| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Bolton Mountain, Mt. Mayo, VT |
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 | Trails: |
World Cup Trail, Bryant Trail, Birch Loop, Raven’s Wind, Long Trail, bushwhack |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Sunday, July 17, 2022 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Walked right out of our AirBnB and hit the trails! How ya like that?! We certainly did :) I think you’d have to park in the dirt lot just before reaching the condos if hiking. Roads in are paved but the dirt lots for condos and parking have many large, deep potholes. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Dry Trail, Wet Trail, Wet/Slippery Rock, Mud - Minor/Avoidable, Mud - Significant |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
Normally, I think we would’ve crossed water, but the drainages we crossed were all dry :( |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
Impressively, I don’t think there was a single blowdown on any of these trails today. All the trails other than the Long Trail I think are ski trails part of Bolton but they were usually signed and east to follow. Long Trail signs were intact. Some of the bog bridges beyond the newer really nice ones along the western end of Birch Loop could be replaced. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
One seen on the trails down low. Some dogs may struggle with some of the scrambles along the ridge line. At the moment, there is very little water along the way too. |
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 | Bugs: |
Other than obnoxious flies buzzing about, there wasn’t much. Don’t recall any black flies or mosquitos. Yay!!
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 | Lost and Found: |
None |
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 | Comments: |
Figured I’d get a start on my NE3000 footers while on vacation in VT ;) A quick search revealed that I’ve never posted hiking in VT. Indeed, the only hiking in VT I’ve done is of the 4000 footers and that was probably 5 years ago now.
We ascended to the LT along the ski trails mentioned above, passing through a disc golf course down low. The trails were along roads down low. Not too overgrown. A little muddy at times but not too bad. Easy-moderate grades. little more than halfway to the LT we passed by Bryant Cabin which you can rent for a ridiculous price. Looked quite nice. We continued on the western part of Birch Loop. From this point on, the trails were footpaths and no longer roads. Some nice bog bridges here although some later ones looked almost ready to be replaced. We got on Raven’s Wind Trail. Shortly before Olga’s Falls the trail become a bit steeper and rougher. The spur to the falls is obvious at first but ends in nothingness and is a short but gnarly whack to the falls which are currently just a trickle. I came back to the trail a different way as the whack down there involved going over some large elevated blowdowns which I didn’t love. The rest of the way up to the LT was a bit steeper and rougher beginning to look like a 4000 footer trail in the White Mtns but not excessively so.
Upon reaching the LT, we hiked north to ascend Bolton Mtn. A bit steeper and rougher than the contour lines made it look at times. Some small boulders/scrambling to negotiate. Short spur to the true high point of Bolton. My parents turned around at Bolton whereas I continued on to Mayo. Probably a good decision as I didn’t realize that it was nearly an 800ft drop down into the col! Steep with some minor scrambling but nothing excessive. Climb up to Mayo was quick and easy if steep at times. There’s a register close by the trail at the obvious highpoint. I signed in and returned the same way. On my way back over Bolton I wasted my time wandering around looking for a jar. There isn’t one. High point seems to be on the short spur where there’s a sign with the mountains name and elevation. Returned down the same way.
The LT is about as dry as it’s probably ever been right now but still had many mud pits along it though many drying quite nicely. Still some soft and deeper looking ones though. Some slick rock too though mostly dry. Nice to be on trail again to know I can still handle a bit of elevation ;) Gaia had me at just over 7.5mi and a little more than 2500ft of gain. |
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 | Name: |
Liam Cooney |
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 | E-Mail: |
liamcooney96@gmail.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2022-07-17 |
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 | Link: |
 https:// |
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Disclaimer: Reports are not verified - conditions may vary. Use at own risk. Always be prepared when hiking. Observe all signs. Trail conditions reports are not substitutes for weather reports or common sense. |
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