NE Hundred Highest: Dorset Mountain (VT)

Saturday, February 24th, 2018
New England Hundred Highest climbed: Dorset Mountain
Miles: 6.7 (total, out and back hike)
Elevation gained: 2350'
MapMyRun recording

It was a bit more than a 2 hour drive from my house, so I dragged myself out of bed early and hit the road. I arrived at the trailhead on Tower Rd in Dorset, VT around 9am, got my gear together (which included a GPS track from GaiaGPS), and headed up the herd path. 

I followed the single track that I think is supposed to be the remains of Tower Rd. There was another car at the trailhead and a set of footprints to follow, so I used that to help guide me. 

It was a beautiful day, in the mid 40s, with blue skies.

While I followed the single track for most of the hike up, I did lose it near this turn in the creek and ended up bushwhacking a bit. I can confirm from my return hike that the single track continues straight, following the dry creek bed.

After I was done with the bushwhacking, I emerged onto a clearing with the single track, near the old remains of a cabin.

From here, the track climbed and climbed, probably hitting ~35%-40% grade at a number of places. The pictures don't quite do it justice, but it was steep!

Part way up, there was some nice running water. Since it was above freezing, everything was melting.

As I continued up the mountain, every so often I'd see these silver diamonds nailed to trees. They weren't enough to guide me, but they did tell me I was on the right track. 

After climbing for what felt like forever, I made it to the first trail intersection, a T with the trail that goes to the peak and a trail that goes... somewhere else lol.

The trail I came up

Trail to the left, going somewhere

Trail to the right, going towards the peak

I took the trail to the right. Around here, snow accumulation became substantial (~12-16 inches), unlike it had at lower elevation. It was mostly packed down, between previous hikers and melt/refreeze, so I only broke through a few times. I followed the track onward; when there was a slip in the path, I took the right hand, uphill path. This lead me to the side trail for the south peak (and a fire tower). At the intersection, I met the person whose footprints I'd seen. He wasn't sure where to go, so following my GPS track, we walked to the peak of Dorset together. Once there, we signed the summit log, and I turned around and hoofed it back to my car, arriving by 12:10pm.