vegematic
Active member
Had the afternoon off so scouted around for a local, relatively short hike. Settled on the Burnt Mill Brook trail in Evan's Notch which I'd never hiked on before. WMG doesn't have a whole lot to say about this trail but I thought it was lovely. Got to the trailhead around 11:30 and started walking around quarter of noon. The first mile or so of this trail climbs gradually-moderately through open woods with the Burnt Mill Brook on the left. The brook goes over several small drops and ledges with pools and is quite beautiful. The trail seems to be rarely walked on; the tread is covered with duff and in a couple of places, soft moss. It hasn't been worn down to bare soil or ledge for the most part, but is very easy to follow. After the first mile or so the trail leaves the brook and begins to climb more seriously over good footing. The WMG says that at 1.7 mile you cross Burnt Mill Brook. Actually, over the course of what felt like a half mile I crossed a few small streams. All were easy hops across but none was more noteworthy than any other so I couldn't tell which was the "1.7-mile mark". After good spell of climbing and the handful of brook crossings the grade began to flatten out and I suspected I was reaching the col between the Royces. Indeed, I soon came upon the trail junction with the Royce Trail, 2 miles and 1:15 from the trailhead. I took a snack-and-water break on a rock and pondered my options: East Royce? West Royce? Both?
I settled on West Royce; I'd only been up once before and I didn't really remember the summit whereas I've been up East about a zillion times and could probably navigate it in my sleep. That decided I shouldered my pack and headed west. The trail wastes no time in ascending. Several switchbacks took me up over, in some cases, some pretty slick ledges. I was a little concerned because as usual, nobody knew where I was and I was hiking solo on a trail that I expected nobody else to be on. If I got hurt I would be completely on my own. I chided myself for turning into such a pansy in my middle age and continued on. The steep stuff didn't last long and I was soon bumping along a gentle walk toward the summit with lots of nice mossy areas and warm sun filtering into the open woods. I met two men coming back from the summit who had come up from Rt 113. They would be the only people I would see all day and I had been the only person they had seen up to that point. Not long after meeting them I came to the partially open summit, about a half hour after leaving the col. The trail was a bit hard to follow here but I was able to pick it up after some poking around. The summit was a little bit beyond what seems to be meant as a summit cairn and I was able to find nice views here and there around the summit. I could see about 8 people over on the ledges of East Royce and was glad I had chosen to come up West. I scouted around for a few minutes to find just the right lunch spot and settled in for a sandwich. There was not a cloud in the sky and I had some chickadees and a raven for company. Headed down around 2:15 and took my time along the brook on the way out. The WMG really doesn't do ths trail justice...maybe because it isn't an AMC trail? It's well worth a visit.
-vegematic
I settled on West Royce; I'd only been up once before and I didn't really remember the summit whereas I've been up East about a zillion times and could probably navigate it in my sleep. That decided I shouldered my pack and headed west. The trail wastes no time in ascending. Several switchbacks took me up over, in some cases, some pretty slick ledges. I was a little concerned because as usual, nobody knew where I was and I was hiking solo on a trail that I expected nobody else to be on. If I got hurt I would be completely on my own. I chided myself for turning into such a pansy in my middle age and continued on. The steep stuff didn't last long and I was soon bumping along a gentle walk toward the summit with lots of nice mossy areas and warm sun filtering into the open woods. I met two men coming back from the summit who had come up from Rt 113. They would be the only people I would see all day and I had been the only person they had seen up to that point. Not long after meeting them I came to the partially open summit, about a half hour after leaving the col. The trail was a bit hard to follow here but I was able to pick it up after some poking around. The summit was a little bit beyond what seems to be meant as a summit cairn and I was able to find nice views here and there around the summit. I could see about 8 people over on the ledges of East Royce and was glad I had chosen to come up West. I scouted around for a few minutes to find just the right lunch spot and settled in for a sandwich. There was not a cloud in the sky and I had some chickadees and a raven for company. Headed down around 2:15 and took my time along the brook on the way out. The WMG really doesn't do ths trail justice...maybe because it isn't an AMC trail? It's well worth a visit.
-vegematic
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