July at PHP

 

I brought my hard tail up to Vermont in July to ride at Pine Hill Park, because I was keeping my Specialized up at Killington and I wanted to be able to ride the park Friday afternoons when I get up to Rutland.

I did a loop out to the former Rock Crusher site but had to go back to the car for another treatment of bug spray because the bugs were awful. 

Didn’t see any bears. 

My penchant for mapping has spilled over into geology and rocks and with Rutland sandwiched between the Green Mountains and the Taconic Range there is quite a lot to marvel over. Like this huge Glacial Erractic, or what I would affectionately call a BFR, when you first enter the park. 

This rock fold in North Bennington along Rt 270 is amazing

The "rock fold" near North Bennington, Vermont, 

refers to a significant geological feature along US Highway 7, specifically an road cut exposing the Bascom Formation, showcasing dramatic, upright, folded sedimentary rocks (dolostone, limestone, phyllite) from the Ordovician period, a classic example of structures from the ancient Taconic Orogeny mountain-building event, making it great for geology study. 

• An Outcrop: A large, visible section of bedrock exposed by road construction.

• Fold Train: Layers of rock have been squeezed and bent into large, complex folds, with some beds nearly vertical.

• Bascom Formation: Contains dolostones and limestones with ripple marks and fine-grained phyllitic layers.

• Taconic Orogeny: This ancient mountain-building event (hundreds of millions of years ago) is responsible for these dramatic folds and faults in the region. 

All the different rock types are still foreign to me. I recognize some from when I took Earth Science at University back in the 80s. However, it’s really neat. 

My hard tail is great for the trails at PHP because they are really smooth

The bridges and ramps are a lot of fun to ride

And the views from the overlooks are breathtaking.

Looking northeast towards Pittsford and the Green Mountains to what I think is Cox Mountain

Rocky Pond

Looking northeast back towards the Green Mountains

Looking west towards the Taconic Range and the ridge in front of Bird Mountain 

Evergreen Avenue entrance

Evergreen Falls trail ends at the Evergreen Avenue entrance

The Lonely Rock trail is the westernmost trail in the park

I find it interesting that there is trail named Jersey Turnpike, mainly because neighboring Killington is popular with people from New Jersey and there is a palpable disdain amongst the locals for people from New Jersey.

Another view of the Taconic

All the newer trails are text book IMBA handbook construction.

It’s impossible to get lost at PHP. Every trail intersection is well marked and most have a trail map kiosk