Spruce Mountain (Vermont) Summit & Slide

For many years I have gazed at the lumpy outline of Vermont's Signal Mountain Range, which is prominent in the mid-distance from many viewpoints in the western Whites. The highest peaks in that range - Signal, Burnt, Butterfield and Knox - are trailless, but the pointy peak at the north end, Spruce Mountain, has a trail and fire tower. Spruce is also on the list of 20 summits on the Northeast Kingdom Mountain Challenge, which I am now working on, sort of. I had often wondered what the views from Spruce would be like. 

 

Adding to the allure of climbing Spruce was the recent appearance of a bright white rock scar on its NE shoulder, which I think I first noticed looking west from Blueberry Mountain in the Benton Range. I had also gotten glimpses of it while driving west on Route 302 in Groton, VT, en route to the Adirondacks.

 

The 1 1/2 hour drive to the trailhead on Spruce Mountain Rd. ended with a steep, winding climb up a dirt road.

The first half of the 2.1 mile, 1200-ft. elevation gain climb to Spruce follows an old logging road at easy grades.

The trail passes by a beaver wetland. 

Rocky footing! The trail soon gets steeper, but rarely at a grade more than moderate.

 

Interesting boulder cave beside the trail.

 

 

Another cave.

 

 

Mossy spruce forest on the upper mountain.

 

Much of the upper part of the trail traverses ledge slabs.

 

 The fire tower at the 3037-ft. summit is 50 ft. tall and was moved here in 1943, replacing an earlier tower.

 

 

 

A short distance NE of the tower are ledges with a good view east.

The western White Mountains sprawl in the distance beyond Noyes Pond, including the Twins, the Franconia Range, the Kinsmans, the Osceolas, Middle/South Tripyramid, Tecumseh and Moosilauke.

The massive bulk of Moosilauke.

 

The 360-degree view from the tower is quite impressive. This vista looks west to the Green Mountains.

Zoom on Camel's Hump and Mt. Ethan Allen.

 

 

Vast view to the north.

 

The cliffs of Marshfield Mountain, located in Groton State Forest, are prominent.

 

An intriguing view of the Signal Mountain Range trailing away to the south - much of which is also in the 26,000-acre Groton State Forest. Signal Mountain (3370 ft.), the highest peak, is on the left. 

 

 

A wide view east towards the Whites.

 Zoomed.

 

 

 

Looking down from the cab of the fire tower. 

 

 

After a long stint studying the views from the tower, I headed into the woods for the steep descent off the cone of Spruce, aiming for the NE shoulder and the rock scar.

 

 

Though the whack was not long at ~0.6-0.7 mile, it was slow going due to luxuriant fern growth and brush concealing the footing, mixed with numerous blowdowns.

The fern glades were gorgeous.

 

 

 

 

In places the ferns were waist-high. Somewhere in here I left Groton State Forest and entered privately owned but unposted land. Vermont has a long tradition of public access for recreation to unposted land. Of course, visitors must treat the land with respect and refrain from camping, marking routes, etc.

 

Moose bed.

 

 

This is a unique area.

Slow going through here.

 

 

I descended steeply off the shoulder through spruce forest and caught my first glimpse of the scar.

 

 

Holy cow! The scar is a short and wide slide of bright clean granite. It fell sometime in the last several years, perhaps in the big December 2023 rainstorm.

 

 

 

View east from the top of the slide. 

 

 

Looking over to Signal Mountain.

 

Wide-angle view.

When I first got here, I thought there would be no safe way to get out on the slide. Then I noticed a less steep shelf down a bit on the north side. I made my way carefully down through the woods on that side, getting this perspective from the upper north corner.

Farther down, I was able to step out onto the beautiful clean, grippy granite.

Looking up at the steep  headwall.

 

There was a gently sloping shelf suitable for sitting.

 

Looking across from my perch. Measured on Google Earth, the slide is 210 ft. long and 130 ft. wide, with an average slope of 35 degrees.

 

 

 

Tree destruction at the base of the slide. On the Lidar contour map there is a brief leveling of the slope at the base of the slide, which perhaps explains why the scar is not longer.

Parting shot of an amazing spot.

Climbing back up the slope.

 

 

Up on the shoulder, blowdowns lurking in the ferns.

A peek at the summit and fire tower on the way back.

Back through the fern glades.

 

Evening view towards the Whites.

 

Homeward bound on Spruce Mountain Trail.

Two days later I returned to the area for more hiking in Groton State Forest. My first stop was Seyon Lodge State Park, where I made a short bushwhack to the south shore of Noyes Pond for a view of Spruce Mountain and the slide.

The slide will be a prominent landmark for years to come.

 

Gorge Brook Slide #6

Headed off-trail in Gorge Brook Ravine on Mount Moosilauke again, this time to visit the northernmost of the six slide tracks on the west side of the bowl. I number the slides from south to north, so this is Slide #6. Several of these tracks are mostly revegetated. Slide #6 still has several open slab sections with strips of trees and shrubs between.

 

The 2012 relocation, formerly known as the Wales-Carter Connection, is one of the more pleasant sections of Gorge Brook Trail. 

 

Heading off-trail from "Last Sure Water" into boreal forest.

One of several slide track runouts on the floor of the valley.

More slide tracks.

A train of rocks known as a "debris flow levee" deposited along the edge of one of the tracks.

 

 A pool on Gorge Brook. 

 

 

 

Heading up to the lower end of Slide #6. 

Lower slabs - way too wet to climb.

 

Climbing in steep terrain alongside the slide.

Steep slab.

Rough going ahead.

Still too slimy to ascend.

Side view of a slab.

 

View from a slab midway up the slide. 

 

 

 

A lonely white pine makes its home on a brushy section. 

Narrow passage.

Looking down a parallel branch of the slide.

Steep and prickly.

Peering down from the top of the slide at ~3650 ft.

View from the top, looking across the valley to the Blue Ridge.

Wide angle look at the view. There was a reasonably comfortable ledge perch from which to enjoy the vista for a while.

 

 

 

Moosilauke's East Peak looms above. 

 

 

 

 

Starting the steep descent through the woods.  

Slow and careful.

Some wild terrain in here.

Meadowsweet on the lower part of the slide.

Returning to the trail at "Last Sure Water," I went up a bit and then whacked across to one of the many old logging roads east of Gorge Brook. These date back to the 1940s when Parker-Young Co., under the direction of Sherman Adams, undertook a major logging operation to salvage timber felled by the 1938 hurricane.

The road led to a blowdown opening I had spotted on Google Earth, with a slight view up to the SE ridge of Moosilauke.

A sea of ferns below the opening.

 

Evening at Ravine Lodge.