Little Sister
New member
Meb and I left the Zealand parking lot saturday morning all set for a day of adventure! The Zealand trail was great, flat and easy, with lots of wildflowers in bloom along the way. Meb took pictures of them all so that we could identify them later using her new "Wildflower Identification Book." We followed the Zealand trail until in intersected with the AZ. Here we turned left, excited to be on a section of trail that neither of us had been on before. We loved getting different views of the pond! The trail was pretty flat, some bog bridges and small stream crossings, lots of twists and turns. The only steep section was the very last push up to the intersection with the Willey Range trail.
At the intersection, we dropped pack, hit Tom, and then headed to Field under a light rain. The gray jays were out on Field, and Meb had fun feeding and teasing them with bits of food. We took a quick break and then moved on to Willey. The rain stopped, I thought I was hearing thunder, but Meb said it was only airplanes
We tried to note the sections on this part of the trail that can be confusing in the winter, we had done a bit of wandering in this section a few months ago!! I think we've got it figured out now!
From Willey, we took the very steep trail down. I found it to be easier going down without snow than it was with snow, but thats just my opinion. The ladders are impressive, and numerous(they were under snow before).
Anyway, now comes the best part of the whole day. The ethan pond trail!! New for both Meb and I, we enjoyed the pleasant grade (FLAT), the hundreds of bog bridges, wildflowers, a side trip to the shelter and the pond, and Thoreau Falls, which we only saw from the top. A super spectacular trail which eventually dumped us back onto the Zealand trail and up to the hut. We had a quick break here, got some water, and decided we had enough energy to go over Hale. The Lend-A-Hand is a neat trail, hadn't been on it in a long time. Got some nice views on the way to the summit. Definitely heard thunder on top of Hale, so we scooted fast down the Hale brook and back to Zealand road. The last mile was the road but it went by fast. I have to say, this was one of my favorite hikes. The trails were easy, so I could actually look around while I hiked!! Thanks Meb for another fun sister hike!!
At the intersection, we dropped pack, hit Tom, and then headed to Field under a light rain. The gray jays were out on Field, and Meb had fun feeding and teasing them with bits of food. We took a quick break and then moved on to Willey. The rain stopped, I thought I was hearing thunder, but Meb said it was only airplanes
We tried to note the sections on this part of the trail that can be confusing in the winter, we had done a bit of wandering in this section a few months ago!! I think we've got it figured out now!From Willey, we took the very steep trail down. I found it to be easier going down without snow than it was with snow, but thats just my opinion. The ladders are impressive, and numerous(they were under snow before).
Anyway, now comes the best part of the whole day. The ethan pond trail!! New for both Meb and I, we enjoyed the pleasant grade (FLAT), the hundreds of bog bridges, wildflowers, a side trip to the shelter and the pond, and Thoreau Falls, which we only saw from the top. A super spectacular trail which eventually dumped us back onto the Zealand trail and up to the hut. We had a quick break here, got some water, and decided we had enough energy to go over Hale. The Lend-A-Hand is a neat trail, hadn't been on it in a long time. Got some nice views on the way to the summit. Definitely heard thunder on top of Hale, so we scooted fast down the Hale brook and back to Zealand road. The last mile was the road
but it went by fast. I have to say, this was one of my favorite hikes. The trails were easy, so I could actually look around while I hiked!! Thanks Meb for another fun sister hike!!
