About six weeks ago I hiked up Mt. Hale by the Firewarden's Trail (my favorite trail up that mountain), and since I reached the summit very early went down to the hut by Lend a Hand for lunch, then reversed course.
Yesterday I decided to do the classic loop, going up by the Hale Brook Trail and descending by the Lend a Hand and Zealand trails.
Our good friend HikerBob had posted a trip report (on another site) in which he described the Hale Brook Trail as "Quite a bit of ice about, particulalry near the stream crossings ...", so when I met ice at the lower stream crossing I put my stabilicers on, and kept them on until the hut. That was a mistake, the ice near the lower crossing could be bypassed, as could every other icy patch (and yes, there were quite a few). On the Lend a Hand Trail there was even less ice, as it is south facing and we have had several sunny days.
Went up Hale Brook Trail at a good (for me
) clip, the way down to the hut was much slower as the footing is rather bad; lots of rocks in places, lots of roots everywhere, very wet with many, many bog bridges.
I met nobody going up the Lend a Hand Trail, which surprised me after a holiday weekend; at least some hut guests usually go out the long way.
The hut was completely deserted except for the caretaker (first time I have seen that on a weekend), and he told me that a group had reserved the entire hut (36 persons) the night before and had not showed up. An expensive change of plans
I put my stabilicers back on for the descent from the hut, and took them off as soon as the trail flattenned. The final leg of the trip (Zealand Trail plus the roadwalk) was pleasant but totally routine.
This is the first time in a long, long time that I have felt fit enough hike three days in a row, even if all three were short hikes. I am in Boston for the Winter Hiking Program Monday (today) and Tuesday, and the weather forecast does not look too promising mid-week. Hope to do a couple of more respectable hikes back to back some time soon.
Yesterday I decided to do the classic loop, going up by the Hale Brook Trail and descending by the Lend a Hand and Zealand trails.
Our good friend HikerBob had posted a trip report (on another site) in which he described the Hale Brook Trail as "Quite a bit of ice about, particulalry near the stream crossings ...", so when I met ice at the lower stream crossing I put my stabilicers on, and kept them on until the hut. That was a mistake, the ice near the lower crossing could be bypassed, as could every other icy patch (and yes, there were quite a few). On the Lend a Hand Trail there was even less ice, as it is south facing and we have had several sunny days.
Went up Hale Brook Trail at a good (for me
) clip, the way down to the hut was much slower as the footing is rather bad; lots of rocks in places, lots of roots everywhere, very wet with many, many bog bridges.I met nobody going up the Lend a Hand Trail, which surprised me after a holiday weekend; at least some hut guests usually go out the long way.
The hut was completely deserted except for the caretaker (first time I have seen that on a weekend), and he told me that a group had reserved the entire hut (36 persons) the night before and had not showed up. An expensive change of plans
I put my stabilicers back on for the descent from the hut, and took them off as soon as the trail flattenned. The final leg of the trip (Zealand Trail plus the roadwalk) was pleasant but totally routine.
This is the first time in a long, long time that I have felt fit enough hike three days in a row, even if all three were short hikes. I am in Boston for the Winter Hiking Program Monday (today) and Tuesday, and the weather forecast does not look too promising mid-week. Hope to do a couple of more respectable hikes back to back some time soon.
