[at-l] Trip Report: Columbus weekend - #3 Mount Ascutney

[papabear.nyc at verizon.net (Papa Bear)]

Mount Ascutney - October 11, 2003

I left Audrey and Pat and got to my car at Shaftsbury Hollow Road at around 12:10 PM.  I had eaten enough trail food so that I didn't need to stop for lunch. Besides, I had a long drive and then a sizable hike to finish (I hoped) before dark.  Luckily, my right foot was feeling fine - just a little early morning soreness, so that was one less thing to worry about.  I was off in a few minutes and  drove the same route back to I-91 as I had in the early morning, but this time there was bright sunlight and traffic.  I found Cascade Falls Road off of Route 191 (on the second try!) and drove up the narrow dirt road to the parking lot.  Well, the small lot was overflowing and I jammed my car into a small spot (next to 3 others) amidst the bushes on the side of the road just before the lot.  I got my stuff together and started up the Weathersfield Trail at 2:20 PM.  Not bad: 2 hours from trailhead to trailhead on opposite sides of Vermont!  I was hoping to get hiking by 2:00 PM: I didn't quite make it but was close enough.  

A word on Mount Ascutney:  I was pronouncing it A-scoot-ney ("oo" as in "shoot" or "loop") but was corrected by several locals who said it's A-scut-ney ("u" as in "cut" or "but").  It is in fact a monadnock, and it stands out prominently where is rises beside the Connecticut River. As you drive up I-91 it stands out like a sore thumb with it's radio towers on top.  It would be much prettier without the towers.

The parking lot was jammed and the trail was busy in the lower section.  As was the pattern on many of my climbs over the weekend, the broad and gentle terrain on the lower section of the trail soon gave way to a steeper, rockier section.  I passed a small cascade and then a deep cleft in a rock ledge off to the right.  This was rather impressive.  Then there was a ladder to help climb over this ledge.  I passed a number of "tourist hikers", mostly going up, many with small kids in tow.  After about a mile and 30 minutes of hiking, I got to Cascade Falls, which was the attraction that brought most of these folks here.  I counted over 40 people on the trail going up or hanging out at the falls.

The site was impressive but unfortunately there was very little water flow.  I would like to see this place in the Spring!.  The water fell over a sheer rock ledge almost 100' high.  You didn't want to slip off this one!

At 3:00 PM I got going again up the trail and guess what?  No more people!  Hiking the mile to the waterfall was all that most of them had on their agenda.  I did however soon catch up with a couple who were holding to a good pace and we got to talking.  It turns out they were from New York City, my home town, and the husband was a marathon runner like me. They were Jerry and Carolyn, and although Jerry was almost a mirror of myself, I had never met him in the Big Apple.  They were staying at a resort to the west of the mountain and had hiked Ascutney via another trail before.  I mentioned that my only concern was to get back before dark, but they didn't seem to worry about that.

After passing a spot called Halfway Brooks, the trail left the stream and switch-backed up to the left through a mostly open Pine and Spruce forest which was very lovely.  We asked several groups coming down how far it was to the top and they each said "15 minutes" even though we asked the question over a period of at least 20 minutes.  One said "15 minutes to the top, further to the top top".  Ahh, a hierarchy of summits!  Finally one person said just 2 minutes more to the top, and then there we were at the little side trail to West Peak. This was evidently what they meant by the "top".  The "top top" was the actual summit about .4 miles further on.  West Peak had lovely views to the south-west, but the best views were from the Hang-Glider's platform, which was on another short side-trail a few minutes further on.  This was to the west, and you could see the valley, the resort where Jerry and Carolyn were staying and the top of the ski lift towards the north-west.  These were the best views so far.

We noticed that suddenly there were lots of people on the trail, many of them not too fit looking.  ("Fat people" was the name I not-so-euphemistically gave them.)  How did these people make it up here and how would they ever make it down again? Well, the mystery was soon solved.  There was another road that came up very close to the summit and they had to hike just a few tenths of a mile to get here.  But several of them asked us "Which way to the parking lot?" as we passed, so they exhibited some concern to be done with their "outing".  

We climbed the last bit to the summit over some rocky ledges and there we beheld a tall radio tower, a not-so-tall lookout tower and more towers on another lower peak to the south-east.  Most of the crowd was concentrated around the lookout tower but I went off 10 yards or so to the south where I found the true summit peak near the radio tower.  There was a USCG bench mark there and I got a picture taken of myself and took one of Jerry and Carolyn.  I took a few other shorts from the tower but the late afternoon was hazier than it had been earlier so the views were good but not great.

It was 4:30 PM so we decided to get moving back down.  Shortly after leaving the summit a group of 3 men asked us about the way to the parking lot.  Everyone seemed to want the answer to that question!  We confidently told them to follow us but soon realized we were not on the trail  It was a very well worn herd path but it was getting narrower and narrower and there were no blazes.  So we told the men we were not on the trail and headed back to find the last blaze and the real trail.  I told them "we were just testing you guys" by taking the wrong way, which got a chuckle, but since we only lost about 5 minutes it was no big deal.

Going down was quicker than going up, but it really was getting darker as we got towards the bottom and as is often the case, the trail seemed longer going down than we had remembered.  When we got to the falls around 10 minutes to 6, there was a family with about 4 kids still hanging around and we hoped they would not get caught by the dark.  But there was worse:  when we got very close to the parking lot, after 6:00 PM, we saw a young couple with two small kids and no discernable gear heading UP the trail.  I mentioned that they should think about the coming darkness (which had really already come), but what could you do?  The young wife looked skeptical and hopefully she would convince her gung-ho husband to turn around soon.

We arrived at the parking lot at 6:20 PM, just 4 hours round trip.  An now it really was dark. Look at the picture I took of my car.  I said goodbye to my friends and just before leaving I saw the family from the waterfall show up.  Whew! at least they had the sense to get down while there was still a little light.  Since I have heard nothing in the news about anyone getting lost on this mountain over the weekend, I assume the other family made it down as well.

I then drove back to Hanover and grabbed a bite to eat and finally made it to the ALDHA session I wanted to hear: Chris Townsend talking of his trek in Scotland where he bagged no less than 517 peaks in the Scottish Highlands!  Sheesh, and I though 7 in one weekend was something!  I arrived at 7:45 PM (45 minutes late). It had been a long day: 2 hikes each close to 4 hours and over 200 miles of driving. I would sleep well tonight.

Mount Ascutney, Windsor and West Windsor, Vermont
No. 25 of the New England Fifty Finest
Elevation: 3130', Prominence: 2290' 
Trails: Weathersfield Trail 
Distance hiked: 6.1 miles, Elevation gain: 2410'

Resources:
Trail Guide: GMC Day Hiker's Guide to Vermont (2002)
Topozone: http://www.topozone.com/map.asp?lat=43.44444&lon=-72.45417&s=50&layer=DRG25&size=l&u=0
DeLorme Vermont Atlas and Gazetteer (2000), page 31 

Photos: http://gallery.backcountry.net/papabear_2003_NE_FF

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