As of a solo, autumn hike in 2014, what remains of the community of Ricker Basin aka Ricker Mills is unfortunately, very little to nothing. Though the autumn day was perfect and the hike itself enjoyable, one couldn't help but wonder what this area must have looked like in the best of it's days.
“The one house still standing is the Almeron Goodell Farm. It is a creepy, dilapidated and sad little house, open to the elements of nature and the carelessness of mankind. “
Everything else had long since decayed with only stones and rusting metal remaining. Although I was alone on this hike, the curiosity of exploring the Almeron Goodell farmhouse out weighed any trepidation or perhaps common sense, in some cases. I wisely decided not to go down to the basement due to the fact that if the stairs gave way, I'd be stuck down there without anyone to help get me out.
There were no other hikers around so I quickly decided not to take the chance. The farmhouse was actually quite dark inside so I used the flash on my camera to take the photos. The flash made the images much lighter than the actual experience. If you're hiking here and you do go inside, be aware that it's pretty dark throughout. See the full article here.
Ricker Basin, the closest thing to a real, Vermont ghost town
Hard to imagine Gideon Ricker's farm as shown in the photo. All that remained was the stone foundation and a few rusted pieces of old farm equipment. No boards or wood of any kind. Probably removed or long since decayed. The fields and pastures long since overgrown by trees and bushes, as you can via the photos below.
The Ricker family cemetery head stones were in remarkably good condition, with the writing on each stone still legible, considering that they were nearly a century old. See the full article here.
The Thomas Hurlburt Farm also known as “Tom Herbert” farm. Although the well is indeed there (and you certainly don't want to fall 27 feet down inside it), for some reason, I didn't get a photo.
Stonewalls lined the old and forgotten Hedgehog Hill Trail, a somewhat considerable incline towards the top of the hill and down the other side towards the Dalley Loop Trail. One could only wonder at how many hours of hard work and manpower had gone into creating the stone wall, which seemed to stretch on forever.
The stone foundation still remains along with some other artifacts but the ring of stones shown above could not be located. A sad end to one man's dreams, decades ago.
Another cemetery along the trail with headstones in remarkably good condition, though one was a bit worse for wear.
The Joseph Ricker farm was slightly less than a quarter mile walk up off the main trail. The foundation for the house and barn a bit bigger than others. This location, now overgrown like everything else must have had a commanding view back in the days when the land was cleared out. See the full article here.
I did not get a chance to hike to the old sawmill as the day was getting long. Although I was lucky enough to make the Hedgehog Hill and Dally Loop trail circle, there were even more trails to see. I believe the trails I visited were about 5 miles which made for quite a long hike, especially up the long incline that was Hedgehog Hill.
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