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Gile Mountain: August 21, 2005

thetrailboss

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Date(s) Hiked: August 21, 2005

Trails(s) Hiked: Gile Mountain Tower Trail. HERE is the Dartmouth Outing Club's description of the hike.

Total Distance: 2.0 (with detour on bike path).

Difficulty: Very easy.

Conditions: Ground was a bit damp, but other than that, not bad. Trail well marked and easy to follow (except don't get confused with the bikepath :blink:).

Special Required Equipment: None.

Trip Report: I had read about Gile Mountain, in Norwich, VT while thumbing through my new edition of the GMC's Day Hiker's Guide to Vermont which by the way has many great new hikes that were not in the previous edition :beer: This short hike, which is only about 10-15 mins from our new place, was one that I wanted to be sure to try and this afternoon we had the opportunity to do so (in between rain showers :roll:).

Just an introduction: I had read that this trail was a local town trail that left a dirt road and gradually ascended to a lookout tower with a stellar view...the book, however, was quite modest :D

We easily found the trailhead, located about 5.2 miles off of Route 5 on Turnpike Road. It is the last turn-off on before the dirt road narrows to a logging trace (a new green sign points the way to an obvious parking area). The parking lot was clean and new :eek:

The trail leaves the parking area and heads in a SW direction gradually ascending through young growth forest before breaking out into a clearing for high-voltage power lines after about ten minutes or so. From here, it angles to the west and the pitch increases only slightly. The trail narrows and the bike path breaks off and takes a more steady meandering route up to the top. We accidentally took the bike path which was nearly flat and added some time and distance to the hike :oops: (but got us to the top still :wink:). BTW the narrow signs refer to the bike path ("This way to Tower") while the hiking trail has blue paint blazes.

After meandering along the bike path, the trail encircles the summit area before finally approaching the small summit clearing with a very high fire tower that rises above the young growth forest. The fireman's shack has been since converted to a three-sided shelter (though the Town does not allow camping :blink: ).

The tower has been recently rebuilt and the cab has been removed. In comparison to other towers that I've climbed in VT (Bald, Burke, Spruce), this one seemed taller and less rickity. The stairs now have fencing along the sides (in addition to the railing).

We climbed to the top to find an incredible view that included the entire Upper Valley, the Dartmouth Campus, Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center, Ascutney, Pico, Killington (enshrouded in clouds), the Munroe Skyline (Sugarbush, Ellen, MRG, etc), Camel's Hump, as well as many other local hills and peaks. Our visibility was only impeded by some clouds and haze from the rain. :eek: In all, the view was spectacular for the effort!

We stayed up here for quite some time before heading back down the direct hiking trail to the base. If one takes the hiking trail, it is a short .7 miles up (1.4 miles roundtrip) which made for a short jaunt (which is what we wanted). This is a great trip for the spouse who'd rather enjoy nature than spend time their significant other in the shopping malls in West Lebanon :wink:

Definately check it out.

Pics soon (?).

Additional Notes: The Norwich Volunteers also have a longer route that extends from the tower 3.7 miles to another road SE of the mountain (The Blue Ribbon Trail). The topo suggests that this trail is rather gradual and crosses another minor summit before descending to another trailhead. The group is also working on the Gile Mountain Ridge Trail which is also about 3 miles long and is currently blazed with ribbon.
 
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