Gore Mountain (Silvio O. Conte National Wildlife Refuge)
Distance: 5.2 miles
Elevation: 1237 feet
Time: 2 hours, 37 minutes
Hiking Challenges: Northeast Kingdom Mountain Challenge; Go North 9er; Summit Beer Society; New England 50 Finest
I was super excited for the journey to this hike, and feeling lackluster about doing the hike itself. When Emma first moved to Vermont, I made it my life's mission to see a moose. We read that VT-105 and the NWR were two good moose spotting locations, so one evening we set forth onto one of the dirt roads in search for the giant northern mammals. Long story short, we failed in our search and only found a thousand frogs. When I saw that we could hike Gore Mountain from the NWR, I knew it was redemption time (evidently, it was not redemption time). Thankfully, the roads have recently been re-graded, and there were three boardwalks off the side of the road to break up the drive in, all of which were lovely. We started the hike from the famous Lewis Pond Overlook, which lived up to its reputation of having an incredible view (pictured above).
The trailhead is clearly marked and follows a wide woods road that doubles as a VAST snowmobile trail in the winter. It was MUDDY, which became a theme for this hike. After 0.4 miles, the Gore Mountain Trail turns right into the young forest while the woods road continues straight. The map shows a viewpoint at this junction, but we did not find it (we also didn't really look for it at all). It was clear that this trail was seldom used by humans (but frequently used by moose - poop galore!). At times we had to really concentrate on the blazes due to lack of trail definition, but thankfully there were plenty of blazes.
After some nice hiking in the woods, the trail starts to climb what feels like a power cut/slide, and this is where the mud and bugs really kicked in. Most of this stretch of hike was spent looking down, swatting bugs, and dodging neverending mud pits. There were brief moments where we would get some relief when the trail would dip into the woods for a split second, but that rarely lasted for long. The most fascinating part of this stretch was how it was also covered in moose poop. At one point Emma shouted "do the moose just hike up and down this all day?!" The only redeeming quality of this stretch was the view when you turned around.
The trail levels out towards the summit, and the mud and bugs increase. It was pretty, but we did not spend too much time to enjoy it due to the aforementioned factors. The summit is marked by an old cabin with a new red roof and a summit sign on the outside. There were some trail maintainers seeking refuge in the cabin when we got there, and one of them thought to make what sounded like a baby bear call as were approaching, which was definitely in good fun, but definitely unsettling. We cheersed our summit beverages but waited until after the steep portion to indulge. We did check out the cabin and signed the register, and were on our way back soon after.
The hike down went much faster than the way up, naturally. Continued dodging of moose poop and mud pits, and once we were at the bottom of the messiest section we cracked open our beverages to enjoy for the remainder of the hike. Our favorite moment was crossing paths with another hiker - we had our poles in one hand and beverages (in koozies, naturally), in the other, and this man says proudly "now THAT is civilized hiking!" which fully made our day. Merch drop soon? We'll see.
Once back at the car we spent a couple minutes enjoying the view again from Lewis Pond Overlook before hiding from the bugs in the car. We bought a bunch of cheese, crackers, and meats to indulge in, and I think I have a new favorite post-hike snack! The drive our of the refuge wasn't too bad, and before we knew it, it was nap time!
- From parking lot at Lewis Pond Overlook, find trailhead for Lewis Pond Trail/Gore Mountain East Trail and begin hike.
- At 0.4 miles, the trail will leave the woods road (VAST Trail) it has been following and head into the forest (follow blue blazes).
- Continue on Gore Mountain Trail to the Gore Mountain summit cabin. After hiding from the bugs in the cabin, head back down to the car.
The north and northwest sides of Gore Mountain drain via several short brooks into the Coaticook River, thence into the Massawippi River, Saint-François River, and Saint Lawrence River in Quebec, and thence into the Gulf of Saint Lawrence. The southwest side of Gore Mtn. drains into Jim Carroll Brook, thence into the North Branch of the Nulhegan River, the Connecticut River, and into Long Island Sound in Connecticut. The southeast side of Gore Mtn. drains into the Logger Branch, and the east side into the Black Branch, of the Nulhegan River."
From Kingdom Heritage Trails Map:
"The Nulhegan Basin Division of the Silvio O. Conte National Fish and Wildlife Refuge is managed by the US Fish and Wildlife Service and protects 26,000 acres of lowland forest that supports rare species, extensive wetlands, and migratory songbird habitat. The lands are available for hunting, fishing, and contabile recreation."
"Gore Mountain once served as a forest fire lookout station- overlooking the vast timerlands of northern Essex County. Built in 1912, it was the second oldest lookout in Vermont. In 1934, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) constructed a new fire tower that was in use until it was removed in 1973."
No comments:
Post a Comment