on the Second.
Cabot, White Cap
Notes:
[1] a.k.a. Big Squaw
[2] Only one of these is on the list, but nobody knows which one, so I climbed them both.
[3] I know Snow is a trailed peak, but the way I did it included a bushwhack.
Here are the pictures.
--
Cumulus
NE111 in my 50s: 115/115 (67/67, 46/46, 2/2)
NE111 in my 60s: 24/115 (19/67, 5/46, 0/2)
NEFF: 50/50; Cat35: 36/39; WNH4K: 36/48; NEHH 81/100
LT NB 2009
"I don't much care where [I get to] --" said Alice, "-- so long as I get somewhere," ...
"Oh, you're sure to do that," said the Cat, "if you only walk long enough."
- Lewis Carroll
