It was a busy week, and I was eager to get outside. So when some friends suggested a short hike on Saturday – and the forecast looked sunny – I jumped at the chance. We decided to try the diminutive Mount Peg, which is a grassy hilltop just a short walk from the side streets of Woodstock, Vermont. I had never been there, and it took us a while to find the right trailhead. It turns out that the slopes of Mount Peg has a vast network of trails, twisting around and interconnecting (it seemed) every hundred meters. On its south side, the trail network grows even larger and (this time of year) becomes a nordic ski center. Indeed, the first trailhead we located was for skiers, and there were a few skiers braving the warm temperatures and mushy snow on this sunny morning.
We relocated to one of the hiker’s trailheads and headed up into snowless forest. One kilometer later we popped out onto the grassy slopes of the summit, where a thin layer of crusty old snow persisted despite heavy foot traffic. A large, multigenerational family bustled by us at one point, as did a lone, lycra-clad jogger. These trails are popular for both the locals and the tourists, they being easily reached from the downtown hotels and the quiet neighborhoods nearby. We went down by a slightly different route, one of the benefits of a mountain with so many trails!
Hike stats:
Distance: 2.1km
Time: 0h56m
Gain: 88m
David Kotz 