Mother Myrick Mountain - Dorset, VT - 4/8/18

Today's goal was Mother Myrick Mountain in Dorset, VT.  My approach was from the Nichols Hill Road.  I believe Beartown provides an alternate approach, but I didn't have much information on that so I decided to stick with the Nichols Hill approach.  

This route follows a woods road all the way to the summit.  There are junctions with other woods roads along the way, so pay attention to your surroundings if you go.

A fresh 6" of snow was on the ground from Thursday yet no one had ventured in this way since that time.  I chose to wear snowshoes, although I could have done this hike almost as easily without them.

This route is a semi-circle, but it provides for a moderate ascent grade as opposed to a short steep direct ascent.    

   

The start of the hike.

There is a small parking area at the end of Nichols Hill Road.

A first look at Mother Myrick in the distance.

An interesting side story to this mountain lies in the fact that it was the site of a plane crash in 1972.  Parts of the plane are still on the mountain, ust southwest of the true summit.

The plane was not at this location, but the sign was indicating which way to go. 

Wide open woods on the mountain would make some great back country skiing.  Even on this day there was enough powder that decent skiing would have still been possible.

There is a viewpoint that lies just a few feet from the true summit.  When Rev and I got there, a snow squall was obscuring the view so views were non-existent.

Nothing so see at the moment.

I'm not used to open ridges like this. 

Starting to see something...

After the summit, I continued south on the ridge a short ways before seeing the small piece of airplane wing.  I did not see other plane parts, but the fresh snow may have been hiding them.  I continued to the south end of the ridge before turning around to retrace my tracks out. 

A piece of the plane wing.

On the way back I was able to get a view from the summit viewpoint.   I caught up and passed one couple on the way down.  I also left the woods road to take a shortcut to save some miles of hiking.

This was a clear as it got while I was there.

This may have been my last day out on snowshoes this spring, but you never know.  This was a nice area.  I may come back to see the area again in the summer or fall and look for more plane wreckage.

  

Hike Stats:

Hike Distance:  8.9 miles

Hike Time:  4 hours, 10 minutes

Total Vertical Gain:  ~2500'

The route