2021-07-19: Killington Peak

Despite forecasts of sub-part weather in the region, I decided to take a trip out to south-central Vermont to hike Killington Peak in the Green Mountains. Killington Peak is the second-highest peak in Vermont (after Mount Mansfield) and the highest point in Rutland County. With most of the state highpoints in the region already visited, I've turned my attention to smaller mountains, including the second-place summits. Along the way, I took a side-trip up nearby Pico Peak, the state's fifth-highest. The whole hike was around twelve miles in total.

Dense fog in fir forests along the mountain ridge. Fog and rain characterized most of my ascent.

A view of the lodge atop Pico Peak, a popular skiing destination in the winter months.

The dense fog atop Pico Peak obscured the ski infrastructure at its summit, giving an eerie feel to the whole place.

A closer view of the ski lift through the fog on the empty mountaintop.

Fog broke intermittently on the way up Killington, revealing a spectacular evergreen forest covered in lush lichens, mosses, and ferns.

The view I was greeted with at Killington's summit. The tops of passing clouds and fog from 4240 feet.

Brief breaks in the fog allowed for limited views, such as this south-facing shot along the mountain ridge.

Distant hills and fields peer out through the breaking fog beyond Shrewsbury Peak (left of center).

Layers of fog and rain drape over a hazy view of Rutland County's hills.

The tips of twisty fir trees poke out into the intensifying fog along the mountaintop.

This old fire tower at the summit has been repurposed as a communications tower.

The juvenile cones of a balsam fir tree (Abies balsamea) leak sap. Unlike other conifers, the cones of fir trees stand upright as they grow.

A view of the rocks at the summit, with fog obscuring the more distant areas. Mica and quartz in the Green Mountains add character to the region's geology; even the mud on my boots was sparkly after this hike.

A shot of the fire tower and nearby communication equipment. The summits of both Killington and Pico are covered in antennae and other equipment.

As I descended, the clouds and fog broke, allowing for farther views, such as this ten-mile shot of the Tweed Valley to the north.

More mountains and hills to the northeast beyond the tall firs of the mountainside.

An estate sits near the top of Wolf Hill, beneath the distant, looming silhouette of Rochester Mountain.

Lingering humidity obscured more distant peaks to the north beyond Round (center) and East Round (R).

A shot of sharper peaks to the northwest, including South Pond Mountain (L foreground), Mount Carmel (L background), and the more distant Gillespie Peak peeking out beyond them at left.

A wide-angle shot of this lower overlook, where the Sherburne Pass Trail runs down a ski slope for a few hundred feet.

A slightly narrower focus on the prominent Deer Leap Mountain, its sharp corners characteristic of the view. The building at its foot is across the street from the trailhead on Route 4.

Hardly seven miles away, thick humidity made the Chittenden Reservoir to the north seem impossibly distant.


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