Mendon-Killington

[madmattd]

I know this has been brought up in the past, I was just wondering if there was any new (as in, say, post-Irene) information about hitting Mendon and continuing to the L.T. for Killington/Pico. Sounds like the 3rd carin (if it is still there?) a touch over 1/2 mile above the first on the logging road (at the sharp switchback - is this the one shown at ~3100 feet on the topos?) is the "normal" route these days. Then a mixture of herd paths (maybe) and general 'whacking in a more or less WSW direction (mag West perhaps) to the cone up the East peak, and somewhere in the vicinity of the East peak a herd path will carry over to the canister. Return to the 3rd carin on the road, and continue up the road, taking the right fork up a short rocky streambed-like stretch (versus down the 10ft embankment to a bog) and that will lead to the L.T. near Cooper Lodge. I've found a few older TR's discussing this route and it doesn't sound too bad overall. Any gotchyas I should know about? Changes in this route in the last couple years (haven't found much non-winter info on this route since ~2010) to be aware of? Sounds like from what I've read that the actual 'whacking on this route should be fairly short (~1/2 mile each way from the road to Mendon is about it, if that even?), I'm trying to get a handle on what kind of day I'm looking at. Thanks in advance.

 

[Driver8]

Why not, after summiting Mendon, go along the ridgeline to the A.T./L.T. to the east and go north from there to Killington via the usual route? I did K a couple weeks ago by the ski slopes and wanted to head over to Mendon, but getting too late a start just did the one. Is there no reasonable herdpath across to Mendon from the Long Trail? If you could make a loop of it, would seem to be more efficient.

 

[MichaelJ]

The classic route is the loop you describe. Up the old carriage road, whack from the third cairn (might not still be the third but it's where you take the last turn and level out), then come back, follow as described, end up near Cooper Lodge. Summit then take Bucklin Trail right back down to the same parking area. It's a solid amount of hiking time but all straightforward and reasonably pleasant. Fun, too. I believe the Killington summit lodge is still under construction and so no summit food or water or bathrooms are available.

 

[Driver8]

The classic route is the loop you describe. Up the old carriage road, whack from the third cairn (might not still be the third but it's where you take the last turn and level out), then come back, follow as described, end up near Cooper Lodge. Summit then take Bucklin Trail right back down to the same parking area. It's a solid amount of hiking time but all straightforward and reasonably pleasant. Fun, too. I believe the Killington summit lodge is still under construction and so no summit food or water or bathrooms are available.

Construction on the summit lodge was in its early stages two weeks ago on my hike, as per the following pic:

 

[madmattd]

Thanks for the confirmation MichaelJ. I'm curious if the road became harder/less obvious with the big storms of the last 2 years (particularly Irene which we all know what that did to parts of Vermont). Seems like most around here did Mendon pre-Irene so I guess the only way to find out may be to find out myself and report back!

Sounds like the location of "carin #3" is at a fairly obvious place in the road, regardless of if the carin is still there or not. Based on the road track on the topos, it seems like this would be the case (assuming that it is shown more or less accurately, which it seems to be based on the various TR's I've looked at). Seems like a fairly straight-forward trip, we will see how it goes.

We will have a car spot, so the plan is to continue out over Pico to Route 4, with a return down Bucklin after Killington as a plan B depending on how the day is going. Looking forward to this one, oddly enough.

 

[Raymond]

Actually, the word is cairn, not carin. One syllable.

Mendon was our first bushwhack peak, ten years ago this Independence Day. You’ll probably find the summit teeming with flies. The directions I had were that the bushwhack began at the second cairn found while ascending the road. We descended to that point from the Long Trail and still easily recognized the right place. Where the road makes a 90° turn, just bisect the 270° angle, slanting evenly across the contours (‘‘magnetic west’’ seems correct), and you should hit Mendon’s summit.

If the waters in Vermont are raging like the waters in the Adirondacks, there could be a difficult crossing on that road lower down, if not elsewhere. I vaguely recall a stream at a hairpin turn, maybe by a cabin.

 

[teleskier]

We ascended the road as a loop trip to Killington (return via Bucklin) two weeks ago. The water crossings weren't bad then, although a downed tree helped a lot at one of them. The third cairn is definitely still there, and obvious in the area where the trail flattens out. We missed the right fork up the rocky streambed after the cairn, necessitating a small bushwhack correction to get back to the road. Where the road peters out, it's an obvious ski glade/herdpath up to the Long Trail. A nice loop, I thought.

 

[madmattd]

Thanks all for the help on this one. We made out beautifully on this hike. The cairns were all there as reported, and the 3rd one was indeed at a point so obvious we wouldn't have needed it. Crossings were high and we had to bushwhack upstream a ways on 2 or 3 of them (I know which tree you mention teleskier...that bottom crossing was nuts for us), but we made it fine. Easy and open bushwhack, we ended up on the main herdpath before the thick areas started, and so didn't even end up carrying needles back home with us. More of a fern-whack than a bushwhack. That herd path brought us nearly all the way back to the road on the exit. I wasn't expecting the streambed turn to be so soon on the road after the bushwhack, but we weren't fooled by it and made it up to the L.T. without issue. We did make it all the way out over Pico, despite the heat and high humidity of the day (Independence Day). Fun day.

 

[MichaelJ]

Excellent! Glad to hear it.

 

[Driver8]

Thanks all for the help on this one. We made out beautifully on this hike. The cairns were all there as reported, and the 3rd one was indeed at a point so obvious we wouldn't have needed it. Crossings were high and we had to bushwhack upstream a ways on 2 or 3 of them (I know which tree you mention teleskier...that bottom crossing was nuts for us), but we made it fine. Easy and open bushwhack, we ended up on the main herdpath before the thick areas started, and so didn't even end up carrying needles back home with us. More of a fern-whack than a bushwhack. That herd path brought us nearly all the way back to the road on the exit. I wasn't expecting the streambed turn to be so soon on the road after the bushwhack, but we weren't fooled by it and made it up to the L.T. without issue. We did make it all the way out over Pico, despite the heat and high humidity of the day (Independence Day). Fun day.

Great! Did you post any pics? Cut over to the "civilized side" of the summit and check out the construction and views to the east?

 

[madmattd]

A few pictures. https://picasaweb.google.com/114607190336092730169/July42013MendonKillingtonAndPico?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCPL5wrHdotyhTQ&feat=directlink

Didn't venture over to the construction area. In fact, we got to the summit of Killington, saw the towers and such, and just faced the other way the whole time Lots of people there that clearly came up the gondola or such though. The gasps when one guy heard we'd been on the trail for 5 hours was humorous We had another 4 hours to go yet!

 

[Driver8]

Didn't venture over to the construction area. In fact, we got to the summit of Killington, saw the towers and such, and just faced the other way the whole time Lots of people there that clearly came up the gondola or such though. The gasps when one guy heard we'd been on the trail for 5 hours was humorous We had another 4 hours to go yet!

Thanks for the pics link - nice stuff. I love the views on the Coolidge peaks. Nothing better than a long day on a mountain. Those communication towers on K are particularly unsightly, I agree. Glad you had a good trip.