Date(s) Hiked: March 3, 2007
Trails(s) Hiked: Gile Mountain Trail
Total Distance: 1.2 miles
Difficulty: Easy
Conditions: Snowshoe broken trail, some crust on the snow.
Special Required Equipment: Snowshoes, a full moon after an eclipse, and a headlamp.
Trip Report: On Wednesday night at the Scout Troop Meeting, BW, the scoutmaster, announced that he was going to do a moonlit snowshoe hike and asked for my advice. I suggested Gile Mountain, because of its location and ease, and we set a time and a meeting place for any boys who were interested.
We got four boys and three adults. The eclipse, before we hiked, was amazing. Once we got to the trailhead, the moon came out of the eclipse to reveal great snow. We climbed up....at the power line, we gazed over the valley and the hospital. We could also see the lights from Whaleback twinkling in the distance.
The trail was packed real well and we made great time. There were some folks spending the night at the shelter. We spoke with them before going to the tower. I scaled it first, to be sure it was not icy. No worries. The boys followed me up.
At the top, I pointed out the landmarks and some other things...including the groomers working at Killington and Ascutney! We also could see the runway lights for the airport.
After the view, we headed back to the bottom. About a 1.5 hour trip. It was nice...the moon was bright for all but the last few minutes....and then it began to snow!
TB's Redfeather snowshoes, old reliable, did well.....but I did not do a good job putting them back on after ascending the tower....they came off once on the descent.
Trails(s) Hiked: Gile Mountain Trail
Total Distance: 1.2 miles
Difficulty: Easy
Conditions: Snowshoe broken trail, some crust on the snow.
Special Required Equipment: Snowshoes, a full moon after an eclipse, and a headlamp.
Trip Report: On Wednesday night at the Scout Troop Meeting, BW, the scoutmaster, announced that he was going to do a moonlit snowshoe hike and asked for my advice. I suggested Gile Mountain, because of its location and ease, and we set a time and a meeting place for any boys who were interested.
We got four boys and three adults. The eclipse, before we hiked, was amazing. Once we got to the trailhead, the moon came out of the eclipse to reveal great snow. We climbed up....at the power line, we gazed over the valley and the hospital. We could also see the lights from Whaleback twinkling in the distance.
The trail was packed real well and we made great time. There were some folks spending the night at the shelter. We spoke with them before going to the tower. I scaled it first, to be sure it was not icy. No worries. The boys followed me up.
At the top, I pointed out the landmarks and some other things...including the groomers working at Killington and Ascutney! We also could see the runway lights for the airport.
After the view, we headed back to the bottom. About a 1.5 hour trip. It was nice...the moon was bright for all but the last few minutes....and then it began to snow!
TB's Redfeather snowshoes, old reliable, did well.....but I did not do a good job putting them back on after ascending the tower....they came off once on the descent.
