I planned a solo/company optional hiking day, and was originally going to drive over to New Hampshire to try my hand at the Whites. Lo, the pre-dawn rain convinced me otherwise, so I decided instead to do the three southernmost peaks in the Vermont 4,000′ list.
I arrived at the Lincoln Gap Long Trail trailhead in the clouds before 7AM, and was on 4,006-foot Abraham’s summit 59 minutes later. It was still in the clouds, so I pushed on towards Ellen.
Despite becoming acclimated to the development around the Vermont summits, I was still somewhat shocked to see a 20’x20′ deck built over the summit of 3,900-foot Lincoln Peak. The ski lift was shortly after. I arrived at 4,083-foot Ellen’s treed summit not long after. The ski lift was shortly after. (Yes, two ski lifts.) Definitely the ugliest ridgeline hike I’ve done.
I met the family for lunch in Woodstock, the sun came out, and I got no takers on Killington. Their loss! The Bucklin trail was actually very nice, some old logging roads followed by a consistent moderate grade on a well-maintained trail. The last quarter mile was up a steep rock bed, easily navigable to the hideous radio tower and power generator thingy at the top. Oh well.
I ran part of the descent, not sure why, and did the 7.4-mile out-and-back in 2 hours 40 minutes. The whole day was 19 miles and checked off 3 4,000+ footers.
