Volume 72, Number 4 Killington Section, Green Mountain Club December 2019

Larry, Bill, Lisa and Patches on Mount Ephraim (article on Page 7).

Killington Section Directors: Killington Section Officers: Term expiration 2020 Herb Ogden President

Herb Ogden* Cindy Taylor-Miller Vice President

Cindy Taylor-Miller* Allison Henry Secretary

Sue Thomas Sandy Bragg Treasurer

Term expiration 2021

Sandy Bragg* Committee Chairs: Ruth Hare Vacant History

Gerry Martin Sue Thomas Outings

Term expiration 2022 Larry Walter Trails & Shelters

Larry Walter* Wayne Krevetski Trails & Shelters

Allison Henry*

Spencer Wilson Delegates to GMC Board:

*Second consecutive 3-year term. Larry Walter Director

Not eligible for re-election. Ruth Hare Alternate

Smoke & Blazes: Web Site: www.gmckillington.org

Vivian Bebee Editor Sunghee Jones Web Master

Larry Walter Assistant Editor

Contact Information Vivian Bebee 14 Belmont Avenue, Rutland, VT 05701, 775-3855, vivianbebee@gmail.com

Sandy Bragg 346 Russellville Road, Shrewsbury, VT 05738, 492-2143, sanfordbbragg@yahoo.com

Ruth Hare vt_rh@protonmail.com

Allison Henry 19 Hillside Road, Rutland, VT 05701, 779-4404, allisonnorton1@gmail.com

Wayne Krevetski 22 Roberts Avenue, Rutland, VT 05701, 282-2237, wkrevetski@hotmail.com

Gerry Martin 998 Lincoln Hill Road, Shrewsbury, VT 05738 492-2244, gdmartin2020@yahoo.com

Herbert Ogden 214 South End Road, Mount Tabor, VT 05253-9756, 293-2510, hogden@vermontel.net

Cindy Taylor-Miller 337 East Street, Wallingford, VT 05773, 446-2288, mrsgorp@gmail.com

Larry Walter 14 Belmont Avenue, Rutland, VT 05701, 775-3855, lwalter@sover.net

Spencer Wilson 353-3969

Larry, Vivian, Laurie, Barry, Nancy, Melissa, Tim, Bob and Barb near the Lower

(F Mill) Dam on the LaChute River in Ticonderoga, NY (article on Page 5).

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This n’ That

► To receive Smoke & Blazes by email, send request to vivianbebee@gmail.com

► In Memoriam, by Sue Thomas Jean Haigh, 84: I’m sure all who knew her were stunned by the news of Jean’s passing on November 2nd, while leading a hike in the Northeast Kingdom, as she always seemed invincible. Though short in stature, she was a towering presence in the trail community, serving as president and board member at the Green Mountain Club, as well as a founding member of the Northeast Kingdom Section, and worked tirelessly on the new Kingdom Heritage Trail. Jean grew up in Rutland, graduating from Rutland High School. She studied microbiology at the University of Edinburg and earned her B.S. and Masters in Education at Castleton State College. She was a delight to hike with, and her enthusiasm and appreciation for the natural world were obvious and contagious. It seems fitting that she passed away on the trails she loved.

► ALDHA “Honorary Life Member” Award, by Wayne Krevetski On October 13th, the Appalachian Long Distance Hikers Association presented its highest award to one of our own. Cindy (Ms. Gorp) Taylor-Miller was made an “Honorary Life Member” of the association. What is ALDHA, you say? ALDHA is an off-trail family of hikers, dreamers and friends of the trail, working to preserve, protect, and promote the long-distance hiking com-munity. Then you ask why. Many of us know the work Cindy has done for the GMC and the Killington Section over the years. What you may not know is the amazing work she has done for the hiking community outside of Vermont. As a longstanding member of ALDHA, she has served on their Board of Directors and worked for many years as an editor of the Thru-Hiker’s Companion, the Bible of Appalachian Trail guidebooks. The Companion is produced by ALDHA and published by the ATC. At left, Cindy is pictured with Ron Burger, ALDHA’s Coordinator (President), at the annual meeting held at Williams College, in Williamstown, Mass. Congratulations Ms. Gorp!

► Annual Fall Potluck, November 17, 2019, by Sue Thomas We found we had to set up an extra table to accommodate the large crowd that turned up for our annual potluck, all bearing delicious contributions to a hearty meal that we all enjoyed. After all the dishes were licked clean, we settled in for the entertainment -- a presentation by our own, Larry Walter, on his recent coast-to-coast bicycle trip. Larry left Anacortes, Washington on June 7th, pedaling east across the northern states, with a couple side trips across the border, impressing Canadian officials with his stylish hat. Fortunately for his devoted fans in the Killington Section, U.S. border agents, in spite of the hat, allowed him back in. On August 15th, he dipped his wheels in the Atlantic at Ogunquit, Maine. Many thanks to Larry for sharing tales of the interesting people, scenery (and cats) he met along the way, and to our surprise special guest, Kevin, who flew all the way from Colorado for the occasion. Kevin and his 12-year-old daughter, Skye, completed the cross-country trek on a tandem bike and shared the road with Larry much of the way.

Larry - Anacortes, WA Skye and Kevin – Niagara Falls, NY Larry, Viv and Dave - Ogunquit, ME

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Outing Reports Hawk Hill Trails, Brandon, August 25, 2019, Herb Ogden, leader We had a beautiful, cool, partly sunny day for this hike on Moosalamoo Center trails west of Otter Valley Union High School. We, nine people, first read the good historical information at the kiosk and then hiked the east part of Frohloff’s Loop and the Old Brandon Road up to the June Cemetery on the ridge top. We admired the two double gravestones and the fine dry masonry of the cemetery wall. As far as I know, its quasi-Egyptian tilt is unique in Vermont cemeteries. Continuing north on the Old Brandon Road, I pointed out several cellar holes. We also passed the remains of a sugarhouse and a little attempt at gold mining on the northernmost trail. A view east from atop the cliffs was particularly nice because the breeze drove away the mosquitos. We finished by hiking the other part of Frohloff’s Loop beneath the cliffs. About the only thing missing from this perfect hiking day was wildlife other than the bloodsucking, winged variety. I don’t remember seeing even a chipmunk.

Shrewsbury Ramble, September 14, 2019, Gerry and Chryl Martin, leaders It was a dark and stormy morning, but by 10 a.m. there were eight hikers and Burdock ready to get underway. The trail beyond Tin Shanty had been recently trimmed and we found ourselves beyond the crest of Jockey Hill and the trail to the beaver ponds. A bit of backtracking still did not reveal the trail so we moved to the conspiracy theory whereby the route to the beaver ponds was obliterated by the snowmobile trail maintainers. Proceeding along we reached the AT/LT intersection and Governor Clements shelter where we had our snack/lunch. Thanks to Jerry Parker, the shuttle van had been successfully prepositioned off Gilman Road and was just right for return of the eight walkers and Burdock to the Shrewsbury Town Clerk’s Office and Pierce’s. In the light of a sunny day a little later, it was discovered that the beaver pond trail had not migrated (photo left), but was inadvertently hidden by three, small, cut trees. The rock marker was intact, as was the “Slow” marker at the ridge top 50 yards further on. Perhaps the sign is most applicable to the hike “leaders.” Maybe we’ll have another chance.

Hunger Mountain, Worcester, September 22, 2019, Allison Henry, leader

Mt. Hunger in Waterbury Center, VT is part of the Worcester Range, on the east side of the Rt. 100 valley across from Mt. Mansfield. If you only consider the hike’s distance via our chosen route, the Waterbury Trail, it doesn’t sound too diffi-cult as it is supposedly only about 4.5 miles round trip. However, there is over 2,200 feet of elevation gain over two miles, meaning you are climbing about 1,000 feet per mile. For comparison, our friend Pico,, via the Sherburne Pass Trail, has 1,800 feet of elevation gain over three miles, or 600 feet per mile and Pico’s not exactly a walk in the park either. It’s a walk in the State Forest.

I had put this hike on the schedule a few times over the past five years or so, but it kept getting canceled due to weather. The conditions were absolutely perfect this time, with temperatures in the 60s/70s and relatively clear skies. Two of us drove up from Rutland to meet a third hiker at the trailhead. I had conveniently forgotten about leaf season. Mt. Hunger has a large trailhead parking lot, but it was completely full when we arrived around 10:45, with at least a dozen additional cars parked on the roadway. A tiny part of my brain said that we shouldn’t contribute to the overuse and should hike somewhere else, but then a larger and stronger part of my brain said that we’d used enough fossil fuels to get there in the first place, and driving around to find someplace else would be wasteful. By the time we got started, it was around 11 a.m. and we were encountering hikers who were already on their way down from the summit. Our group of three women included one long-legged person, one short-legged person and

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one average-legged person (yours truly). Our short-legged participant is usually the fastest by far, but the extremely steep terrain leveled the playing field a bit. Or unleveled it. I was in decent shape at the end of summer, but once the school year began, I had gotten zero exercise, so I was not in top form for the challenge. The climb took us hours, including lots of breaks. The trail goes up relentlessly and there were at least five different points at which we erroneously thought we were in summit territory. There were some sections which required scrambling up steep rock faces. The scrambles were a good rest for our lungs, but required a good range-of-motion and mental planning, neither of which are my most prominent characteristics. There was one section that had a rock wall about 10 feet high with a few small footholds. One member of our party found it potentially insurmountable, and we considered turning back. Fortunately, after poking around in the woods a bit, an easy detour was found with a walkup path that came out above the wall. When we finally came out from under the tree canopy a few hundred yards from the summit, I couldn’t believe the views even though I had known what to expect. Clear views in every direction, with just a little haze on the horizon. Interestingly, the rate of change in the foliage colors was different on different sides of the mountain. From my vantage point, it appeared that the east side had progressed more than the west side, but I could be remembering it backwards. We spent a long time on the summit just looking around. I realized once I sat down that I just wanted to stay there, and thus was coined a brand-new phrase: “Help, I sat down and I can’t get up!” Ruth and I are pictured on Page 4 enjoying the sun at the summit. I expected our hike down to be a lot faster than our ascent, but my knees were sore and I couldn’t walk down as fast as I’d hoped. Even though it was late in the day, we still saw individuals and groups going up, and some looked less than prepared, but I did not stop to politely lecture them on safety. When we got back to the cars, we had some brownies that I’d been too lazy to carry with me on the hike. Who knows, if I had carried the extra weight that day, it might have slowed me down so much I’d still be out there right now. LaChute River Walk, Ticonderoga and Mount Independence, Orwell September 29, 2019, Larry Walter and Vivian Bebee, leaders What a pleasant day we had! We got lucky with blue sky and sunshine, with a little breeze. We had a great turnout with 11 of us attending. On Page 2, most of our group is pictured near the first dam. The River Walk is a well-signed (mostly), self-tour you can follow, right by the Heritage Museum and Visitor Center just as you are coming into the downtown area on Montcalm Street. There is one confusing driveway that turns back into the upper-river portion of the walk that is not signed at all. One of the locals clued us into that during our recon. hike a week earlier. There’s a lot of mill history around town and some of the old dams and diversion channels are still partially intact. Several information boards kept us informed as per the history and where the old foundations were located. There must have been 10 or 12 old millstones set along the way. The axle holes looked to have been hand chiseled. Not sure how they were originally turned into wheels. Must have been some pretty serious laths. Most of the factories revolved around paper production (pulp). For more information on this pleasant walking area, the following link is a good source: http://prideofticonderoga.org/projects/lachute-river-walk.html. Ticonderoga is a delightful little town and even has a Star Trek museum with old props from the original set . . . hike long and prosper! After a leisurely lunch while soaking up the sun, we strolled back to our cars and decided to take the Ticonderoga ferry across Lake Champlain and headed for the Mount Independence State Historic Site in Orwell. At Mount Indepen-dence, some of us opted for a talk and slide presentation inside the museum and some of us just couldn’t resist staying outside on such a nice day. We hiked along some of the trails at this Historic Site, taking in views across Lake Champlain of Fort Ticonderoga and Mount Defiance. We also came upon a porcupine high up in a tree, who seemed to be un-concerned with all the pictures we took of him.

Bob at Richard’s Island Dam. Catching some rays and maybe a snack of leaves and bark.

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Pico Mountain, Killington, October 12, 2019, Sandy Bragg, leader At the height of a glorious leaf season, we lucked out with a crisp fall day for our ascent of Pico via the Sherburne Pass Trail. Led by intrepid trail blazer Claire Jones, our seven-person group ascended the 1,800 feet to the summit, passing through maple, beech and oak before reaching the boreal section of the mountain. Once the trail emerged on the Summit Glades ski trail, we followed a service road to the summit. Isaac Jones gave training in up-hill pulling to apprentice sled dog, Koko, and together they were the first to reach the peak, where the group had a relaxed lunch enjoying the panoramic views north, east and south. We returned via the same route, Claire giving Koko lessons in down-hill pulling as we completed the 5.5-mile trek.

Diane, Sandy, Larry, Claire, Sunghee and Nancy (in foreground, Koko)

AT – Sherburne Pass to Thundering Brook Falls, Killington, October 19, 2019, Sue Thomas, leader I couldn’t have asked for a nicer day to hike this beautiful stretch of the AT, one of my favorites to lead. The sun was shining in a deep blue sky and the leaves were still colorful . . . a perfect day. There were 10 of us all together, led most of the way by Isaac, whose new boots seemed to have a life of their own, propelling him at great speed along the trail. He patiently waited along the way for the rest of us mere mortals to catch up. I guess that’s the downside of super powers. We made our way down to Gifford Woods State Park in time for lunch at the picnic area and then, refueled, we continued on past a beautiful, small waterfall and around Kent Pond, pausing for photos (see picture on Page 7). Recent rain had swelled the brook east of the Pond and carried away a makeshift bridge. Consequently, two of our gang opted to walk around via the road, while the rest of us rock-hopped across. Isaac activated his jet packs in his super boots and levitated. Continuing on through some pretty woods, we encountered enormous boulders. Larry exercised all of his rock-climbing skills, but was unable to scale them. But never fear. Once more, Isaac’s boots came to the rescue and he quickly moved them to the side of the trail. Our missing two rejoined us at the top of Thundering Brook Falls, just as scenic in its way as the bottom, I think. From there, it was all downhill to the foot of the Falls, a spectacular end to a really beautiful piece of trail. We’re so lucky to have it in our backyard. Many thanks to the Ottaquechee Section for lovingly maintaining it! All that was left was a meander down the boardwalk to our cars, where we came upon a man flying a drone. Isaac joined it for a quick flit over the bog. Gotta get some of those boots!

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Winnie, Melissa, Larry, Nancy, Sunghee, Pam, Bill and Jean at Kent Pond

Mount Ephraim, Springfield, November 2, 2019, Sue Thomas Leader When I placed my order for weather, I neglected to mention temperature. The sky was bright blue, but the first cold snap of the year always comes as a shock, so I was pleased to see a few hearty souls willing to make the trek down to Chester to check out Mount Ephraim. Everyone I’d mentioned it to had responded the same way – “Mount what? Never heard of it.” I suppose that is what appealed to me about it, that and the mention of a “mysterious stone cairn.” However, when I went down on my own to scout it out and saw the panoramic view, I as sold. Ephraim is billed as the “highest mountain in Springfield,” so that’s how I put it on the hike description . . . perhaps I should have mentioned that it weighs in at a lofty 1,490 feet. The unmarked trail follows old roads and climbs gently most of the way before breaking out of the woods at the foot of a short, steep ascent through a clearing dotted with apple trees and boulders. We were not the first to enjoy the view. Scat revealed that apple-loving bears had picnicked there before us. Happily, they had packed up their baskets and left the picnic table to us. What a lovely spot it is too (pictured below). We could see Mount Ascutney and all of the way to Mt. Monadnock, and the bright sunshine took the chill off a bit. We were a little early so hiked on along the ridge before returning to enjoy our lunch with a view at the picnic table, with pumpkin cookies for dessert. I’m afraid the “mysterious stone cairn” may have been dismantled to build a fire ring – oh, those naughty bears! On the other hand, we were not at the actual summit . . . exploration is needed. After returning to the trailhead, we (with permission) poked around the Stellafane Observatory site (pictured below), which was very interesting. They hold stargazing events throughout the summer. A stop at the Green Mountain Sugarhouse for the last maple creamee of the season capped off a great hike.

Perfect table for lunch with a view. Bill checking out the Stellafane Observatory.

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Vivian Bebee, Editor

14 Belmont Avenue

Rutland, VT 05701

KILLINGTON SECTION

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Killington Section, Green Mountain Club

The Killington Section, based in Rutland, VT, is a chapter of the statewide Green Mountain Club. Membership in the Section

includes membership in the Club. Members receive a membership card, the Club quarterly Long Trail News, and the Section

quarterly Smoke & Blazes including a schedule of outings, trail work parties, and social events. Members also receive reduced rates

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shelters in the Killington Section (Route 140 to Route 4) and the Long Trail system throughout Vermont.

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I also enclose a contribution of $________ to the Kirk Trails and Shelters Fund supporting the Killington Section’s maintenance and preservation of trails and shelters. I would like information on volunteering for: ___trail work, ___shelter work, ___sign making, ___publications, ___leading outings, ___publicity, ___education Make check payable to "GMC" and mail with this application to:

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