AIKEN WILDERNESS xc skiing & hiking near Woodford VT
Jan 2, 2017 - AIKEN WILDERNESS ski, southern Green Mtn NF. Woodford State Park. Across Adams Reservoir. Path behind campsite 64 down to & across 3 beaver meadows/ponds. No official signs or trail markers in the wilderness. L on Old Dewey Road to Tin Can Junction - 2 moose passed thru here very recently judging by the fresh tracks. Bushwhack W to Beaver Meadows, headwaters of the W Br Deerfield River. Downstream thru beaver ponds - some thin ice. Bushwhack W into the woods to trail to W edge of the wilderness area. Excellent skiing on close to 2' of snow. Elevation 2,300'-2,500'. 8.7 miles, 6 hours.
Oct 10, 2016 - AIKEN WILDERNESS hike, from Woodford State Park, VT. Took the Reservoir Loop Trail on W side of Adams Reservoir. S of the reservoir took a R on unmarked rocky path at a 4-way intersection. Soon at a beaver meadow. Followed its edge, crossed stream in the woods to a small meadow then around a beaver pond to the Old Dewey Road in the wilderness area. Headed S on the somewhat grown-in old road going over 2,500' elevation, some blowdown. L to a string of beaver ponds. No markers or signs in the wilderness area of Green Mountain NF. Walked thru the deserted campground on way back. 5.1 miles, 3.5 hours.
Feb 14, 2016 - Aiken Wilderness via Woodford SP ski. -9F at start, -6F at end
Apr 12, 2015 - CAMP MEADOWS in the Aiken Wilderness from Heartwellville VT. From Green Mountain National Forest - Southern Section by Bruce Scofield: "...this excursion is suggested only for serious explorers of trailless areas who know how to use a topographic map, a compass, and common sense." "The one trail (or more accurately, the dotted line on the topo map)..." Started out on FR 73, a snowmobile trail, for 2.3 miles then headed off into the woods just past the bridge over Reservoir Brook. Soon found a path marked with a rainbow of flagging heading N then W. Abandoned that route & crossed Camp Meadows Brook just before the southeastern-most pond/meadow. Remains of an old cabin (shown on the Stamford quad), an old stove & corrugated roof, were just across the brook. Crossed the meadow & had lunch at its SW corner; behind us was a yellow bucket on a dead tree (something else for you to find now if you already are familiar with the "tin can"). Spent the rest of the trip in shorts. Continued N & bagged more ponds/meadows; between ponds in a sprucey area were moose tracks & scat. Looped back & followed "the dotted line on the topo map", sometimes the old road was fairly obvious, sometimes not. Reached jctn of Camp Meadows Brook & W Br Deerfield River & skied up the river past a cable across the stream. Turned around & followed the river to Reservoir Brook then followed that uphill past frozen cascades. Back on FR 73, mostly downhill. Elevations 1,800'-2,300'. Below freezing last night; sunny, temp rising thru the 40s & 50s, excellent skiing before noon, good (unconsolidated, punched thru occasionally, once 2' into water, did not realize there was a stream underneath) in the afternoon; 1'-2' snow depth. A beautiful day in the wilderness. 10.1 miles, 5.5 hours.
Jan 14, 2015 - AIKEN WILDERNESS from Woodford State Park. Parking area is just E of the park entrance on the N side of Rt.9. A new trail (blue paint blazes) leads from the S of the parking area back to Rt.9 opposite the park entrance. Skied across Adams Reservoir. A path leads from the back of Campsite 64 down (crossing over the park's blue trail) to the 1st meadow (watch out for exposed rocks at the bottom of the hill). Crossed 2 ponds & picked up the old Dewey Road & took it S climbing a series of hills (fun on the way back, I did them twice). After height of land the old road drops with some hobblebush interfering passing another beaver pond on the L. Climbed up to the Tin Can which is wedged waist high in a tree. Continued SE on the old road then dropped SW to a beaver pond, the 1st of the 3 Sisters shown at the bottom of this map. After a relaxed lunch-stop dropped to a large meadow then a short distance to the 3rd Sister which looks like the beavers have let some water out of their dam. On the way back took a side-trip from the Tin Can W then NW dropping down (fun!) thru open woods to the "W"-shaped pond in the Beaver Meadows area. Don't expect any markers or signs, the Tin Can is all you get. Excellent conditions with 4-8" of light powder on good base. Mostly sunny yet some light snow fell during the 1st half of the trip - a beautiful day! 8.3 miles, 5.4 hours.
Jan 1, 2015 - FOREST ROAD 73 from Heartwellville VT. First stopped on Rt.8 across from the cemetary below the Searsburg Wind Farm (2,500'+ el.) & attempted to ski an old woods road W but it was somewhat washed out & too steep for the conditions today so gave up on that idea after skiing under 0.2 miles, tough ski back to the car. Drove over to Heartwellville. FR 73 is a snowmobile (saw none) trail in winter, el. 1,800'+ at start. Had half inch of powder on hard icy base - fair skiing. Slowly gained 350' in 2.5 miles crossing the W Br Deerfield River & Reservoir Brook on good bridges. Lunched at a small beaver meadow to the N on Reservoir Brook at the S edge of the Aiken Wilderness. On the way back took a side-trip up the Yaw Pond Brook trail which was in tough shape but the brook was quite photogenic. Downhills on FR 73 are novice/easy intermediate but really fast today. Temp in lower 20s. 5.3 miles, 3.1 hours.
Apr 14, 2013 - AIKEN WILDERNESS skiing from Rt.9 in Woodford VT. S on FR 74 for a bit then into the wilderness area doing a clockwise round-trip mostly off trail. Combination of open woods, not-so-open woods, areas of hobblebush, open meadows & one section of nasty blowdown - makes for a semi-epic trip. 1.5' of snow, good base with half inch of fresh powder made for very good fast & smooth skiing. 8.5 miles, 5.7 hours.
Mar 4, 2013 - PROSPECT MOUNTAIN from Woodford State Park VT. Across Adams Reservoir (2,300' el). Usual route to the Old Dewey Rd which we took W climbing slowly. Some light blue trail markers. At a junction took a L & headed S, some light snowmobile use, Reached trails of Prospect Mtn XC Ski Center. Still followed the blue markers which brought us out to a groomed ski trail just below the summit (2,767' el) - good for turns. Nice mostly easy run back down. Back at the state park took the trail to the E of the campground (blue paint blazes). Dropped pack & did a side-trip down thru open woods. Played "ski the teeter-totter" before heading out of the park. 2'+ of snow, some crustiness, good to excellent skiing (best up high). 4.2 hours.
Feb 17, 2013 - YAW POND BROOK, Green Mountain NF between Woodford & Searsburg. From Rt. 9 skied down FR 74 (a snowmobile trail in winter) for 10 mins. then took a L on an unmarked trail, down at first then up to a clearing with raspberry bushes. Picked up an old logging road going S to a long meadow. Off on another old logging road going SE which ended after a gentle climb. Off-trail for a while to snowmobile trail at height of land (2,600'). SW downhill on the snowmobile trail. Headed S on Yaw Pond Trail (unmarked at the junction, a couple of green diamond-shaped markers further). Before reaching the brook blue tape marked the trail. Lots of recent moose tracks in this area. Crossed the frozen stream on a beaver dam. Soon reached an area of much blowdown & the trail has been rerouted W of the stream. Stopped for lunch at a high point then returned mostly the same way but with some added exploration. Up to 2.5' of snow with a somewhat crusty surface - good skiing. Lots of animal tracks incl. mountain lion. 4.4 hours.
Jan 13, 2013 - AIKEN WILDERNESS from Woodford State Park VT. Fair to good spring skiing on 15". Crossed Adams Reservoir - fairly solid, some light slush. Took the old Dewey Rd S past the tin can junction & down to the 3 Sisters (beaver meadows). Lots of fresh moose tracks. 5 hours.
Feb 22, 2012 - AIKEN WILDERNESS from Woodford SP again. Warm 40s, good skiing on wet powder over mostly good base. From the tin can we headed SSW this time following some ski tracks made yesterday. Lots of moose tracks, some scat, tree scrapings & a couple of hairy spots where a moose bedded down. Reached the pond on the W Branch Deerfield River where Gordy Lyons used to have his camp before the USFS made him give it up (the U-shaped pond in the center of this map). Explored a cute beaver pond to the S which took some climbing & crawling over blowdown to get to. The dam is so tall I believe the outlet must be a waterfall. Found an old trail (shown on the USGS Stamford map) which comes in from the NW (has some blowdown) & followed it back to Gordy Lyons' pond. Followed the pretty ice-covered river upstream to the S end of a long narrow pond at Beaver Meadows, saw a path for a while to the E then whacked (in most winters this area has 2'-3' of snow & hobblebush is not much of an issue, but with 1' of snow it is a bit of a pain) until we hit our tracks from earlier. Other than the old Dewey Rd the trails & paths in this wilderness area are growing in & unmaintained & must be considered bushwhacks. 5.7 hours.
Feb 20, 2012 - AIKEN WILDERNESS from Woodford State Park. Very good skiing on this beautiful sunny day - 4" powder on good base. Started out via same route as Jan 23 trip with a detour across a beaver meadow/pond. Bushwhacked W from the "tin can junction" to the N end of Beaver Meadows - I've followed a path before in this general direction but could not find it on this day. Saw fresh moose tracks in our tracks on way back! 4 hours.
Jan 23, 2012 - AIKEN WILDERNESS from Woodford State Park, VT. Great quality snow with a few inches of base + 5" of powder - very good skiing, the only negatives being we usually expect twice as much snow here at this time of year & some very light drizzle with temps rising above freezing made things a bit sticky (reapplied Maxiglde) on our return. Skied across Adams Reservoir then thru campsite 64 to the path leading to the wilderness area. Surprised that no-one had skied in here over the weekend. Generally headed S. After skiing across 3 beaver ponds/meadows we turned L on the old Dewey Road, a long abandoned logging road - don't expect any trail markers in this federal wilderness area. Uphill for a while (& a fun run down on the way back) then down (a large beaver meadow is seen to the L), then up to the "tin can junction" - this year's model is a rusty old oil can jammed between 2 tree trunks. Continued on the old road for a bit before dropping down off-trail to a beaver pond to the R, the 1st of the "3 Sisters". Following the outlet we emerged onto a large meadow then dropped again to another meadow/pond. Below this there were very many trees down probably caused when Irene came thru & raised water levels. I have been further downstream & well down the W Branch Deerfield River several times but this seemed to us a good turn-around point today. Fisher & bobcat tracks but no moose. 4+ hours.
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