bryan
New member
date: 5/17/13
trails: shaftsbury hollow road, jeep/atv roads, bushwacks
conditions: parked at a fork on shaftsbury hollow road about 2.5 miles from where it turns off grainger hollow road. google map directions were pretty much spot on. the road to the left looks to go to another house and the much rougher continuation of the hollow road to the right leads to the grass/spruce col. i will note that a couple hundred yards up (at a split) there was a single no trespassing sign that i wasn't expecting as i had heard this route was ok. based on other prints from mountain bikes, atvs, etc that continued up i decided to do the same hoping it was meant more to keep out trouble makers than recreationalists. i had no trouble today and there were no other signs prohibiting travel in the area, but you will have to make your own call. after passing a house/camp in another half mile the road gets rougher and begins crossing over little white brook sometimes with culverts, sometimes without. there are a number of roads that break off, but as long as you stick to the road paralleling the brook you will be on track. the road gets rougher with some washouts as it climbs towards the grass/spruce col getting pretty far above the brook before leveling and meeting another prominent road coming up from the southeast into the col. what looks like a pile of rocks and debris is actually a final resting place for a passenger car of some sort. from there i bushwacked directly up to grass through mostly open hardwoods with some young, low growth and hobblebush to the broad summit plateau. the highpoint is to the northern end near where an atv trail leaves to the north. the summit seems to receive a lot of visitors from that side via atvs. i headed back to the col and picked up the other road coming into the col that slabs around spruce peak walking it for a few minutes before bushwacking up to the ridge and on to the summit which is also pretty broad and marked with a cairn and much to my surprise a usgs benchmark. woods were again open hardwoods with some lower growth. i descended roughly the same way to the col and back down the road. the brook crossings were not an issue though stepping stones were pretty greasy.
equipment: nothing in particular.
comments: i had grass in mind for a while and today looked like a nice day to give it a shot and visit spruce peak as well. the route up through the hollow along the brook was beautiful and quiet as were the bushwacks through lovely open woods to the summits. cool temps and a steady breeze meant no bugs and comfortable walking. a great hike.
bryan
[email protected]
trails: shaftsbury hollow road, jeep/atv roads, bushwacks
conditions: parked at a fork on shaftsbury hollow road about 2.5 miles from where it turns off grainger hollow road. google map directions were pretty much spot on. the road to the left looks to go to another house and the much rougher continuation of the hollow road to the right leads to the grass/spruce col. i will note that a couple hundred yards up (at a split) there was a single no trespassing sign that i wasn't expecting as i had heard this route was ok. based on other prints from mountain bikes, atvs, etc that continued up i decided to do the same hoping it was meant more to keep out trouble makers than recreationalists. i had no trouble today and there were no other signs prohibiting travel in the area, but you will have to make your own call. after passing a house/camp in another half mile the road gets rougher and begins crossing over little white brook sometimes with culverts, sometimes without. there are a number of roads that break off, but as long as you stick to the road paralleling the brook you will be on track. the road gets rougher with some washouts as it climbs towards the grass/spruce col getting pretty far above the brook before leveling and meeting another prominent road coming up from the southeast into the col. what looks like a pile of rocks and debris is actually a final resting place for a passenger car of some sort. from there i bushwacked directly up to grass through mostly open hardwoods with some young, low growth and hobblebush to the broad summit plateau. the highpoint is to the northern end near where an atv trail leaves to the north. the summit seems to receive a lot of visitors from that side via atvs. i headed back to the col and picked up the other road coming into the col that slabs around spruce peak walking it for a few minutes before bushwacking up to the ridge and on to the summit which is also pretty broad and marked with a cairn and much to my surprise a usgs benchmark. woods were again open hardwoods with some lower growth. i descended roughly the same way to the col and back down the road. the brook crossings were not an issue though stepping stones were pretty greasy.
equipment: nothing in particular.
comments: i had grass in mind for a while and today looked like a nice day to give it a shot and visit spruce peak as well. the route up through the hollow along the brook was beautiful and quiet as were the bushwacks through lovely open woods to the summits. cool temps and a steady breeze meant no bugs and comfortable walking. a great hike.
bryan
[email protected]
