Snowflea
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Route: Cross Rivendell Trail - Norris Road to Mt. Cube
Date: 3/26/14
Equipment: Snowshoes
Conditions: Mostly unbroken snow - 6 miles worth. Remaining 4 miles (up and down Mt. Cube) was broken but still rather unconsolidated.
Comments: The Cross Rivendell Trail, for those who don’t already know, is a 36-mile point-to-point trail straddling the Connecticut River in the Upper Valley area of VT/NH that traverses from Flagpole Hill in Vershire, VT, to Mt.Cube in Orford, NH. As the map states, “the trail passes over several bald summits and through spectacular forests and bucolic fields, much of the trail on private land.”
This day I decided on the Sunday Mountain to Mt. Cube section, Norris Road to Mt. Cube and back to Baker/Quinttown Road. From the start, the trail was completely unbroken so I donned snowshoes and proceeded to break through a thin crust, sinking in anywhere from 4-8 inches most of the day. There was one stretch early on where the trail was broken for about 1/3 mile. There are many interconnecting old woods roads and other trails that are apparently used by locals. I saw some old ski tracks here and there as well. The climb up and over Sunday Mountain was a beautiful traverse of open hardwoods with many, many critter tracks. I saw six deer just before hitting Dame Hill Road.
The section from Dame Hill Road to Baker Road was, likewise, completely unbroken except for the local wildlife and also passed through lovely hardwoods. The trail was very well marked with plenty of paint; however, being untravelled by humans in open hardwoods, diligence was required in connecting the blue blazes at times.
My best bud joined me for the ascent of Mt. Cube.
Although the steeper sections have been rerouted with nice, gradual switchbacks, this trail section was the original Appalachian Trail up Mt. Cube before the major ATC/DOC relocation project of the 1980s and 90s. From Baker Road to the summit the trail was finally broken out (yay! - my legs were getting a tad bit weary after 6 miles of solo trail breaking), although some folks went just to the fantastic lookout about ¾ of the way up. We could see Killington, Mt. Ascutney, Smarts Mtn., Holts Ledge, and Moose Mtn. among others. The open summit area was pretty nippy since the wind had picked up quite a bit over the course of the day; we didn’t linger. The AT North looked to be broken out from the summit, but the AT South appeared untouched by human traffic recently.
This was a perfect way to spend a special day: my 20th anniversary of starting a thru-hike of the AT. I look forward to completing the rest of the Cross Rivendell Trail soon!
Date: 3/26/14
Equipment: Snowshoes
Conditions: Mostly unbroken snow - 6 miles worth. Remaining 4 miles (up and down Mt. Cube) was broken but still rather unconsolidated.
Comments: The Cross Rivendell Trail, for those who don’t already know, is a 36-mile point-to-point trail straddling the Connecticut River in the Upper Valley area of VT/NH that traverses from Flagpole Hill in Vershire, VT, to Mt.Cube in Orford, NH. As the map states, “the trail passes over several bald summits and through spectacular forests and bucolic fields, much of the trail on private land.”
This day I decided on the Sunday Mountain to Mt. Cube section, Norris Road to Mt. Cube and back to Baker/Quinttown Road. From the start, the trail was completely unbroken so I donned snowshoes and proceeded to break through a thin crust, sinking in anywhere from 4-8 inches most of the day. There was one stretch early on where the trail was broken for about 1/3 mile. There are many interconnecting old woods roads and other trails that are apparently used by locals. I saw some old ski tracks here and there as well. The climb up and over Sunday Mountain was a beautiful traverse of open hardwoods with many, many critter tracks. I saw six deer just before hitting Dame Hill Road.
The section from Dame Hill Road to Baker Road was, likewise, completely unbroken except for the local wildlife and also passed through lovely hardwoods. The trail was very well marked with plenty of paint; however, being untravelled by humans in open hardwoods, diligence was required in connecting the blue blazes at times.
My best bud joined me for the ascent of Mt. Cube.
Although the steeper sections have been rerouted with nice, gradual switchbacks, this trail section was the original Appalachian Trail up Mt. Cube before the major ATC/DOC relocation project of the 1980s and 90s. From Baker Road to the summit the trail was finally broken out (yay! - my legs were getting a tad bit weary after 6 miles of solo trail breaking), although some folks went just to the fantastic lookout about ¾ of the way up. We could see Killington, Mt. Ascutney, Smarts Mtn., Holts Ledge, and Moose Mtn. among others. The open summit area was pretty nippy since the wind had picked up quite a bit over the course of the day; we didn’t linger. The AT North looked to be broken out from the summit, but the AT South appeared untouched by human traffic recently.This was a perfect way to spend a special day: my 20th anniversary of starting a thru-hike of the AT.
I look forward to completing the rest of the Cross Rivendell Trail soon!
