Also on this trip

Trails Used

Unknown trails, bushwhack

Trail Conditions

Notes

I walked past the gate to the woods road and soon started seeing yellow blazes, I took a left to go up the shorter way on the loop. It was loose rock and eroded but not bad walking and not as steep as it looks, just a steady climb. No sign at the junction on the ridge, but I turned left and followed the road toward Mother Myrick summit, taking a left at another unmarked junction where I ran into folks on atvs who came up some other rough trails. These trails are shown on Gaia as not connecting but they do, and are passable for atvs right to the summit, but these folks must be skilled drivers because it is very loose and rocky. The outlook to the east was small but interesting, and I walked further on the ridge but didn't find any more views. I turned around and walked the road (which had many deep mud puddles to go around) past the trail I came up. I intended to bushwhack the 2 miles on the ridge to Bear but instead I found a signed trail "Wine Btl" and it followed the ridge for over a mile, through a huge maple operation. I had to duck under many sap lines which was annoying, but the woods were also thick with whippy young hardwoods so I stayed on the paths until they strayed down off the ridge, then I bushwhacked the rest of the way up to Bear, in much better ferny woods. Another fine but limited outlook on Bear to the NW. I stayed further to the NW side of the ridge bushwhacking on the way back to avoid the sap lines before joining the wider roads again. I found airplane wreckage scattered in the woods on both mountains. I jogged down the north part of the loop road back to Nichols Hill Rd, and almost wanted to bag Spruce peak, but was short on daylight. The hike was 12 miles total, 3200' of gain and took 4:40.

Parking

Plenty of room at the gate on Nichols Hill Rd in Dorset.

Water Crossings

Bridged.

Trails Used

Woods roads

Trail Conditions

Notes

Most of this hike was snow and ice-free, with some bigger leftover patches of snow near the summit and higher up on north-facing slopes. Not big or prevalent enough to warrant snowshoes or even spikes, though, and most of that remaining snow will probably be gone by the end of next week. I've done lots of hiking in the southern Taconic Mountains (in MA and CT), but very little in the Vermont section of the Taconics- pretty sure Mt. Equinox and Dorset Peak were the only other hikes I've done there- so hiking Mother Myrick was a nice change of scenery, and a chance of scenery it was- the landscape looked so different compared to what one would typically find in southern Vermont. Lots of slate, as well as lots open woods that would be a bushwhacker's dream, and the lack of leaves on the trees gave way to some neat views of the Taconics and back across the valley to the Green Mountains. A lot of people don't know that the Taconics in VT are not part of the Green Mountains and are totally distinct from them; they also seem to be relatively unknown and under the radar compared to the Greens. Might have to explore more of the VT Taconics in the near future

Parking

Room for a few vehicles in a paved parking area at the end of Nichols Hill Rd. in Dorset. My truck was the only vehicle there at both the start and end of the hike.

Water Crossings

All crossings had footbridges over them

Wildlife

They're starting to come back out, but not in large numbers or in biting force... yet