Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1871-07-27
KillingtOn .

On Monday, July 18th, party consist
ing of A. D. Ladd, Frank Brown, Rev. j..
L. R. Wyckoff, W. H. Pooler, and your
correspondent, made the ascent of this
mountain, leaving Rutland at six a. M,
and arriving at noon. The trip to the
steam saw mill, with wagons, was charm
ing, as we wound up the old Notch road,
and around behind Mendon Mountain.
There were new beauties unfolding at ev-
cry turn of the road. 1t was day of a
thousand, and everything bright and
beautiful during the earlier part of the
day.
AS we drew near and got full view of
the hoary and shaggy trio of mountains,
Killington, Shrewsbury and Pico, we
shrank into very undignifed proportions
as we looked along and up those stupen-
duous works built by an Almighty hand.
At this point the wagons were left, and
one of the horses The other was taken
along TO assist in making the ascent to
the ridge" About mile up the precip-
itous path the fallen trees, Frustrated by
the terrible winds that rage so there, got
to be so thick that riding horseback was
entirely out of the question, so the horse
was left behind. The last two miles the
ascent is so gradual that we found no
trouble in walking rapidly until we
reached the last few hundred feet. This
is as steep as loose stones and rocks can
be, and is somewhat difficult if not dam
gerous to climb. But by exercising due
care we were all at last safely on the sum
nit 1t is but justice to Mr.. Wyckoff tc
say that he was the first to reach the
rocky pinnacle Of old Killington.
The atmosphere at the time was per
fectly pure and transparent, and the won
derful scene that burst upon our enrap
tured vision was Understandable. Like
billewy sea of mountains upon mountains
it spread in every direction, around anc
beneath the rocky perch on which We
stood. We witnessed and experienced
the same phenomena that the aeronau'
does from q similar elevation. The tenn
perature began to fall and very soon we
began to feel quite cold, and had to rub
our hands to keep them warm. Abou
one O'Clock we began to see showers gath
erina from five different places, and al
our stand point was perhaps not more thar
one hundred feet below the lower edge o
the stratum of clouds, it was very inter
eetinx 10 observe them. AS we could SCI
sixty or seventy miles in every direction
we had very vide field of view. There
was one in the neighborhood of Middle
bury, another in Pittsfeld, which worked
down through Sherburne and Bridgewat
err. Another vas commencing fifty or six
ty miles away in the state of New York
west of Whitehall, in the course of hal
an hour it passed over Rutland, and NOV
ing all the time in our direction. In
short time it became evident that thi
shower would pass over ua, which it yer.
soon did. 1t rained moderately for
quarter of an hour, and the whole SIX.
was overcast and looked as though reg
ular storm had set in. We crawled IN
der some projecting rocks and with al
umbrella kept ourselves dry. Some scat
terinx snow fakes or drops of sleet fel
with the rain. About two p. m. the cloud
broke away and it cleared up, and every
thing was bright again. Absut this tim
we built a good fire with which TO &c
warm.
Shrewsbury Peak and Pico were par
TALLY hidden by low scud clouds. Ate
the showers had passed by the atmospher
was clearer, if possible, than before. W
had good glass but used it very little
as we had SO much to look at with the ma
ked aye. I shall not attempt to enume1
ate the mountains scattered over thre
different states. The eye never tires 0
gazing upon the matchless picture. Th
heart never ceases to adore the divine OF
fist that painted it with such gorgeou
colors.
About three o'clock in the afternoon i
became necessary for us to bid farewell
TO oil those beauties and delights, an
start on our journey home, as we ha
made no preparations for camping GU
and spending the night on the mountain
We got back to Rutland about seven I
M, having seen more of our grand Gree
Mountain scenery than ever before.
J. A. P.