BIGEarl
Well-known member
September 29 - 30, 2012: Mendon Peak & Pico Peak, Double Hit & Run, and Stratton Mountain
Trails:
Mendon Peak: Woods roads and herd paths
Pico Peak: Sherburne Trail, Forty-Niner Ski Trail
Stratton Mountain: Long Trail
Summits: Mendon Peak, Pico Peak, and Stratton Mountain
Hikers: Trail Trotter (Sue) and me
We had three peaks left on our NEHH list in Vermont and decided to work them into our hike plans as soon as we could. In addition to Mendon and Pico we also had Stratton Mountain. Our plan for the weekend was to hike Mendon and Pico on Saturday and then hike Stratton on Sunday. The forecast wasn’t good but it looked like any rainfall would be light and mainly very early on Saturday and late on Sunday (after 2:00pm).
On the morning drive to Mendon we took a different route. Instead of following Route 4 from I-89 (exit 1) to the area, we took the Route 107/100 approach from I-89 (exit 3). It’s a little longer but avoids Quechee and Woodstock. On a good day it’s a quicker route. This wasn’t a good day. Vermont experienced a great deal of damage from Tropical Storm Irene last year and there are many areas still being repaired. Consequently, Route 107 is a good road to avoid. I should have checked Vermont 511 before making the route decision.
Mendon Peak
We arrived to the trailhead at Brewers Corner on Wheelerville Road a little later than planned but were quickly geared up and hiking. Mendon is a relatively short hike along a woods road for most of the distance and ends with an easy bushwhack of roughly .6 miles with lots of herd paths to choose from.
We hiked along the woods road past a small camp with several vehicles and on to the first of several stream crossings. The trail was in good shape with only a couple small areas of erosion from the storm. As we approached the first crossing it was clear the trail conditions were about to change. Starting at the first crossing and all of the way to the first cairn after the final crossing there is substantial erosion damage, I assume from TS Irene. We carefully made our way across the stream at each of the four crossings and through the areas of trail erosion. We left the fourth crossing still hiking on a badly eroded trail and started the ascent to the ridge and start of our bushwhack.
Our plan was to climb to the third cairn and then head west over the east peak and onto Mendon West Peak. As expected, we reached the sharp turn (sometimes called the hairpin turn) and first cairn at ~3050 feet and continued a short distance to the second cairn (~3300 feet) and finally the third cairn at ~3400 feet. From the third cairn there is a herd path leaving directly west, we took it.
The many herd paths on the ridge were quite often short and wandered. We continued from path to path generally heading west. As we worked our way along the herd paths seem to slowly consolidate and they became fewer and better defined. Eventually, a short distance from the East peak we were on a solid herd path leading us to the target. On our way through we stopped at the viewpoint on the East peak and found no views at all due to the cloud cover and fog. We cleared the East peak and continued to the West peak and canister. A little over 2.5 hours after we started and we were getting our summit pictures and signing the summit register. We made the u-turn and headed back out the way we hiked in.
While doing the reverse bushwhack we managed to drift off the course we followed on the way in and went a little to the north. Knowing the trail was off in that direction we simply followed the course of least resistance and eventually landed on the trail at the second cairn. From there we hiked back through the crossings and erosion damage and onto the trailhead with no surprises at all. We started the hike a little later than planned but were back on schedule when we were back to the truck. Hike #1 went well.
Pico Peak
Our run from Brewers corner to Sherburne Pass was barely enough time for a quick snack. We pulled into the lot across from the Inn at Long Trail, grabbed our things, and we were again hiking. The connection between trailheads was short and a second warm-up wasn’t needed. We followed Sherburne Pass Trail to the summit of Pico. The trail is clear and in great shape. The lower half of the route, perhaps more, is through beautiful open hardwoods. As we hiked along we met others descending from the summit and passed a few on their ascent. We passed Sink Hole Brook stopping for a few pictures of the place. I’ll bet it’s an interesting sight in higher flow conditions (right now it’s a very small flow).
Above Sink Hole Brook we worked our way into the conifers. As we hiked along we passed a couple well defined herd paths exiting the trail to the left. There is no indication of other trails on the map or in the Long Trail Guide and I was curious about these. My curiosity didn’t win out and we kept working our way along the trail to the summit. Soon we stepped onto the ski trail, made the turn uphill, and kept climbing.
At Pico Junction we decided to simply head to the top instead of making the side trip to Pico Camp. We continued up the Forty-Niner ski trail to the summit. Along the way we crossed the service road a couple times. It appeared there was some heavy equipment moving along the road recently. When we reached the summit area we found heavy equipment – lots of it. There were several dozers and excavators parked near the top of the lift. The ground surface was really chewed up from the tracks on this equipment and the wet conditions left a huge mud pit to cross.
We made our messy way to the summit cairn, got the usual pictures, made the u-turn and headed back down. As we were leaving, one solo hiker arrived, and a short distance below the summit we passed a couple on their ascent that we had passed earlier.
We descended the Forty-Niner ski trail through Pico Junction, reentered the woods and followed Sherburne Pass Trail to the trailhead. With the wet conditions, wet rocks, wet roots, and wet leaves hiding all of it we needed to be extra cautious on the descent to avoid a fall but we had no trouble on our walk back to the truck. By the time we reached the truck the mist we had been dealing with all day had become more substantial and it was raining. We wasted no time in loading our things into the truck, changing into different footwear, and hitting the road out of there.
continued.......
Trails:
Mendon Peak: Woods roads and herd paths
Pico Peak: Sherburne Trail, Forty-Niner Ski Trail
Stratton Mountain: Long Trail
Summits: Mendon Peak, Pico Peak, and Stratton Mountain
Hikers: Trail Trotter (Sue) and me
We had three peaks left on our NEHH list in Vermont and decided to work them into our hike plans as soon as we could. In addition to Mendon and Pico we also had Stratton Mountain. Our plan for the weekend was to hike Mendon and Pico on Saturday and then hike Stratton on Sunday. The forecast wasn’t good but it looked like any rainfall would be light and mainly very early on Saturday and late on Sunday (after 2:00pm).
On the morning drive to Mendon we took a different route. Instead of following Route 4 from I-89 (exit 1) to the area, we took the Route 107/100 approach from I-89 (exit 3). It’s a little longer but avoids Quechee and Woodstock. On a good day it’s a quicker route. This wasn’t a good day. Vermont experienced a great deal of damage from Tropical Storm Irene last year and there are many areas still being repaired. Consequently, Route 107 is a good road to avoid. I should have checked Vermont 511 before making the route decision.
Mendon Peak
We arrived to the trailhead at Brewers Corner on Wheelerville Road a little later than planned but were quickly geared up and hiking. Mendon is a relatively short hike along a woods road for most of the distance and ends with an easy bushwhack of roughly .6 miles with lots of herd paths to choose from.
We hiked along the woods road past a small camp with several vehicles and on to the first of several stream crossings. The trail was in good shape with only a couple small areas of erosion from the storm. As we approached the first crossing it was clear the trail conditions were about to change. Starting at the first crossing and all of the way to the first cairn after the final crossing there is substantial erosion damage, I assume from TS Irene. We carefully made our way across the stream at each of the four crossings and through the areas of trail erosion. We left the fourth crossing still hiking on a badly eroded trail and started the ascent to the ridge and start of our bushwhack.
Our plan was to climb to the third cairn and then head west over the east peak and onto Mendon West Peak. As expected, we reached the sharp turn (sometimes called the hairpin turn) and first cairn at ~3050 feet and continued a short distance to the second cairn (~3300 feet) and finally the third cairn at ~3400 feet. From the third cairn there is a herd path leaving directly west, we took it.
The many herd paths on the ridge were quite often short and wandered. We continued from path to path generally heading west. As we worked our way along the herd paths seem to slowly consolidate and they became fewer and better defined. Eventually, a short distance from the East peak we were on a solid herd path leading us to the target. On our way through we stopped at the viewpoint on the East peak and found no views at all due to the cloud cover and fog. We cleared the East peak and continued to the West peak and canister. A little over 2.5 hours after we started and we were getting our summit pictures and signing the summit register. We made the u-turn and headed back out the way we hiked in.
While doing the reverse bushwhack we managed to drift off the course we followed on the way in and went a little to the north. Knowing the trail was off in that direction we simply followed the course of least resistance and eventually landed on the trail at the second cairn. From there we hiked back through the crossings and erosion damage and onto the trailhead with no surprises at all. We started the hike a little later than planned but were back on schedule when we were back to the truck. Hike #1 went well.
Pico Peak
Our run from Brewers corner to Sherburne Pass was barely enough time for a quick snack. We pulled into the lot across from the Inn at Long Trail, grabbed our things, and we were again hiking. The connection between trailheads was short and a second warm-up wasn’t needed. We followed Sherburne Pass Trail to the summit of Pico. The trail is clear and in great shape. The lower half of the route, perhaps more, is through beautiful open hardwoods. As we hiked along we met others descending from the summit and passed a few on their ascent. We passed Sink Hole Brook stopping for a few pictures of the place. I’ll bet it’s an interesting sight in higher flow conditions (right now it’s a very small flow).
Above Sink Hole Brook we worked our way into the conifers. As we hiked along we passed a couple well defined herd paths exiting the trail to the left. There is no indication of other trails on the map or in the Long Trail Guide and I was curious about these. My curiosity didn’t win out and we kept working our way along the trail to the summit. Soon we stepped onto the ski trail, made the turn uphill, and kept climbing.
At Pico Junction we decided to simply head to the top instead of making the side trip to Pico Camp. We continued up the Forty-Niner ski trail to the summit. Along the way we crossed the service road a couple times. It appeared there was some heavy equipment moving along the road recently. When we reached the summit area we found heavy equipment – lots of it. There were several dozers and excavators parked near the top of the lift. The ground surface was really chewed up from the tracks on this equipment and the wet conditions left a huge mud pit to cross.
We made our messy way to the summit cairn, got the usual pictures, made the u-turn and headed back down. As we were leaving, one solo hiker arrived, and a short distance below the summit we passed a couple on their ascent that we had passed earlier.
We descended the Forty-Niner ski trail through Pico Junction, reentered the woods and followed Sherburne Pass Trail to the trailhead. With the wet conditions, wet rocks, wet roots, and wet leaves hiding all of it we needed to be extra cautious on the descent to avoid a fall but we had no trouble on our walk back to the truck. By the time we reached the truck the mist we had been dealing with all day had become more substantial and it was raining. We wasted no time in loading our things into the truck, changing into different footwear, and hitting the road out of there.
continued.......
