Green Mountain Club
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The Northeast Kingdom Section of Vermont’s Green Mountain Club provides and preserves hiking opportunities and supports land and wildlife stewardship in the Northeast Kingdom region of Vermont.
NEK Section Green Mountain Club
Covid-19 Response May 17th Update
OUTDOORS: When you are outdoors, masks are only required when you are in a crowd or with multiple other households where you can’t maintain a 6-foot distance.
Vermonters can decide whether they need a mask by considering three elements:
- Outside
- Masked
- Distanced
You need two of these three elements. For example – if you’re outside and distanced, you don’t need a mask. If you’re outside and not distanced, wear a mask. And if you’re not outside, you should wear a mask and keep a distance.
Masks are not required when you are doing strenuous exercise or activities. They are also not required for – and should not be worn by:
- Children under the age of 2
- Anyone who has trouble breathing
- Anyone who is unable to remove the face mask without assistance
- Anyone who has a medical or behavioral reason for not wearing a face mask
For more information: https://apps.health.vermont.gov/COVID/faq/#4761
These warm sunny days have everyone excited for hiking season! While it might be dry in town, snow and ice hang on late into May at higher elevations, and sometimes even June. That middle ground between the dry trailhead and the snowy summit? It’s a muddy mess. Hiking in these muddy conditions can cause erosion, trampled vegetation, and widened trails, so let’s do our part
and plan to hike on lower elevation trails that are known to dry out earlier. The Green Mountain Club has plenty of spring hiking suggestions to keep you active and outdoors this mud season: https://www.greenmountainclub.org/hiking/day-hikes-spring/. This link also provides more up-to-date trail status https://fpr.vermont.gov/recreation/mud-season. I hope you’ll join us in protecting the mountain trails this year by turning around when faced with mud and staying on lower elevation trails and roads!
and plan to hike on lower elevation trails that are known to dry out earlier. The Green Mountain Club has plenty of spring hiking suggestions to keep you active and outdoors this mud season: https://www.greenmountainclub.org/hiking/day-hikes-spring/. This link also provides more up-to-date trail status https://fpr.vermont.gov/recreation/mud-season. I hope you’ll join us in protecting the mountain trails this year by turning around when faced with mud and staying on lower elevation trails and roads!
May 22nd
Our Membership Coordinator Beth Barnes has been out and about holding tabling events. Perhaps you’ve seen her? If you do, stop and say hello!
April 11th
Our Annual Section Meeting was held via Zoom. The turnout was small, being attended by most of the executive committee, appointees and a few members. The details can be found in the “Minutes“ tab above. Also view the current NEK Spring Newletter.pdf or in the “Newletter” tab above.
March 8th
Our own Susana Johnston completed her Winter Long Trail E2E (End to End)
There are only 11 known people to have accomplished this incredible feat!
Read her amazing story here Winter Long Trail E2E.
Susana and Chris are also trail adopters for the Gore East Trail and keep that trail open for us all to enjoy. Thank you!
February 21st
On Sunday, we met at the new Mad Brook Trailhead (1/4 mile above the old trailhead) to snowshoe to the summit of Bald Mountain. Beth Barnes, Cathi Brooks, Paul Trojano and John Predom (me) were in high spirits to see each other and hike together. The trail had not been broken in a while and in places there was no evidence of a trail. We made it to the summit in good time.
February 5th
Our Volunteer Membership Coordinator Beth Barnes did an interview on NEK VT Rocks. Watch the full interview here.
December 29th Mt. Hor Hike in Willoughby State Forest
Tuesday John Predom led a spontaneous group hike to the summit of Mt. Hor with side hikes to the overlooks. The turnout was good with just one short of the maximum hike number of 10. We were all happy to see each other and though spread out there was lots of conversations along the way. This hike required a large parking area as we had to meet at the trailhead. We hiked the CCC road to the Herbert Hawkes Trail with a round trip total of 6.8 miles.
October 31st Golden Road Hike in Victory, VT
Saturday Paul Trojano led a hike on the Golden Road Trail. This hike was dedicated to the memory of Jean Haigh who passed one year ago on this same hike. Memories of her filled the day.
October 18th Hike to Headwaters Camp
Sunday Michael Chernick led an official section group hike on the Unknown Pond Trail to Headwaters Camp. A wet and snowy hike up Middle Mountain with Michael Chernick, Bart Selle , Hope Crifo, Paul Trojano, and Fred Raymond.
September 26th Westmore Challenge
Saturday we assisted Northwoods Stewardship Center by ensuring the trails were in good condition and volunteering for other tasks. A few familiar faces were seen during the day!
September 20th & 25th Hadsel Mares Wood Stacking
We had exceptional turnout for the volunteer wood stacking scheduled at Hadsel Mares Camp on Wheeler Pond. Seasoned wood needed to be moved and stacked before 4 cords of green wood could be stacked. Good conversation and spirits made the days fly!
September 1st Bald Mountain via Mad Brook Trail
An impromptu group hike to the summit of Bald Mountain happened on Tuesday 9/1. Cathi and I had a meeting with Luke in Island Pond and quickly sent out a Facebook notice for a group hike. Jocelyn and Jeff joined us for this beautiful day hike. The rocks were slippery and the wind was howling at the summit. Jocelyn was the only one to brave the tower.
August 25th Cow Mountain Work Day
On Tuesday August 25th Linda Hunkins and I joined Dusty May and the Northwoods Stewardship crew to assist with trail work on the Cow Mountain Trails. We spent about 2 1/2 hours brushing the trails.
August 20th Bluff Ridge Hike
On Thursday I was invited by Darryl from the GMC Burlington Section and Phyllis from the GMC Montpelier Section to hike the Bluff Ridge Trail. We did a car drop at the Bluff Community Trailhead and then headed to the Unknown Pond Trailhead. The hike took us a good share of the day with a 45 minute stop for lunch.
August 18th Belvidere Solo Hike
On Tuesday Jill hiked to the summit of Mt. Belvidere. She had invited people to join her on Facebook but had no takers so made solo hike and took lots of photos. Here are a couple that she posted.
July 22nd Cow Pond Trail Loop – Granby, VT
On Wednesday July 22nd a small group of GMC NEK’ers met at the clubhouse in East Burke, VT and carpooled to the Cow Pond Trailhead in Granby, VT. We followed GMC protocol for carpooling wearing masks, riding with the windows down and two per car. During the hike we stayed a safe distance and same during breaks. The loop is about 5.4 miles if you take all the spur trails to Cow Pond, Little Cow Pond, and the summit. There was plenty of bear and moose signs and then the old growth forest. The Back Loop Trail is not maintained and can be challenging to follow, especially in the beaver dam area where the puncheons have been relocated by flooding. It was a spontaneous group hike that was much needed.
June 7th & 8th Bluff Ridge Trail
Kevin Williamson, Luke O’Brien, Susan Peters Winsor and John Predom divided the Bluff Ridge Trail into sections from Unknown Pond Trail to Bluff Mountain Trail and went to work doing maintenance. Blowdowns were removed, waterbars were cleaned and repaired, signs and markers were inspected and other trail work. Another great day in the woods!
Kevin was lucky to see a young moose!
Monadnock Trailhead Closed
Please be advised:
The trail closure on Monadnock Mountain remains in effect. There's still a "NO TRESPASSING" sign on the gate at the gravel pit, although it is easily overlooked when the gate is open. The continued presence of an old trailhead parking sign at this location only adds to the confusion over its status, but a person working at the gravel pit confirmed to me that this trail is still closed.
As some of you may be aware, there is an alternative route that avoids the gravel pit, but I wouldn't recommend using it at this time. It follows a private right of way that encroaches on a nearby dwelling. While this property isn't posted, its owner has expressed no interest in encouraging public access to their land. Please respect this choice and find another mountain to hike for now. Thank you!
