Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
| Peaks |
Killington Peak, Pico Peak, Menden Peak, VT |
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| Trails: |
Ski trails, Long Trail, Pico Peak Spur, logging roads, bushwhack |
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| Date of Hike: |
Saturday, September 2, 2017 |
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| Parking/Access Road Notes: |
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| Surface Conditions: |
Dry Trail |
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| Recommended Equipment: |
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| Water Crossing Notes: |
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| Trail Maintenance Notes: |
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| Dog-Related Notes: |
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| Bugs: |
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| Lost and Found: |
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| Comments: |
Beautiful day to be hiking. Since Killington, Pico and Mendon are on the NEHH, we decided to bag all three in one hike. Killington via ski trails was straight forward and well maintained. Long trail to Pico had gentle grades that allowed us to move quickly. The fun part of the hike was getting to Mendon from Killington. On Peakbagger.com, there are good gps tracks that clearly show the way. I uploaded one of the tracks that suggested to take a heard path down to an old logging road. The beginning of this heard path was hard to find since it doesn't get much foot traffic. We overshot and had to retrace on the LT to find it. It's roughly 0.2 miles south of the Cooper Lodge on the LT. We placed a few branches at the beginning to make it more obvious for future hikers. Once on it, it was fairly easy to follow to the old logging road. We followed the old logging road for roughly 1 mile until we crossed an old rescue toboggan attached to a tree. Just past this, there are branches on the ground showing the way to a well-defined herd path that indicates the beginning of the bushwack. We were able to follow this herd path all the way to the summit. There are a few blowdowns along the way at which point we lost the herd path but quickly found what I assume was either a different path or the same one we were following. In any case, it wasn't hard to follow and required very little navigating skills. As you near the summit, it gets a little denser but manageable. There is a nice outlook from the northern summit, but the official peak is past this at the southern summit. We completed the register, and retraced our steps. Had a beer at the Killington summit lodge before running down the service road! Enjoyable hike and a lot less stressful than anticipated for the bushwack. Link below indicates our gps track. |
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| Name: |
Paul Heron |
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| E-Mail: |
pheron14@hotmail.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2017-09-04 |
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| Link: |
https://www.strava.com/activities/1165335155 |
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Disclaimer: Reports are not verified - conditions may vary. Use at own risk. Always be prepared when hiking. Observe all signs. Trail conditions reports are not substitutes for weather reports or common sense. |
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