AntlerPeak
New member
I heard on the radio last evening that rte 9 in Lake George made the list of most congested US highways for this weekend. With that in mind and a burning need to bag a peak I decided to find one that is not on any list and did not require driving through any holiday hot spot. In my warped logic Granville NY and Rte 140 from Poultney VT to Healdville Vt could not possibly qualify as "hot spots". I found a trail discription on the web, it is posted below as it is very accurate and gives clear directions to find the trail head. The directions mention turning onto Turco road. The road is signed as Station Road and it is next to that construction company the description mentions.
Okemo is of course a ski mountain with the assorted ski junk near the top. It also has a fire tower with excellent views and from the top you would not know the ski junk is there. From the tower you can see the tramway station about 300 feet below and there is a trail down to it. I don't know if the tram is operating this time of year. There was no evidence of it. The trail climbs the mountain from the north which is the opposite side from the ski operation. topo zone maps do not show the trail but it follows the North ridge and there is a posted map in the parking lot showing the lay of the trail. I will say the trail is in excellent shape and affords a moderate climb 2,000 feet over three miles and nowhere does steep come into play. The description mentions steep in the last quarter mile but it is not steep as a lot of us would interpret steep. The route is through an open hardwood forest with the spruce entering just below the summit and through the tall spruce the woods remain fairly open.
At 3343 feet Okemo makes nobody's list of mountains too low for the 100 highest in New England and perhaps it is in regard to the 100 highest of Vermont, I don't know. But I never heard of anyone who is trying to climb Vermont's 100 highest. So without a being on a list and no holiday attractions I expected Okemo would be a good place to try a Saturday hike this weekend. I saw no one until I was almost back to my car, three groupings of two hikers each passed. It is really a nice Mt with good views ( from the tower ) no view from the ground.
Now I wonder as this thing is only 61 miles from my front door why it took so long. Okemo is number 729 on my list of different summits in my quest to find a thousand. To add to the trail description linked below there is a trail sign that tells you it is 1.9 miles back to the parking lot and 1.0 miles to the summit. The description also discusses a transisition forest where the hardwoods meet the spruce. That is at about the 1300 foot ascent mark.
http://www.thebackpacker.com/trails/vt/trail_321.php
Okemo is of course a ski mountain with the assorted ski junk near the top. It also has a fire tower with excellent views and from the top you would not know the ski junk is there. From the tower you can see the tramway station about 300 feet below and there is a trail down to it. I don't know if the tram is operating this time of year. There was no evidence of it. The trail climbs the mountain from the north which is the opposite side from the ski operation. topo zone maps do not show the trail but it follows the North ridge and there is a posted map in the parking lot showing the lay of the trail. I will say the trail is in excellent shape and affords a moderate climb 2,000 feet over three miles and nowhere does steep come into play. The description mentions steep in the last quarter mile but it is not steep as a lot of us would interpret steep. The route is through an open hardwood forest with the spruce entering just below the summit and through the tall spruce the woods remain fairly open.
At 3343 feet Okemo makes nobody's list of mountains too low for the 100 highest in New England and perhaps it is in regard to the 100 highest of Vermont, I don't know. But I never heard of anyone who is trying to climb Vermont's 100 highest. So without a being on a list and no holiday attractions I expected Okemo would be a good place to try a Saturday hike this weekend. I saw no one until I was almost back to my car, three groupings of two hikers each passed. It is really a nice Mt with good views ( from the tower ) no view from the ground.
Now I wonder as this thing is only 61 miles from my front door why it took so long. Okemo is number 729 on my list of different summits in my quest to find a thousand. To add to the trail description linked below there is a trail sign that tells you it is 1.9 miles back to the parking lot and 1.0 miles to the summit. The description also discusses a transisition forest where the hardwoods meet the spruce. That is at about the 1300 foot ascent mark.
http://www.thebackpacker.com/trails/vt/trail_321.php
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