Rocks on Top

Saturday I joined Poison Ivy for a cold but beautiful hike up Bucklin Trail to the summit of Killington in central Vermont. Both of us had been on Killington before, but neither of us had been on the Bucklin Trail.

Before I describe the hike, though, I'd like to say that although MapQuest tells you to take a shortcut to Wheelerville Road via Woodward Road, don't do it; the two roads don't actually connect.

On Saturday the forecast was for a high of 9 degrees in the valleys, and that was probably about right, but there was little to no wind, even on the summit, so it wasn't nearly as bad as that sounds. The only real trouble I had with the cold all day was a feeling that my toes were too cold, until I put some hand warmers in my boots, and then they were fine.

The first couple miles of Bucklin Trail are a nice easy stroll paralleling Brewer's Brook. The trail surface was about a half inch of new powder on hard packed trail, so I started off with my new microspikes, and Ivy was, I believe, also wearing light traction. Brewer's Brook was beautiful that day; unfortunately neither my nor Ivy's pictures captured the whitish green color, or the interaction between the flowing water and the ice.

At one point the trail crosses from the one side of the river to the other at what the Long Trail Guide describes as a "stream crossing that is challenging, except in times of low water." Luckily, there's a bridge there now. It wasn't at all clear to us how we would have gotten across the brook at that point if the bridge hadn't been there.

About two miles from the trailhead the trail turns and climbs fairly steeply upwards. I switched to crampons and Poison Ivy to snowshoes at that point. There were a few places where the direction the trail went wasn't obvious, but it's pretty well blazed, so there was no major trail confusion. Eventually we reached the Long Trail, and from there it was just a short walk to Cooper's Lodge. When I got to the lodge I heard voices, but when I looked in the lodge there was no one there. It turned out to be a couple skiers sitting on the roof. We saw several other skiers go by when we were in the lodge area.

From there a spur trail goes 0.2 miles straight up to the summit. I put on snowshoes as well then, because some of the drifts were getting deep. The top half of that spur was extremely difficult; probably the most difficult winter trail I've been on. But it's only a tenth of a mile, so before it really gets a chance to wear you down either physically or mentally it's over, and you're on the summit.

The views were great up there. There were only some cirrus clouds (the only clouds we had all day). We had the summit to ourselves when we first got there. We then took the short walk down to the ski resort cafeteria on the east side of the mountain (easy except for some stairs which were not made for snowshoes). That place was crowded, but we had a place to sit for a while, and then we headed back to the summit. Some snowboarders passed us on the way up. When I got there they were sitting around taking in the views, and one said, "We are so stoned!".

We then headed back the way we came. The top part of the spur was again very difficult, but after that it was an easy hike. Again there were several skiers hanging around Cooper Lodge, but we didn't see anyone after that. We didn't see any other hikers the whole day.

On the steep, upper part of Bucklin Trail Poison Ivy got out her Swiss bob and sledded down much of the trail. We kept leapfrogging each other, where I would pass her on the flatter parts that she would walk, and then she would zip past me on her Swiss bob on the steeper parts. After that is was an easy stroll back along the brook.

The only downside to the day was that near the end of the hike Poison Ivy started developing a headache. I think she enjoyed the day as a whole, though. I know I certainly did.

I've put my pictures online.

--

Cumulus

"I don't much care where [I get to] --" said Alice, "-- so long as I get somewhere," ...
"Oh, you're sure to do that," said the Cat, "if you only walk long enough."
- Lewis Carroll

Cumulus, thanks again for being great company and for being so patient... it was very cold and you never complained at all about waiting for me to catch up.

The hike was really great-- I especially enjoyed all the gorgeous ice in Brewer's Brook.... not quite the amazing green ice of my Owl's Head hike a few years ago, but close enough to remind me of it. I wish it came out better in the pictures. The views from the summit were terrific and I was surprised at how little wind there was.

Glad to get some new trail and a new winter peak under my boots!

- Ivy

I believe Bucklin was the route we took when I did Killy, and if it was I agree it is a very neat trail. A decent warm up before you move into the moderate stuff, and then the short steep climb to the summit. Unfortunately the summit caf was closed, but the Killy ski patrol blessedly let us impose upon the for a bit....great people!

Brian

Nice pix - both sets. In the unlikely event I take up winter peak-bagging, I'll give priority to summits like Killington that sport a heated cafeteria. That plaque piques my interest - 28 is a young age, so the story of Christopher Ruit must be a sad one.

As I recall, the Bucklin trailhead (Wheelerville Rd.?) is also the starting point for the logging roads that lead to the bushwhack to NE100K peak Mendon, which both of you photographed nearby from Killington. The worst thing about that 'whack for me were hellacious bugs, so now might be a good time - better views too. Later in the Winter would probably be better, to increase the odds that other peakbaggers had already discovered the spruce traps for you.

Now would be the time to go.... when we got back to the trailhead, I found a note on my car: Drewski and a companion had already been both up and down Mendon by the time we finished our hike. So, all those spruce traps are already found.

Thanks for the report and pics, we ve got to get back to Killington as we had just a view of the inside of a cloud when we did this peak a while ago. Looks like winter views are awesome!
Regards, Keith (lefty)(e)

I was on the Bucklin Trail this summer and I remember thinking parts would be a real good swiss bob run looked like it would make a nice snowshoe hike. glad you had such a beautiful day. I gotta get back there soon.

mendon was very easy..hardpak snow all the way to the high herdpath..we went too far left to the false summit...then we back tracked and found the path to 3840...now would be a great time to tag mendon....

You're welcome, although I don't really consider spending more time in the Vermont wilderness to be much of a burden.



Given Mt. Drew's note, I'd say that's so. There is another snowmobile path or dirt road or something leaving from the same spot.

If you're going to the Bucklin Trailhead, either for the whack or to take the trail, you should know that it's not marked as such. The LT Guide says it's at "a sharp turn", and when you travel down Wheelerville Road you come to an obvious sharp turn with a blue blazed trail. There was no sign identifying what trail it is though. We went down it because it looked right and there was no other trail on the map it could be. As we went along we became sure we were on the right trail because it matched the description in the LTG, but we didn't see anything with the word "Bucklin" on it until we got to the intersection with the Long Trail.

--

Cumulus

"I don't much care where [I get to] --" said Alice, "-- so long as I get somewhere," ...
"Oh, you're sure to do that," said the Cat, "if you only walk long enough."
- Lewis Carroll

Ha-hah.

That's not the only place MapQuest does that. The DeLorme isn't always much better. Welcome to Vermont.


Personally I like the questionable crossing that is bridged. I wonder how high the water actually gets there?