Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56 Page 57 Page 58 Page 59 Page 60 Page 61 Page 62 Page 63 Page 64 Page 65 Page 66 Page 67 Page 68TRAILS TRAILS REPORT REPORT by Matt Tetreault, VAST Trails Administrator The destination I am going to write about in this edition of the Snowmobile Vermont is a great ride that I have done a couple of times. It is actually a fairly popular ride among those who know about it. There are numerous photos taken at the location each year, many of which have been posted in the magazine in the past. I am hoping to shed a little light on the trail, but honestly more about the lore of the surrounding area. Maybe you can plan some other events in the area in addition to your ride once you hear about all of the interesting things that have taken place. The town of Glastenbury is considered a ghost town today. It was originally chartered in 1761, but has never really been a booming place. Over the years, a number of hardy families attempted to carve out a living on Glastenbury Mountain and the surrounding area, but the rugged terrain always won. At the peak of its population, Glastenbury had 241 people living there. This spike was due to spruce and fir timber resources in the area which led to construction author Vincent Gaddis coined the phrase “Bermuda Triangle” to a loosely-defined region in the North Atlantic Ocean where a number of aircraft and ships are said to have disappeared under mysterious circumstances. Paranormal author Joseph A. Citro took a page from Gaddis’ book in 1987 and cleverly nicknamed the area surrounding Glastenbury Mountain the Bennington Triangle in his book, “Shadow Child,” which focused on the mysteries surrounding Glastenbury Mountain. No boats or planes have come up missing in the Bennington Triangle. However, we cannot say the same for some of the people who have visited the area. It is said that as many as 10 people have gone missing in the Glastenbury area between 1920 and 1950. Remains of only one person have ever been found. If you are really curious, perform an internet search for “Glastenbury Vermont Missing People” and see what comes up. It is quite interesting. Lucky for us, no snowmobilers have come up among the missing! of sawmills and kilns. The kilns turned lumber into charcoal for nearby iron production in Troy, New York. A short, 8-mile railroad was constructed from Bennington up the mountain along Bolles Brook. In 1898, large sums of money were spent in an effort to convert the area into a mountain resort area, with the old railroad used to shuttle passengers up the mountain using electricity instead of steam. The mountain won again as a flood of melting snow cleaned out the railroad tracks in the winter of 1899. That signaled the end of the boom for Glastenbury. In 1937, when the legislature unincorporated the town, it consisted of only seven inhabitants. According to the 2010 census, there were eight people still residing there. So few in fact, that the town affairs are handled by a state-appointed supervisor. What the town lacks in population it makes up for in mystery. In 1964, The view from the Glastenbury fire tower is magnificent. (Ryan Bottesi photo) 34 | Snowmobile VERMONT