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Sugar Season on Putney Mountain


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A small waterfall about halfway up the road - a perfect photo op! The road was still fairly icy but not a problem.

A small waterfall about halfway up the road - a perfect photo op! The road was still fairly icy but not a problem.   This is the sand mound at the top. The lower one was a bit bigger. It was fun going over it but when I stopped at the parking spot just above, my spare tire was straining at the tailgate net! I need to deal with that.   Choosing the first available poor road, I worked my way through some overhanging trees to a trail down an icy hill.   Eventually I ended up at the bottom and a Y intersection. The first turn choice is bottom foreground.   Here's another view of the first turn and the lower road. I took this road but not this turn. I wasn't really sure where I was going but it looked the like worst choice.   I took the road at left foreground. Behind me the road was a bit better and more level. You can't quite see it but that log in front of Isabel had a section cut at the end and dragged over enough to squeeze between it and its stump.   A similar view from the opposite direction. I'm not sure what that orange handle was from. I had to make a k-turn to come in this direction.   That was a fun trail that wound up and down and led me to this place, where I paused to choose a track - another photo op! Perched on a little rock.   It seemed like this was my best track - the most fun one, anyway...   I love those mossy banks...   I worked my way down to where it started looking like there had been a bit of traffic from below, when I came upon a large sugarbush (a stand of Sugar Maples) that was tapped using the modern taplines. The lines crisscrossed on both sides of the road for quite a large area. It looked like a scene from The Hobbit where the giant spiders live.   A closeup of a tap. The lines are usually connected to a vacuum pump that greatly increases the yield of each tree. You can actually see some sap in the line at the lower bend.   Isabel posing in the sugarbush. These lines are less romantic than the old buckets but they help keep the larger family operations competitive.

Click on the thumbnails to view each image.

March 09, 2002
Mud season has started a bit early this year because of the mild weather. It shouldn't be too bad this year since there hasn't been as much snow as usual. They've been sugaring (collecting Sugar Maple sap and turning it into syrup - mmmmnnnn) for the last couple of weeks, off and on. Usually they don't start until around Town Meeting Day (March 5).
I decided to head over seasonal Putney Mountain Road since the last time I tried it (late Jan.), there was a giant pile of sand blocking the lower end of the road. I guess they didn't want people killing themselves on the icy hills. I had tried to go over in a late December thaw and ended up getting stopped by ice near the crest and had to ride the bank down, scalloping backwards for a good distance before I could turn around, so I can understand the logic.
Anyway, I didn't have any problem getting over the now-eroded mound this time, since I wasn't the first to go around the edge of it. I stopped at the "Putney Town Forest" at the top and walked the foot trails a bit and then went exploring some vehicle trails and unmaintained roads.

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