Four of us met at 8:00 AM in the Essex Hannaford’s parking lot to carpool to the
trailhead. We first drove to the Jericho Market to pick up two other hikers. We drove up
Route 108 on the Smuggler’s Notch side to the gate and parked in the pull out just
before the gate. There we met another attendee, making the group 7 in total. It was an
overcast day, and it was lightly snowing despite the forecast stating otherwise. There
was a fresh layer of snow on the ground either from earlier in the morning or the night
before. Despite the temperatures being mild, there was a strong wind blowing south
making it feel much colder. We snowshoed up Route 108 to the Sterling Pond Trailhead.
The trail was not broken in and we attempted a snowshoe. Unfortunately, there was a
layer of ice underneath the fresh snow making snowshoeing difficult and quite slippery.
Even with crampons and rails on the snowshoes, many of us could not get traction.
Furthermore, there was ice covering the cliff edges. So if someone lost traction on the
trails they would slide right off the cliffs. After doing most of the steep section on the
Sterling Pond Trail, we decided it would be best to bail on the hike to the pond. Instead
we snowshoed up Route 108 and down to Stowe resort, where we ate lunch and had
Oreos. After lunch we ascended the Stowe side of Route 108, dodging the many
backcountry skiers coming down the road. And then descended down the Smuggler’s
Notch side of Route 108. Even though the hike did not go according to plan, the
snowshoeing on Route 108 was fun and surprisingly scenic at times. 6.6 miles, 1430 ft
elevation gain, 6 Oreos eaten. Participants: Julie, Katie, Tim, Jill, Rob, Susan, and
Michael (trip leader).