Muddytrails
New member
Climbed clockwise from the Rider Hollow trail head. ( the yellow trail to the blue trail). Companions were Gnat and Skyhook. We all wore snowshoes up and back. The trail was broke from the trailhead to the intersection of the blue. Breaking a new trail was easy as there was only a few inches of fluffy snow over a hard packed surface. The whole trail was well blazed and very easy to find. Kept waiting for the"steep" area designated on a map of Balsam I found on the internet. We decided it must have been the area that zig zagged up among huge boulders. Very beautiful area that just required being careful. On our return trip down this section we did use a short climbing rope(partly because I carried it all the way up the mountain) to make it easy and safer but it wasn't really needed. The frosty trees made it an enchanted forest. Great view from area just before the top. We had lunch with A group of hikers we met on top that climbed up from the Eastern approach. Skyhook and I had fun sliding down sections of the trail on small Butt sleds. great day out. Can't wait to return to Balsam in another season.
Muddytrails NE111
Muddytrails NE111
