Macomb, South, East, Hough 2/23/11

[Pine Marten]

Three of us did this hike heading in up the Macomb slide and heading out via Lillian Brook. The state trail to Slide Brook is packed but very bumpy. The path to the slide is packed and fairly smooth. The slide is covered in hard snow offering a good grip with aggressive snowshoe crampons. The path from the top of the slide to Macomb, South, and East is packed. Mostly it is easy to find and smooth. The path to Hough was packed and easy to follow until just before the Lillian Brook junction when the rut disappeared. After the junction the rut made by prior hikers meandered eventually reaching the ridge where the summer path joins it. There to the summit was easy to follow and well packed. We broke trail down the Lillian Brook path losing it at the very bottom and reaching the state trail a couple hundred yards to the north of the cairn. The snow is not yet fully consolidated, but our snowshoes only sunk in about six inches along the Lillian Brook path. The road from Clear Pond to the summer trailhead is plowed and easy to bare boot. The remainder of the hike can be done with good snowshoes.