Hampshire County Highpoint Trip Report
one spot on West Mtn (2,125 ft)
Date: November 25, 2006
Author: Chris Gilsdorf
From the Hampden County highpoint, my dad and I drove a rather roundabout north
to West Mountain, highpoint of Hampshire County. The western portions of the
county are heavily rural (typical of what would be found further north in
Vermont) and road travel is slow -- plan accordingly.
After (finally) reaching the pullout alongside Plainfield Pond, we proceeded --
sans GPS or compass -- straight up the moderate slopes of West Mountain.
The mixture of pine and deciduous forest made for moderately difficult bushwhacking
at times. We finally gained the elongated ridge area southwest of the summit,
where I spotted the Peck Lumber sign previously mentioned, and worked our way
over generally more open ground uphill to the high ground. After visiting the
high spots around the summit, we located two witness markers, but no BM.
Returning down, we tried for a more due north direction but encountered even
heavier flora along this route and we actually ended up taking longer to descend
than ascend! We finally popped out onto Route 116 a hundred feet from the car.
Upon returning, I declared this the most dismal and depressing CoHP I think I've
ever visited; even on a beautiful, cloudless day it seemed grim.
Round trip: 45 minutes.