MEB
New member
Today the plan was to hike Goose Eye with some fellow hikers from my home state. Rachel and I arrived at the trailhead just after 9:00 and Spongebob showed up shortly after us. The plan was to start around 9:30 but after waiting a bit for the others to show up we decided to start and figured Crooker, Yam and Katie would catch up at some point along the way.
About 5 minutes into the hike I knew this was going to be a rough day for me. The heat and humidity was really taking a toll on me and we had just started. Not a good way to start off. Oh well. The Wright Trail starts off following Goose Eye Stream (I think) for about the first couple of miles and the going is nice with little ups and downs and many interesting rock formations and deep swimming pools in the stream. Oh how I wanted to just stop and spend the day basking on the warm rocks and then cooling off in the icy water….we decided to wait and do that on the way down.
After a while we finally arrive at the N & S junction of the Wright Trail where there are also tentsites. The sign recommended taking the N side up so we did. Next we came out onto some rock slabs and we got our first look at what we would be going up. Short but steep. Before we started going up though the trail dropped back down to the stream and then came out at the bottom of a slide. Thankfully the trail diverted to the right. At this point I was miserably hot and had to stop every so often and at one point I thought about going back….but with a few encouraging words from Rachel and Spongebob I continued on.
Although this part of the trail was steep there were many steps and ladders to help make the going easier…..well, at least that was true for Rachel and Spongebob. They were doing fine and had gone ahead. I finally decided that I needed a little break so I stopped and rested to let myself cool off some. As I was sitting I could hear voices down below me and I knew this must be Crooker, Yam and Katie. So, off I went and within a few minutes I met up with Rachel and Spongebob who were waiting for me.
Next we make it to the junction with the Mahoosuc Trail and I’m relieved that we’re almost to the top, of the first peak that is. At this point the rest of the group catches up with us and we all start to make our way up. Again there are many ladders on this section and we are finally up high enough to start feeling the breeze! On the top we stop to eat lunch and take in the hazy views but our break is cut short as we start to hear thunder rumbling in the distance. So, we throw our packs back on and start heading over to Goose Eye. It’s only a short distance and we make it there fairly quickly, take some summit shots and then head back down.
The way down we take the S fork of the Wright Trail but the rain has caught up with us so we are robbed of any views for most of the way down. At one point we reach some ledges and it looked as though the sun was going to come back out. Going along we finally complete the loop and are back at the junction. Here I take advantage of the cool water while we wait for everyone to catch up.
Heading down back towards the trailhead we look for the perfect swimming hole to take a swim! Although the water made my feet go numb fairly quickly it was nice to feel cold and to get some relief from the heat! I can’t wait to come back this way when the weather is a little more agreeable!
Here are somepictures from our trip.
-MEB
About 5 minutes into the hike I knew this was going to be a rough day for me. The heat and humidity was really taking a toll on me and we had just started. Not a good way to start off. Oh well. The Wright Trail starts off following Goose Eye Stream (I think) for about the first couple of miles and the going is nice with little ups and downs and many interesting rock formations and deep swimming pools in the stream. Oh how I wanted to just stop and spend the day basking on the warm rocks and then cooling off in the icy water….we decided to wait and do that on the way down.
After a while we finally arrive at the N & S junction of the Wright Trail where there are also tentsites. The sign recommended taking the N side up so we did. Next we came out onto some rock slabs and we got our first look at what we would be going up. Short but steep. Before we started going up though the trail dropped back down to the stream and then came out at the bottom of a slide. Thankfully the trail diverted to the right. At this point I was miserably hot and had to stop every so often and at one point I thought about going back….but with a few encouraging words from Rachel and Spongebob I continued on.
Although this part of the trail was steep there were many steps and ladders to help make the going easier…..well, at least that was true for Rachel and Spongebob. They were doing fine and had gone ahead. I finally decided that I needed a little break so I stopped and rested to let myself cool off some. As I was sitting I could hear voices down below me and I knew this must be Crooker, Yam and Katie. So, off I went and within a few minutes I met up with Rachel and Spongebob who were waiting for me.
Next we make it to the junction with the Mahoosuc Trail and I’m relieved that we’re almost to the top, of the first peak that is. At this point the rest of the group catches up with us and we all start to make our way up. Again there are many ladders on this section and we are finally up high enough to start feeling the breeze! On the top we stop to eat lunch and take in the hazy views but our break is cut short as we start to hear thunder rumbling in the distance. So, we throw our packs back on and start heading over to Goose Eye. It’s only a short distance and we make it there fairly quickly, take some summit shots and then head back down.
The way down we take the S fork of the Wright Trail but the rain has caught up with us so we are robbed of any views for most of the way down. At one point we reach some ledges and it looked as though the sun was going to come back out. Going along we finally complete the loop and are back at the junction. Here I take advantage of the cool water while we wait for everyone to catch up.
Heading down back towards the trailhead we look for the perfect swimming hole to take a swim! Although the water made my feet go numb fairly quickly it was nice to feel cold and to get some relief from the heat! I can’t wait to come back this way when the weather is a little more agreeable!
Here are somepictures from our trip.
-MEB
