[at-l] Trip Report: Vermont peaks near the AT

[agaudet at theworld.com (Arthur Gaudet)]

Hey! It's great you're doing the NE100 list. I've copied below an article I wrote in 2000 when I completed the list. I was looking for something to do after hiking from CT to Rusty's in VA that June-August. 

I decided on the challenge of doing "30 hikes in 30 days" to finish the list. I hadn't calculated that I would have to drive close to 2000 miles in the effort, climbing some of these peaks more than once in order to reach the summit. I was able to mix in some trail magic while staying in Gorham, NH at the Barn, and later at Stratton, ME that year and met some great thruhikers. These included Bear Bag & Sweet Pea (Gary & Millie Buffington), Brother, Golden Boy, Candy Lady, Anonymous Badger, Sunny Campfire, James & Veronica, Pat from Maine, Wild Child, Baltimore Jack, Gruff, Dreamcatcher and Godfather & his group. (I almost headed N to Katahdin with this last group!) --RockDancer 
  A Season of Bushwhacks in New England 

  (A Blood Sport)

  by Arthur Gaudet (RockDancer AT '97)

  Tired of climbing the same 20 peaks in the White Mountains of NH, I took the month of September this year to visit distant parts of New England and to climb the lowest peaks of the New England 100 Highest list. The reasons? To get out of a rut after many years of hiking, to escape the crowds that seem to overwhelm the Whites, and also to build some new skills - those necessary for traveling through the woods alone, without benefit of trail or crowds to mark the way. This is the way I've acquired many of the scars on my shins today.

  The top 48 peaks in the NE100 list are the 4000 footers in the White Mountains, these I first finished in 1987. Numbers 49 to 67 are the 4000 footers in Maine & Vermont. Reaching these top 67 peaks qualifies you for the New England 4000 Footers Club. Of the remaining 33 lower summits, 21 have trails and 12 are bushwhacks - trailless mountains that require a different set of skills, different equipment, and a different mental approach in order to achieve the summits safely. 

  This year it turns out that Mike B. and Arthur P. have also finished this same list. I was unaware of their efforts until I read their names in the summit registers on each peak. A small PVC canister is mounted on a tree at these summits containing a register placed by the AMC. Some of these peaks have registers, still not full, dating back 15 years or more. These peaks receive few visitors each year, some only 10-20. I can't quite express the feeling that comes with finally spotting the elusive canister after a lengthy bushwhack. Sometimes the challenge of the mountain is not to reach the top but to find the can at the top! This happened to me on White Cap where I searched for an hour once I arrived at what I thought was the summit. Mike climbed East Kennebago a second time after failing to find the can on the first climb. Arthur returned to Scar Ridge this year, with Mike, in order to find the elusive canister, even though he found the true summit the year before.

  I required 3 attempts at The Nubble, and Arthur made 4 attempts of Big Snow before reaching the top. On my part I made poor choices of starting points and ran out of daylight on the first 2 attempts. Arthur had trouble with the maze of logging roads, all unsigned, that meander around Mt. Snow.

  So, how does one bushwhack? With no trails, there are no trailheads and so you are free to start climbing to the top from anywhere you wish. I've used the DeLorme state gazetteer books to get me as close as possible to the summit along the various dirt roads. Sometimes I opted for a slightly longer trek if a dirt road took me to a higher spot further from the peak. Park the car, grab the daypack, take a compass reading and then (deep breath) step into the woods.

  Since I did these bushwhacks as a novice the first few were pretty scary, but I improved quickly and I soon had a routine for equipment, food and clothing that allowed me to move confidently to my objective. The compass and altimeter both go around the neck for easy access, the map goes into a zippered pocket (a spruce tree stole my topo map from an open pocket while on The Nubble). Eye protection is a necessity, not an option - Mike received an eye scratch on one trip. Nylon jacket and pants are necessary, no matter how warm, in order to "moose" your way through the thick stuff. Bushwhacks burn up a lot of energy, so I pack the equivalent of 2-3 lunches, with 2 liters of water, and usually finish all my food. (My 11 mile round trip of Carrigain & Vose Spur exhausted me as much as a 25 mile hike with full backpack along flat trails earlier this summer. ) I don't use hiking sticks but I don't see how they would help on these trips. I need both hands free in order to pull my way through tight trees, or to climb/lower myself safely. Mike uses a wrist altimeter and handheld compass.

  Arthur, Mike and I all have scars on our legs courtesy of the thick scrub spruce. Arthur wrote to me "my advice to people is wear long pants and a shirt no matter how warm it is! I still have a few scars from bushes that whacked back." Mike wrote "When I was whitewater rafting on the Penobscot while finishing the 100 highest one of the rafters saw all the scratches on my leg and thought I got those from falling out of the raft! When I told her the story she thought I was nuts". For my part I earned the admiration of a few northbound thruhikers who felt that bushwhacking was a notch up from what they were doing! Others questioned my sanity.

  How easy or difficult are these summits? Well, a lot of it depends on which side of the mountain was climbed, weather & conditions, and how we're feeling physically and mentally. The ascents for these peaks are generally about 1000 feet, and the distance to the top is about a mile. Doesn't sound like much but every footstep is a challenge, doubly so in wet conditions. The rotted trees are unreliable, deep holes are covered with mosses, branches & leaf litter. The walking takes on a new dimension when compared with a flat, regular trail. 

  Perhaps in Winter this sort of travel would be easier. Several experienced bushwhackers have told me that you stay above a lot of the debris while on snowshoes. The worst conditions would be Spring when postholing would require even more energy to reach the top - Arthur can attest to this with his ascent of Mt. Elephant in deep, late season snow. At all times of year you return to your car with your pockets full of spruce needles, I'm still finding them today in my gear.

  I found that I am much more alert for a bushwhack than if I'm on a regular trail. My mind is constantly busy with solving the problem of "what is the best way to go". Should I continue to follow the moose tracks or abandon them now that they're no longer moving upwards? Do I slab for a while to the left or right to avoid the thick blowdowns, or try to cross over them like a spider? Have I checked my heading recently, am I still on the right bearing? How to get safely around this cliff?. 

  There is some general agreement however that The Nubble, Scar Ridge, Vose Spur and Mt. Elephant are all difficult climbs. (Mike thought the Nubble was fun!) Mendon has a nice view of Killington and Pico but all the rest are wooded summits with little/no views. We all enjoyed Boundary Peak, the one on the US/Canada border. As expected we all encountered moose and other animals along the way. It's a pleasant surprise to see how wild some corners of New England still are today.

  Bushwhacking has impacted me in a number of ways. I found it took much more courage to set off into the woods, solo, with map & compass. I learned to be more willing to allow for failure, and to return another day with a better plan. These bushwhacks turned out to be some of the most satisfying climbs of my career.

  NE mountains have much more to offer beyond the big peaks of NH. I've learned to have a new appreciation for trails, no matter what their condition. I used to whine to myself when I saw a trail in terrible shape through benign neglect. Now I'm grateful for any help, even moose tracks, that gets me closer to the summit. And of course I have new appreciation for those who built the trails to all those other summits from scratch. Those pioneers had to plan those trails through a series of bushwhacks. And finally, now I have a whole set of torn & scratched clothes reserved only for bushwhacking.

  Arthur P., Mike B. & Arthur Gaudet received their patches on April 21, 2001 in an AMC ceremony for all new members of the 3 AMC lists. Currently the NE100 list, started in 1964, has 463 members.

  (The AMC provides a 20 page tip sheet for $3 that will help with planning the bushwhacks, and also help with access to the mountains that can only be reached through private lands. One peak is reached by Penobscot Indian permission, several others by permission of logging companies for use of their roads, one peak is often reached by crossing into Quebec and ascending along the international boundary. The NE Hundred Highest Club also denigrates the use of herd paths and/or establishing trails on these peaks. From the AMC -"We regard trailless peaks as a resource, not as an obstacle to the easy completion of the official list by those who are unwilling to acquire the needed skills for trailless travel").
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mailman.hack.net/pipermail/at-l/attachments/20030615/c69f1090/attachment.htm