BIGEarl
Well-known member
March 25, 2011: Hale
Trails: Zealand Road, Hale Brook Trail
Summits: Hale
Hikers: Trail Trotter (Sue) and me
Sue and I wanted a rest day before our planned hike on Saturday. After looking over our march list it seemed Hale was as restful as we had. It’s on the list, and it’s an easy, short hike. Yeah, right.
The forecast for the day showed a strong west-northwest wind, but the Hale Brook Trail is on the east side of the mountain and should be generally sheltered from those conditions. Hiking Hale via Hale Brook Trail this time of year involves a road walk along Zealand Road, which is closed for the winter. We parked at the winter location on Route 302 and started our day. After a little over 2.5 mile warm-up we were at the trailhead for Hale Brook Trail. The day was sunny and warm, and the snow was like six-inch deep mashed potatoes. Sue stopped to build a snowman at the trailhead.
We started the climb and our snowshoes suddenly weighed twenty pounds – each! The sticky snow was really increasing the intensity of this workout. The nice part was as we gained elevation we lost degrees and slowly we hiked our way into dryer snow conditions. There are always two sides to every story. As we climbed into dryer snow we also climbed our way into deeper snow. Six inches at the trailhead became over 10 at the middle crossing. At least it was no longer mashed potatoes.
We left the middle crossing and started into the toughest part of our week. From the middle crossing to the upper crossing are a few steep pitches that all went well. There is a side-hill traverse through a birch glade that is usually a very beautiful section of trail. Non on this hike! There was no sign of previous traffic or even a subtle indication of trail. We found ourselves working through the glade without the benefit of an established route to aid in footing. Every step was a test. A slip would mean a very inconvenient slide down the slope that would sure take a pretty good effort and amount of time to climb back up. By the time we were a quarter way through this traverse the leg assembly (thigh, knee, and hip) on my “uphill” side were showing a significant dislike for the conditions. They really hurt. The routine became take a few steps, stop to recover, now repeat – over and over. Eventually, we were standing at the upper crossing in well over 12 inches of fresh powder and happy knowing we made it through the glade with no trouble. We also knew a return visit was waiting on our hike out.
We made the crossing and started into the switchbacks. The first switchback was more of the same regarding side-hill hiking. We had trees to use for support and managed to work through to the second switchback with no real troubles. We started to encounter some pretty big drifts along switchback #1. Switchbacks #2 - #4 continued to be a test with even more drifting. The snow was dry and light and easy hiking but the poor traction due to the depth of snow made the climb more difficult than it should have been. Finally, switchback #5 and we’re headed to the summit. I told Sue as soon as the trail swings to the right things would get better – no more side-hill. Eventually, we found the change in direction and started a more direct uphill climb. Life got better.
We were headed for the summit but the climb had taken quite a bit out of me and a few extra stops were needed along the way. Slowly we climbed, and stopped to recover as needed. Soon we were looking up the final tunnel of trees leading to the summit clearing. The end of the opening appeared to be drifted in and nearly closed. The light at the end of the tunnel appeared to be a little more dim than usual. That was a bit of an optical illusion, but there was a large drift at the opening to the summit clearing.
We reached the summit drift, figured out the easiest way past (go around to the right), and stepped into the high wind that was forecast by the National Weather Service. It’s surprising how the conditions changed from one side of a snow drift to the other.
We walked out to the summit cairn, got our usual pictures, and retreated – the summit of Hale wasn’t as friendly as usual. Our mid-hike snack would have to wait for a while.
We started down looking forward to all of the side-hill hiking we worked through on our climb. Roughly half-way through switchback #5 Sue pulled out some cookies and we stopped for a quick break. That was a nice shot of energy and soon we were on our way. Our exit hike through the remaining switchbacks went well. We had our established tracks to work with and the slipping problem was limited. We reached the upper crossing and knew the real exit test was coming up.
After the upper crossing we were immediately into the side-hill test through the birch glade. Slowly, and carefully we started across this section. It was too late in the day to mess around with any sliding off the trail. We generally had an easy time of it and were soon on the exit side of the glade with no extra side trips. There was only one more steep section leading down to the upper crossing and we would have clear sailing to the trailhead and on to the highway.
We hit the trailhead with no surprises along the way. There, we found lots of new tracks in the snow (bare booters) but none went past the trailhead kiosk. Perhaps these were from people headed to Zealand Falls Hut. We also found the snowman - still standing. He was showing the effects from a day in the sun but the smile was still on his face.
The remaining trip out was a ~2.5 mile road walk on Zealand Road – a cool-down lap. We hit Route 302 and walked to the winter parking. It didn’t take long to pack our things and hit the highway south.
I’ll admit, Hale isn’t always an easy, short hike.
Pictures will follow.
Trails: Zealand Road, Hale Brook Trail
Summits: Hale
Hikers: Trail Trotter (Sue) and me
Sue and I wanted a rest day before our planned hike on Saturday. After looking over our march list it seemed Hale was as restful as we had. It’s on the list, and it’s an easy, short hike. Yeah, right.
The forecast for the day showed a strong west-northwest wind, but the Hale Brook Trail is on the east side of the mountain and should be generally sheltered from those conditions. Hiking Hale via Hale Brook Trail this time of year involves a road walk along Zealand Road, which is closed for the winter. We parked at the winter location on Route 302 and started our day. After a little over 2.5 mile warm-up we were at the trailhead for Hale Brook Trail. The day was sunny and warm, and the snow was like six-inch deep mashed potatoes. Sue stopped to build a snowman at the trailhead.
We started the climb and our snowshoes suddenly weighed twenty pounds – each! The sticky snow was really increasing the intensity of this workout. The nice part was as we gained elevation we lost degrees and slowly we hiked our way into dryer snow conditions. There are always two sides to every story. As we climbed into dryer snow we also climbed our way into deeper snow. Six inches at the trailhead became over 10 at the middle crossing. At least it was no longer mashed potatoes.
We left the middle crossing and started into the toughest part of our week. From the middle crossing to the upper crossing are a few steep pitches that all went well. There is a side-hill traverse through a birch glade that is usually a very beautiful section of trail. Non on this hike! There was no sign of previous traffic or even a subtle indication of trail. We found ourselves working through the glade without the benefit of an established route to aid in footing. Every step was a test. A slip would mean a very inconvenient slide down the slope that would sure take a pretty good effort and amount of time to climb back up. By the time we were a quarter way through this traverse the leg assembly (thigh, knee, and hip) on my “uphill” side were showing a significant dislike for the conditions. They really hurt. The routine became take a few steps, stop to recover, now repeat – over and over. Eventually, we were standing at the upper crossing in well over 12 inches of fresh powder and happy knowing we made it through the glade with no trouble. We also knew a return visit was waiting on our hike out.
We made the crossing and started into the switchbacks. The first switchback was more of the same regarding side-hill hiking. We had trees to use for support and managed to work through to the second switchback with no real troubles. We started to encounter some pretty big drifts along switchback #1. Switchbacks #2 - #4 continued to be a test with even more drifting. The snow was dry and light and easy hiking but the poor traction due to the depth of snow made the climb more difficult than it should have been. Finally, switchback #5 and we’re headed to the summit. I told Sue as soon as the trail swings to the right things would get better – no more side-hill. Eventually, we found the change in direction and started a more direct uphill climb. Life got better.
We were headed for the summit but the climb had taken quite a bit out of me and a few extra stops were needed along the way. Slowly we climbed, and stopped to recover as needed. Soon we were looking up the final tunnel of trees leading to the summit clearing. The end of the opening appeared to be drifted in and nearly closed. The light at the end of the tunnel appeared to be a little more dim than usual. That was a bit of an optical illusion, but there was a large drift at the opening to the summit clearing.
We reached the summit drift, figured out the easiest way past (go around to the right), and stepped into the high wind that was forecast by the National Weather Service. It’s surprising how the conditions changed from one side of a snow drift to the other.
We walked out to the summit cairn, got our usual pictures, and retreated – the summit of Hale wasn’t as friendly as usual. Our mid-hike snack would have to wait for a while.
We started down looking forward to all of the side-hill hiking we worked through on our climb. Roughly half-way through switchback #5 Sue pulled out some cookies and we stopped for a quick break. That was a nice shot of energy and soon we were on our way. Our exit hike through the remaining switchbacks went well. We had our established tracks to work with and the slipping problem was limited. We reached the upper crossing and knew the real exit test was coming up.
After the upper crossing we were immediately into the side-hill test through the birch glade. Slowly, and carefully we started across this section. It was too late in the day to mess around with any sliding off the trail. We generally had an easy time of it and were soon on the exit side of the glade with no extra side trips. There was only one more steep section leading down to the upper crossing and we would have clear sailing to the trailhead and on to the highway.
We hit the trailhead with no surprises along the way. There, we found lots of new tracks in the snow (bare booters) but none went past the trailhead kiosk. Perhaps these were from people headed to Zealand Falls Hut. We also found the snowman - still standing. He was showing the effects from a day in the sun but the smile was still on his face.
The remaining trip out was a ~2.5 mile road walk on Zealand Road – a cool-down lap. We hit Route 302 and walked to the winter parking. It didn’t take long to pack our things and hit the highway south.
I’ll admit, Hale isn’t always an easy, short hike.
Pictures will follow.
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