Fish On The Hill; But Not Charles Hill

Not much of our hike to Charles Hill on the last weekend of October turned out as planned. Wayne and I did anticipate however, that the steep and rocky trail would be thickly covered with fallen leaves and for that I am grateful that we both brought our trekking poles. 

We began our hike on the Vernon Town Forest road which is to the right of the kiosk located at the end of Basin rd. The gate to this road is traditionally opened this time of year to allow hunters to drive up to the Roaring Brook Wildlife Management Area. Motorized vehicles however are not permitted in the RBWMA, nor on the trails in the municipal forest. 

As we hiked past Haskins Overlook, I was shocked to see that someone had been clearing the sides of the road where Wayne and I had been keeping track of American Chestnut saplings. These saplings were smaller than the four inch diameter trunks valued for reestablishing the species; but important to conserve none the less. This past summer, the American Chestnut Society visited our forest to document their status. They located trees in the more southerly areas of the forest; but due to limited time, they did not scout for them in the more northern areas. 

Wayne and I know of two larger than four inch diameter American Chestnut trees in the northern area. Truthfully, we did not have the heart to investigate if the road work damaged one of those trees which stands at the right side edge of road after going left at the top of the hill. Any damage to an American Chestnut tree potentially allows the blight if present in the area, to infect the tree. Once infected, the tree will die.  In the Southern area of the forest along the red trail, there are chestnut rings where the giants once stood. These rings are saplings growing from their roots. I have run into professors leading classes in the forest who include these rings in their on site lesson. 

 Some of the other trees and shrubs in the cleared area include Eastern Mountain Laurel, Birch, American Beech and Eastern Hemlock. After our hike I reached out to several people and learned that the area was widened in order to allow town trucks in to put stone down on the road. Previously in September, I had inquired about the large boulders being stored across the field and from where the Blue trail exits onto the white. I was told that the town was storing the boulders there for culvert work, though I'm not sure if the culvert work is being done in the forest. 

Time to move on.

Near the top of the hill at the intersection, we were approached by a hunter who was in the area for the first time. He inquired if he was permitted to park where he was and if he could hunt in the town forest. We took some time to describe the area to him, explaining that he was at the edge of a swamp and where the town forest trails intersected with the RBWMA. Hunting is allowed in the town forest, but we gave him directions to the management area where we often see signs of deer. We wished him luck and went on our way which was to the right just after that intersection.

Wayne and I have hiked this area many times. If you stay on this trail, it heads to the steep hill locally known by snowmobilers as Slippery Rock.  This hill isn't much fun to hike up and the local critters seemed to feel the need to emphasis that fact. Thankfully, the plan was to hike down it on this trip and not back up it.

Advice from the locals should be carefully considered.

We came across some interesting things growing in the area.

 Google Lens suggests that these large leaves are tobacco leaves, but also possibly Pokeweed, Jackfruit, Sweetgum or Catalpa. I hope that it's safe to eliminate tobacco and Jackfruit from the list. 

Downy Rattlesnake Plantain

Plantain-leafed Sedge also known as Seersucker Sedge

Further down in a wet area, we found a similar plant community though it was taller and more slender leafed than the Seersucker Sedge.

The moss covering this rock is three and a half inches deep.

At the bottom of the hill we kept to the left and headed towards Charles Hill.

Shelf Fungi

Wolf Pine

We followed the trail left

Where we crossed a small bridge over a small stream

And found a grove of American Beech.

That led to an area that had recently been logged.

Which was posted

Crossing this privately owned and posted land was our only option for reaching Charles Hill; but when I attempted to locate the owner's phone number on the internet, I discovered that I didn't have service. We decided to backtrack on the trail to see if we could connect. 

Looking at the Hunt Map, we were turned back by no trespassing signs at the place where our blue dashed tracking line ends opposite of the Vermont Woods Studios LLC label. Our goal, Charles Hill is shown to the right of that same trail. Some of our previous hikes in the are are also shown in blue. 

With our destination out of reach and a decision to make, I will take pause and continue with our fish find story next time - Norma Manning

Post Note: I first became interested in hiking to Charles Hill when I came across mention of it in the Vermont Gazetteer. I then noticed it labeled on this base map included in the maps section of the Vernon town website. I also noticed that the Vermont Historical Gazetteer mentions a preacher by the name of Charles Woodhouse who began preaching in Vernon in 1836. I couldn't help but wonder if the two are somehow connected. If my readers know anything of the hill, I would appreciate hearing from you.