Bushwacking up Signal Mountain (Vermont) | New England Fifty Finest

I couldn't think of a better way to start my attempt at hiking the New England Fifty Finest than with a bushwack of a trailless summit in the Northeast Kingdom. Signal Mountain stands at over 3,300 feet and is the highest point in the Groton State Forest.

Inspired by this trip report from Quincy Koetz, who hiked it over 10 years ago, I had to find out if that red nalgene was still there at the summit.

Unlike Quincy, I drove all the way to the base of the climb—at the bottom of the mountain's southern face—taking Gore Road just past the bridge over the Waits River. I'm glad I did because I didn't get going until the afternoon and walking the extra several miles of logging road would've eaten up too much time.

I parked on a shoulder and immediately heard two rifle shots in the distance when I stepped out, making me wish I'd brought some orange.

The initial climb was steep and I was winded within the first few minutes.

However, using the terrain view on Google Maps, I found some flatter areas about halfway up that provided some relief from the grade—these turned out to be peaceful, fern-filled plateaus.

Not far from the summit, I stumbled upon an old ATV trail. I crossed my fingers hoping it would take me the rest of the way to the top and stayed on it.

My faith was rewarded. I cruised the last half mile to the top, past abandoned hunter campsites and boulder caves, until I could go no higher.

It took me a minute but I found the red nalgene. There were just a few sheets worth of register inside, going back to spring of 2024. The last person to sign their name did so three months ago, in June.

Unfortunately there was nothing to write with and I didn’t think to bring my own pen, so my own ascent won’t be register-official. Nevertheless, it is a cool feeling standing on the top of a mountain in the middle of nowhere that only about 10 sickos reach each year. I might’ve caught the bushwack bug right then and there.

After a long break to rest and eat some cheese and crackers I hopped back on the ATV trail, hoping it would take me most of the way back down to where I parked. Unfortunately, after about 15 minutes, it became clear that it was starting to swing me around to the other side of the mountain. I took a beat and made peace with the fact that it was time to veer back into the tree line, then sent it down the slope on my right.

Only about a minute later I stumbled upon another ferny clearing and, directly across on the other side of the fern grove, staring back at me, was an adult black bear.

I’ve encountered several bears in the woods before and know that black bears are typically about as harmless as house cats, but I must admit that the fact that this one kept staring at me and wouldn’t budge—combined with being off-trail in the middle of nowhere—freaked me out a bit. I made some noise and he eventually started moving toward the tree line on the right. I tracked toward the trees on the left and continued my controlled crashing down through the spruce.

I was able to find a better route the rest of the way down than the one I’d taken up and reached the road about a quarter mile past where I’d parked around 5pm. I felt tired as I walked the logging road to my truck but not nearly as beaten up as I thought I’d be, given that I’m out of shape and that was my first legit bushwack summit.

I’ll probably do some on-trail hiking next (like a normal person) but there are at least a handful more trailless climbs on the Fifty Finest list, and I can’t wait for the next one.