bryan
New member
date: 2/18/13
trails: logging roads, bushwack
conditions: parking for bucklin trail in good shape. wheelerville road nicely maintained up to that point as well. starting at the gate just up the road from the parking lot the roads are snowmobile packed until shortly before the first water crossings. a packed ski track dominates to the second crossing then a snowshoe track continues up to the location of the "2nd cairn" in summer becoming more drifted in with elevation. here the track continues into the bushwack heading south of west towards mendon. at one point a newer snowshoe track crosses from the east and looks to slab around the summit. as it began to climb i lost the older track and continued bushwacking up hitting some pretty thick spruce and accidentally ending up on top of what i will call the "false, false summit" that is east of the often described "false summit". this was a fortuitous mistake as the giant drifted area i popped out on had phenomenal views to killington, the southern greens and the adk high peaks. once off this bump i picked up the corridor for the summer herd path and it was smooth sailing to the summit. the canister is currently dangling from a shoe lace. the summit has great views as well into ny. descending i went around the "false, false summit" and stumbled upon the traces of the old track which i was able to follow back to my tracks from earlier. the four water crossings were snow/ice bridged, but take care as they didn't seem super stable.
equipment: i barebooted the early part of the road which was hard packed by snowmobiles then snowshoes the rest of the way.
comments: a beautiful blue sky day. quite cold to start and on the summit though little wind on this route today. the views from the various bumps near the summit were far reaching and fantastic. thanks to the group that was up there last week for packing out the roads and into the bushwack. i'm glad i ended up hiking this one on such a nice day. when i was there in summer it was so hazy i didn't get the full impression of how nice some of the vantage points are.
bryan
[email protected]
trails: logging roads, bushwack
conditions: parking for bucklin trail in good shape. wheelerville road nicely maintained up to that point as well. starting at the gate just up the road from the parking lot the roads are snowmobile packed until shortly before the first water crossings. a packed ski track dominates to the second crossing then a snowshoe track continues up to the location of the "2nd cairn" in summer becoming more drifted in with elevation. here the track continues into the bushwack heading south of west towards mendon. at one point a newer snowshoe track crosses from the east and looks to slab around the summit. as it began to climb i lost the older track and continued bushwacking up hitting some pretty thick spruce and accidentally ending up on top of what i will call the "false, false summit" that is east of the often described "false summit". this was a fortuitous mistake as the giant drifted area i popped out on had phenomenal views to killington, the southern greens and the adk high peaks. once off this bump i picked up the corridor for the summer herd path and it was smooth sailing to the summit. the canister is currently dangling from a shoe lace. the summit has great views as well into ny. descending i went around the "false, false summit" and stumbled upon the traces of the old track which i was able to follow back to my tracks from earlier. the four water crossings were snow/ice bridged, but take care as they didn't seem super stable.
equipment: i barebooted the early part of the road which was hard packed by snowmobiles then snowshoes the rest of the way.
comments: a beautiful blue sky day. quite cold to start and on the summit though little wind on this route today. the views from the various bumps near the summit were far reaching and fantastic. thanks to the group that was up there last week for packing out the roads and into the bushwack. i'm glad i ended up hiking this one on such a nice day. when i was there in summer it was so hazy i didn't get the full impression of how nice some of the vantage points are.
bryan
[email protected]
