Damselfly
Active member
Despite wet woods from yesterday’s rain and the possible threat of more showers today, Lew and Jenny Dow, Bill Magyar and I decided to follow through with plans to hike Hutchins and possibly the Pilots.
We turned onto Herman Savage Road off the sharp corner of Lost Nation Road. The owner of the first house on the right was outside. As we stopped to chat, he suggested we park right next to his barn. He told us his favorite way to access Hutchins was to walk along his woods road which would continue into a trail, to follow this up to a marsh, and then to bee-line it to the summit.
We left our cars next to his barn, at 1200’. We walked past his barn, his two goats, apple trees, and sugar shack… and eventually the woods road turned into a nice trail that followed the south side of Cummings Brook. At about 1.5 miles and at 2325’, the trail (which was wet and boot-sucking muddy) brought us to a beaver pond and marsh area. Near this pond was piles of crap, junk and Styrofoam, remnants from old hunting camps.
We traveled around the right side of the beaver pond, and once above it, took a 44° bearing for Hutchins and started climbing. The climb got very, very steep… it was hands and feet climbing through mixed hardwoods and hobblebush. At about 3200’, and with more, steep climbing to go, we saw sky over the top of the ridge on our left. So we crawled up to the ridge of Hutchin’s SW shoulder, and followed its spine the rest of the way to the summit (which made for much easier going).
It took us only 2.5 hours to get the top. But despite our rain gear, we were wet and getting colder with each minute we weren’t moving. (It’s amazing how wet and dirty you get in wet woods, even when it’s no longer raining.) So after a short break, off we went.
We aimed for West Pilot – heading for the col. The southern slope of the ridge leadning to the col wanted to pull us down, off the spine, and we had to work to stay our course. The woods to the col were a mix of moderate to dense woods, mossy and dark at times… but nothing too nasty to navigate. From the col, it was a direct southern plot to West Pilot. This section, about 1 mile as the crow flies, took us 1:25.
We were warm while moving, but with wet feet and hands, we took an even shorter break and off we went to Middle Pilot. The woods between West and Middle were easy to navigate through and we arrived on the summit of Middle after only 30 minutes.
Although East Pilot was in view, we were all somewhat wet and cold, and with afternoon coming, we decided to be happy with three peaks and to begin our descent. I had saved a waypoint of where the top of the woods trail coming off of Middle was; we took a 230° bearing and hit the woods trail at about 3200’.
The walk out was a piece of cake. This trail, shown on all the topo maps, is well maintained and shows evidence of recent chainsaw work.
As we neared the bottom of the trail / road, it emptied us onto the private property of the last house on Herman Savage Road. The owner has the property signed for “no hunting,” but apparently he is fine with hikers accessing the trail via his property. Just prior to his driveway, there is a bump out in the road big enough for two cars or so. One of his dogs, friendly enough, came out to check us out.
We returned to our car in just under 8 miles, having hiked 7 hours with 4180’ of gain. We chatted some more with the owner where we had left our cars. He has a hydroelectric set up on Cummings Brook, and he creates his own electricity with plenty to spare for probably six more homes! What a great fellow he was.
Of course I’ll have to go back… to hike East Pilot, Spruce Mts., to see the Mary Cabin, to do more exploring…. Etc. But three peaks on this wet day was quite rewarding.
Beth Zimmer
btzimr at gmail dot com
We turned onto Herman Savage Road off the sharp corner of Lost Nation Road. The owner of the first house on the right was outside. As we stopped to chat, he suggested we park right next to his barn. He told us his favorite way to access Hutchins was to walk along his woods road which would continue into a trail, to follow this up to a marsh, and then to bee-line it to the summit.
We left our cars next to his barn, at 1200’. We walked past his barn, his two goats, apple trees, and sugar shack… and eventually the woods road turned into a nice trail that followed the south side of Cummings Brook. At about 1.5 miles and at 2325’, the trail (which was wet and boot-sucking muddy) brought us to a beaver pond and marsh area. Near this pond was piles of crap, junk and Styrofoam, remnants from old hunting camps.
We traveled around the right side of the beaver pond, and once above it, took a 44° bearing for Hutchins and started climbing. The climb got very, very steep… it was hands and feet climbing through mixed hardwoods and hobblebush. At about 3200’, and with more, steep climbing to go, we saw sky over the top of the ridge on our left. So we crawled up to the ridge of Hutchin’s SW shoulder, and followed its spine the rest of the way to the summit (which made for much easier going).
It took us only 2.5 hours to get the top. But despite our rain gear, we were wet and getting colder with each minute we weren’t moving. (It’s amazing how wet and dirty you get in wet woods, even when it’s no longer raining.) So after a short break, off we went.
We aimed for West Pilot – heading for the col. The southern slope of the ridge leadning to the col wanted to pull us down, off the spine, and we had to work to stay our course. The woods to the col were a mix of moderate to dense woods, mossy and dark at times… but nothing too nasty to navigate. From the col, it was a direct southern plot to West Pilot. This section, about 1 mile as the crow flies, took us 1:25.
We were warm while moving, but with wet feet and hands, we took an even shorter break and off we went to Middle Pilot. The woods between West and Middle were easy to navigate through and we arrived on the summit of Middle after only 30 minutes.
Although East Pilot was in view, we were all somewhat wet and cold, and with afternoon coming, we decided to be happy with three peaks and to begin our descent. I had saved a waypoint of where the top of the woods trail coming off of Middle was; we took a 230° bearing and hit the woods trail at about 3200’.
The walk out was a piece of cake. This trail, shown on all the topo maps, is well maintained and shows evidence of recent chainsaw work.
As we neared the bottom of the trail / road, it emptied us onto the private property of the last house on Herman Savage Road. The owner has the property signed for “no hunting,” but apparently he is fine with hikers accessing the trail via his property. Just prior to his driveway, there is a bump out in the road big enough for two cars or so. One of his dogs, friendly enough, came out to check us out.
We returned to our car in just under 8 miles, having hiked 7 hours with 4180’ of gain. We chatted some more with the owner where we had left our cars. He has a hydroelectric set up on Cummings Brook, and he creates his own electricity with plenty to spare for probably six more homes! What a great fellow he was.
Of course I’ll have to go back… to hike East Pilot, Spruce Mts., to see the Mary Cabin, to do more exploring…. Etc. But three peaks on this wet day was quite rewarding.
Beth Zimmer
btzimr at gmail dot com
