Another Thursday, another hike up a Vermont mountain in beautiful snow conditions. Today, Kathy and I climbed Spruce Mountain in eastern Vermont, selected because we had limited time (afternoon) and it was reasonably short and reasonably close. Read on…

It is clearly a very popular peak, with a well-traveled trail culminating in grand views at the top of its fire tower. The fresh powder of the past few weeks was still in fine shape, and (at higher elevations) the trees were still laden with several inches of snow.
The trail was heavily packed and well traveled, so we did not need to wear the snowshoes we carried – but whenever I stepped off the trail, I sank immediately to my knees in fluffy powder. This is fun stuff!
The firetower on the summit gave us nice views of the proximal peaks of Signal Mountain and Butterfield Mountain, below, and long-distance views to the west toward Camel’s Hump and Mount Mansfield.

Check out the photo gallery!
Hike stats:
Distance: about 4.4mi
Time: about 2 hours
Gain: 1180′
