sierra
Well-known member
Me and my trusty companion Shay climbed Mt. Hibbard (our 4th ascent) to get him into his first snow of the season. Trails were in great shape, light snow cover and frosted leaves ( this was prior to the storm), The ledges were actually mostly ice free and I made the summit without ever using traction, I did put traction on for the decent to avoid any falls, which I failed at, taking a really good bouncing fall on the last steep ledge system due to thick leaf cover. Somehow as usual, I managed to avoid injury, although my dog will stand there and give me an indignant look like I'm a Clutz. One interesting note, I did see plenty of bear tracks on the ridgeline. I know the area has a healthy bear population, but this mother and at least one cub were all over the ridge, in fact the summit was trampled as if they spent considerable time there. I decided to not eat on the summit to avoid any conflict, my dog is not afraid of anything and I'm all set with a confrontation between my dog and a bear. WE dropped down into the valley took a walk up old Mast Road and had lunch. It's such a nice forest out there, it's no wonder the British had eyes on the trees out there. Probably hit Paugus next week, I want to check out the cave route.
