Routes to Vermont Mountains

[Nate]

For Umpire Mountain in northeastern Vermont, what is the usual bushwhack route? Do people typically come in from nearby Burke Mountain, or from the roads coming up from Victory?

Also in that region is another 3k peak, Bald Mountain. According to Delorme, it has a road to the summit. If so, do people usually hike up that, and are there any property issues? I've been wondering this about Salt Ash Mountain as well.

 

[dms]

Nate, I did Umpire from a road heading south off Victory Road, the road heads into Victory State Forest. Bald Mountain has a trail to the summit, the trailhead is located on Westmore Road. For Salt Ash we headed in a logging road to west of the peak off of Bailey Road.I believe all of these roads are shown in the VT Delorme.

 

[michaelb]

I think Bald is really nice, although I think I have only snowshoed it in the winter. We broke trail and had to route find, so I am not sure how many people do it in the winter (but maybe more these days). The nice trail up bald is from the west, off of long pond road, right at the bend in the road (I think this is the trail that dms is referring to). The trail from the north is the old forest road, and will get snow machines and other use. My delorme shows a road now to the top, and I have no idea what that is about, so that would be bummer if there really is a road now.

I haven't done umpire, and didn't really pay much attention to it when I lived over there. I would be interested to know how that is as a bushwack for a peak.

 

[bill bowden]

Routes to Vt. peaks

I did Umpire via an abandoned road from the S to cross a stream at the based of the mountain and climbed by a very steep but open route.

Bald has a well-worn trail and (by my recollection) once had a tower and cabin. Sadly, I hiked it Sept. 11, 2001 and found out about the tragedy on my way down.

Salt Ash (and my memory is getting a little foggy on this one) we hiked via a snowmobile trail/logging road from the West again through open woods. met a gentleman doing trail maintenanc eon the snow machine trail who was a pleasant encounter.

Gore Mountain in Vermont has a relatively new trail following the route of an old logging road to a well-maintained cabin and a tower and is a remarkably pleasant trip with nice views.

 

[Willoughby]

Bald Mountain

I climbed Bald Mountain in August. The cabin & fire tower are still there, make sure you duck into the cabin (it's not as closed as it looks) and read the log book. The fire tower is in good condition, there's no road. Views were great from halfway up the fire tower, if you go to the top please post some pictures so I know what I missed!

The standard approach is from the Long Pond Road, trailhead is on the left after you go past the Long Pond access. There are several other trailheads along that road to Pisgah, Haystack, etc. A local friend tells me that the boggy area along the trail is prime Moose habitat.

Pictures and trip report from August.

 

[RoySwkr]

I climbed Bald Mountain in August. The cabin & fire tower are still there,
...
The standard approach is from the Long Pond Road, trailhead is on the left after you go past the Long Pond access.

It is Gore where the tower is gone, although the previous tower is part of the woodshed.

The first time I climbed it was from the other side, some members of a religious group gave me a (cold) baked potato.

If you think the trail from Long Pond is too boring, the bushwhack over Goodwin is very nice.

 

[Nate]

Silly me, after sending the initial post at work, I came home to find Bald Mountain listed in the DHG. As it turns out, it has trails from both the north (the Lookout Trail) and the south (Bald Mtn-Long Pond Trail).

But, another mountain I was wondering about is Knox, which is near Butterfield and Signal. Is this usually approached from the same logging road as the other two, or from the road due south of it (which is labeled as Provencher Road in Delorme)?

Plus, for South Mountain in Ludlow, do people usually bushwhack in from the Ludlow or Mount Holly side? Or is it another Vermont peak that's so open that it doesn't matter?

 

[dms]

Nate, I did Ludlow and South together, left from the ski area, the woods were open, I mean open! As for Knox, Butterfield, Signal we did all them together with a car spot. These woods were open as well. Typical VT conditions.

 

[bill bowden]

Vermont routes

I did south from a dirt road in from the south, partly labelled as "Catamount Ski Trail." Nice bushwack through open Woods. Knox was from a road splitting from the one convenient to Butterfield and Signal. Most memorable portion of the trip was a shed with a long glass window, every inch of which was taken up by cats sleeping in the sun. All are open woods and make for a very pleasant day.

 

[Nate]

The common theme here for bushwhacking Vermont peaks seems to be that since the woods are fairly open, simply bushwhack in from the nearest road.

Then again, what are the most popular routes for bagging Bear and Woodlawn (in the Manchester/Dorset area), which, in the atlas, both seem to have a few roads nearby? Actually, are they at all like Mother Myrick Mountain, which has an ATV trail to the top?

 

[Nate]

Also, while we're on the topic, how are the woods around the Seneca peaks? It looks like a loop can be readily done from the west, but perhaps not if the vegetation on that side happens to be thick.

 

[Pig Pen]

These are all good questions. Let us know what you find!

 

[bill bowden]

seneca's exception to the Vermont rule on open woods

Nate, a quick comparison of Vermont and NH bushwhacks is something like: Up to about Dewey the woods are pretty open, north of Dewey and Rice/adams area they get pretty scrubby and comparable to NH peaks. The worst NH peaks are all in th ePemigewasset wilderness and Vermont has nothing to compare with them, other than the Senecas.

By recollection, I wrestled my 4wd up to about 2500 feet including across a snowmobile bridge and we then took turns pushing through spruce sticks open woods and boggy marches to get the peaks. Bog Orchis may be able to give you a more detailed and circumstantial account.

 

[Pig Pen]

These are all good questions. Let us know what you find!

Try South America Pond Road as an approach for the Senecas. I was there last weekend. There is a road that goes into the bowl east of the three peaks. They are mostly open all the way around except for two scrubby cols, and the east peak is a little thick on top. Didn't find the jar on south peak.

Bald has a trail and is in the Day Hiker's Guide to Vermont.

 

[RoySwkr]

Also, while we're on the topic, how are the woods around the Seneca peaks? It looks like a loop can be readily done from the west, but perhaps not if the vegetation on that side happens to be thick.

I came in that way starting from a public road. From the map the Senecas look like one of the hardest trips in VT but it was snowing when I started with no good rest spots so I just kept walking. The sun came out in the afternoon and I finished so early I went over and climbed Bald.

 

[Nate]

Based on what's posted here, either the east approach passes through more open woods, or the Senecas are another example of how, if you pick your spots, the going isn't too bad. Based on what the map says, I was shying away from heading in from the east, since the approach roads look rougher and further from main roads than coming in from the west. Then again, perhaps enough people have gone this way that they can vouch that it's the better approach.

 

[Nate]

I made it up to the summit of Umpire this past weekend, and found that the canister needs to be replaced (the current one is doing a poor job of keeping the water out), so I hope whoever hikes this peak next brings along a jar to replace it (and if anyone does so, I hope they post so here). Then again, since this would be a fairly easy 3k to summit in summer conditions, perhaps I'll return when I'm in the area next June, and will post if I make the replacement.

 

[RoySwkr]

the canister needs to be replaced (the current one is doing a poor job of keeping the water out)

My sister used to be register coordinator for the CMC and would update her answering machine tape as much as daily with the list of missing registers and canisters. More useful than the "Missing" reports were the people who always carried an extra register so could report it had already been fixed.

I'm not sure how the water gets in, I once built an experimental register with a hole in the bottom for the water to drain out but apparently it was stolen :-(

 

[Dennis C.]

I'm a bit late getting into the Umpire Mtn post, but we parked near the end of the "1565 x" road (coming in from the north) and followed along the stream from the NE (red cross). Except for initially a little slash at the lower mountain level from logging activity(?), this proved to be a good open woods route to the summit.

 

[dms]

More useful than the "Missing" reports were the people who always carried an extra register so could report it had already been fixed.

Anyone and everyone working on the 3k list should always have a replacement register with them, no excuses.