Mother Myrick Mountain (3361') Dorset, VT - 4/13/2019

I climbed this peak almost exactly one year ago (4/8/18 v. 4/13/19).  I didn't realize the 1st time that there was a plane wreck located near the summit.  It wasn't until I was on the summit ridge and saw a piece of the plane that someone had placed in a tree that I knew to look for it.  The snow was a little deeper last year, so I didn't drop off the summit ridge to look for it. 

I had wanted to come back last fall, but it didn't work out, so yesterday was the day for a return visit.  My wife Leesa came along with me.  It was a beautiful sunny day with temperatures approaching 70 degrees.

Gate at the trail head

To my surprise, no one was parked at the trailhead when we arrived.  There trail begins at the end of Nichols Hill Road in Dorset, and there is a parking lot there.

Parking lot at the trailhead

Although I call it a trailhead, there is no marked hiking trail.  Last time I followed the primary jeep road all the way to the summit .   It makes a large backwards "C" in following it to the summit.  Yesterday we followed an older logging road that climbed more directly up the flank to the ridge.  Once on the ridge we followed the same jeep trail as last year.

Snow on the ridge

The snow was pretty persistent once we were on the ridge.  Old snowmobile tracks were still frozen in the snow so we wore microspikes at that point.

Thank you.... Nature Conservancy.

There is one viewpoint that is located close to the true summit.  Someone had cut some trees on the slope to provide this view.

Rev is always 1st...

The view

The primary purpose of the return visit was to find the plane wreck.  I had not seen any pictures or information on the internet, other than a statement that it crashed near the summit on the NE slope.  We returned to the place where the piece of the plane was hung in the tree.  This was perhaps 0.1 miles SE of the true summit, but still on the ridge.  I dropped over the NE ridge and found some pink flagging that led a mere couple hundred yards to the plane.  I was in wet knee deep snow at this point. 

One part of the plane (5 pictures)

I'm told that the plane was a Piper Aztec 6 seat plane, but that only two persons were in the plane when it crashed.  Neither person survived.

2nd part of the plane (2 pictures)

I was glad that the plane was near the ridge, especially since there was deep wet snow on the slope.

We had our lunch up at the summit viewpoint, then came down following another old logging road.  This gave us a nice loop hike.  If you look at the route below, we went counterclockwise.

This area would be pretty in the fall.  I still aim to come back again someone and see the area in a different season.  If you go, bring a compass and GPS if you use one.  As I said, there is no marked trail and there are several old logging roads that can be confusing.

Hike Stats:

Hike Distance:  6.8 miles

Hike Time:  4 hours, including stops

Total Vertical Gain:  2200' 

The route

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