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Ski
Hiking Trail Conditions Report
Peaks
Peaks Mendon Peak, VT
Trails
Trails: Woods roads, herd path
Date of Hike
Date of Hike: Saturday, January 11, 2025
Parking/Access Road Notes
Parking/Access Road Notes: Ample parking can be found at the Bucklin Trailhead at Brewer's Corner on Wheelerville Road. The route to Mendon Peak does not follow the Bucklin Trail at all, but instead follows woods roads that head due south immediately and then head east once in the Eddy Brook drainage. 
Surface Conditions
Surface Conditions: Snow - Packed Powder/Loose Granular, Snow - Unpacked Powder 
Recommended Equipment
Recommended Equipment: Snowshoes 
Water Crossing Notes
Water Crossing Notes: The uphill woods roads avoid crossing Eddy Brook until it splits at Elev. 2500, then the first crossing can be rockhopped and the second crossing has a stable ice bridge. 
Trail Maintenance Notes
Trail Maintenance Notes: The woods roads all the way up to Elev. 3400 are well-cut and easy to follow, although you will need to use judgement on which roads to follow at splits. The herd path heading up the summit cone from the ridge was mostly clear but required some wayfinding at points. Should be more obvious in the summertime. 
Dog-Related Notes
Dog-Related Notes: Control dogs when approaching Waits Camp on the woods road about half a mile into the hike, and on the return. 
Bugs
Bugs: Nothing to say. 
Lost and Found
Lost and Found: Nothing to say. 
 
Comments
Comments: Green Mountain Club scheduled hike up Mendon Peak today. There were five of us: One from Rutland, three from Shrewsbury, and one from Bristol. We parked at the trailhead for the Bucklin Trail, and began the hike along the woods roads headed south and then east. There appeared to be backcountry skiing tracks made earlier in the morning heading in almost exactly the same direction as we wanted; we tried our best to walk alongside and not mess them up. Hikers following our tracks will want to take a moment at splits to ID the snowshoe trench rather than the backcountry ski tracks. Wayfinding wasn't too difficult with past experience supported by GPS, and we made pretty quick progress up to the ridge between Little Killington and Mendon Peak. Once there, wayfinding along the ridge was more confusing in the snow, but we found the way eventually by following a generally-Due West compass heading. Here, hikers following our trench will need to bear with a few dead-ends in spots; actually, following the backcountry ski tracks may actually get you to the summit as well but we didn't investigate on the way down. We managed to locate both the lookout on the false peak and the summit sign on the real peak - the canister appears to be missing, or perhaps has just fallen off. The five of us followed our own tracks all the way back down to Wheelerville Road. A shapely snowshoe trench is now present all the way from the parking lot at the Bucklin Trail to the summit of Mendon Peak. Get it while it's good!  
Name
Name: Sheamus 
E-Mail
E-Mail: Sheamus.Fagan@gmail.com 
Date Submitted
Date Submitted: 2025-01-11 
Link
Link: https:// 
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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