We met at 8:30 at the Cambridge Park & Ride, getting a bit of extra sleep after the time change the night before, and took three cars the Tillotson Road trailhead. There was a tree across the road just below the parking area, but Patrick had is folding saw and we moved enough of it to get by. That gave time for Phil and the folks with him, who had originally gone to the VT 118 trailhead for Belvidere, a chance to catch up. It was intermittently snowing, sleeting and raining as we started up a little after 10:30.

The heavy rains a couple days before made what are normally somewhat wet trails into swamps and stream beds in many places. We headed up the Frank Post Trail, and all the rain turned to snow as we climbed. We reached Tillotson Camp around 11 where we hung around a bit to have a snack and take a couple group pictures. We then headed north on the LT to the Tillotson summit, crossing and skirting a normally wet spot that was practically a pond this time.

The short side bushwhack to the Tillotson summit was somewhat grown over and completely unmarked, so we only found it from memory, but the summit sign nestled in the trees confirmed it was the right place. There really aren’t any views from the summit at the best of times, so the fact that everything was in the clouds wasn’t really a problem. We headed back down, passing Tillotson Camp and Lockwood Pond around 12:45.

We continued on the LT south, reaching the Belvidere summit spur junction around 2:45. The sun had come out as we made our way to Belvidere, so we had some decent views from the summit and fire tower. We didn’t stay long, as dark was approaching, returning to the LT junction around 3:15. We headed down the Foresters Trail, and one or two of us had just broken out headlamps as we reached the cars a little after 5. Overall a fun hike, albeit a little wetter than usual.

Participants: Dale Schmit, Steve Titcomb, Phil Hazen, Kelly L, Bamby Pierpont, Patrick Reilly, Tess Stimson, Linnie Aubin, David Hathaway (leader).

Photos: David, Tess.