Orange County Highpoint Trip Report

Butterfield Mtn

Date: August 11, 2008
Authors: Don Desrosiers and Roy Wallen

Throughout Don’s youth he had been told that "Vermont" was from the French, meaning "Green Mountain". We would suggest it stands for "Vertical Swamp". We spent the day in mud, rain, and overall wetness. Very few views. By the same token, both of us were happy to have company on these peaks since the lack of trails make these places somewhere you do not want to take lightly.

We used the Jones's directions for the trailhead. If you are coming from the vicinity of Rickers Pond State Park, the turn off is 5.3 miles from the intersection of US 302 and VT 232, just past the crest of the hill. Not well signed, although the mileages work out well.

From there it was roughly west-northwest heading uphill. The mountain was covered with moose poop or at least where it was solid enough to support such things. The game trails seemed to come and go but eventually we found ourselves signing the register at the top which was done in the rain. It was there that Roy discovered there was an official AMC 3000 footer list. He suspects this will lead to additional climbs.

From the peak we headed toward the Burnt/Signal saddle as per other trips. However, once we finally reached the stream northeast of Butterfield at about the 2100-2200 foot level, the decision was made to go to the dirt road and take Signal as effectively a separate trip. We strongly recommend just heading back the way you came originally and turning this pair into two smaller trips.