This was a beautiful day for a hike. Mount Ascutney was chosen because the trip leader had never done it, and it turned out that none of the other participants had, either. We drove 1 hour 45 minutes from Richmond Park and Ride, paid the State Park fee, and headed up the Futures Trail, which at 4.6 miles was the longest route to the top.

The trail looped across the summit road at one point, which was fortunate, in that one participant did not feel well. That person was able to walk down the road, get one of the cars, and drive to the top to meet the others when we arrived. The group that hiked took about 3 hours to reach the top, and then we climbed the platform and lounged around for a half hour, trying to identify the VT and NH peaks from this very different vantage point.

Since we wanted to be done in 5 hours total, the hikers went down the much shorter (3 mile) Windsor Trail, and the driver went to the base of that trail to pick us up. Everything worked out great, and all were on the road home when we needed to be.

Participants – Carmen Trombley, Alice Roberge, Jeff Kay, Sheri Larsen, Richard Larsen