Little Sister
New member
In an effort to spice things up a bit, Meb came up with a crazy 3-fer hike. She proposed we hike Cabot, then Hale, and finally Tecumseh. Why not...
So, a little before 9 we headed up Cabot. The trail was littered with wildflowers; the only one I could positively identify was trillium, but there were lots of others. It was beautiful! The lower section of the Mt. Cabot trail was surprisingly drier than I thought it would be. All of the watery sections were easily passable by stepping on exposed rocks. Just after Bunnell rock, we ran into the monorail, so we put on snowshoes(which didn't necessarily make the footing any easier).
It was turning out to be a much better weather day than originally predicted and from the outlook just above the cabin we got some great views. Because we had an agenda, we hit the summit, and made quick work coming back down.
Back at the car, we raced over to Hale, stopping only for pizza and beverages. Zealand road is now open, so we were very excited to start at the trailhead of Hale! Meb had put a slice of pizza in her pack for a summit snack....so I had to go in front. The smell wafting from her pack was too distracting for me to follow
The Hale brook trail is free of snow until the second water crossing. Again, we used snowshoes, but the snow was pretty intermittent, and eventually I took them off and carried them to the summit. I find it quite challenging and a little frustrating to be out in these half and half conditions, but the forest is so alive with spring that I couldn't not be out there! Great VFTT. We took a quick break and reattached our snowshoes to our pack. They really weren't that helpful at all!
Back at the car, we're now on a roll...2 down 1 to go! I didn't realize that the drive over to Tecumseh was as long as it was because the last time I had been to this mountain was in Feb. of 2004. So it was tough to stay motivated while spending so much time driving. We had decided that we would go ultra light on this hike! We grabbed our headlamps, cell phones, and jacket and at a little before 5 we started up Tecumseh. The views behind us were spectacular. But the hike up sucked! I was tired...and maybe a little cranky. My thoughts were of the Common Man couches and a nice cold coca-cola. I thought I might have to use my cell phone to make a 911 call....but just before I did, I looked up and saw the tower at the top of the ski trail. Here, I started counting steps, 482 to actually reach the tower.
Once in the woods and on the sosman trail, things got a little better in my head. There was lots of snow, but the monorail was wide enough and solid enough to afford only minimal postholing. When we finally made the summit I tried to muster up a Whoo-hoo, but I was pooped. I just wanted to be back at the car...so we quickly headed down. We took a mish-mash of ski trails down, searching out the patches of snow where we could do a little boot skiing.
So, back at the car, Meb and I are very excited to have accomplished our goal. We headed off to the Common Man for some great food and beverages and free cheese and crackers! On a final note, we saw a beaver crossing the Kanc on the way home...Meb thought there must be something wrong with it??
Anyway...super fun day as always!
So, a little before 9 we headed up Cabot. The trail was littered with wildflowers; the only one I could positively identify was trillium, but there were lots of others. It was beautiful! The lower section of the Mt. Cabot trail was surprisingly drier than I thought it would be. All of the watery sections were easily passable by stepping on exposed rocks. Just after Bunnell rock, we ran into the monorail, so we put on snowshoes(which didn't necessarily make the footing any easier).
It was turning out to be a much better weather day than originally predicted and from the outlook just above the cabin we got some great views. Because we had an agenda, we hit the summit, and made quick work coming back down.
Back at the car, we raced over to Hale, stopping only for pizza and beverages. Zealand road is now open, so we were very excited to start at the trailhead of Hale! Meb had put a slice of pizza in her pack for a summit snack....so I had to go in front. The smell wafting from her pack was too distracting for me to follow
The Hale brook trail is free of snow until the second water crossing. Again, we used snowshoes, but the snow was pretty intermittent, and eventually I took them off and carried them to the summit. I find it quite challenging and a little frustrating to be out in these half and half conditions, but the forest is so alive with spring that I couldn't not be out there! Great VFTT. We took a quick break and reattached our snowshoes to our pack. They really weren't that helpful at all!Back at the car, we're now on a roll...2 down 1 to go! I didn't realize that the drive over to Tecumseh was as long as it was because the last time I had been to this mountain was in Feb. of 2004. So it was tough to stay motivated while spending so much time driving. We had decided that we would go ultra light on this hike! We grabbed our headlamps, cell phones, and jacket and at a little before 5 we started up Tecumseh. The views behind us were spectacular. But the hike up sucked! I was tired...and maybe a little cranky. My thoughts were of the Common Man couches and a nice cold coca-cola. I thought I might have to use my cell phone to make a 911 call....but just before I did, I looked up and saw the tower at the top of the ski trail. Here, I started counting steps, 482 to actually reach the tower.
Once in the woods and on the sosman trail, things got a little better in my head. There was lots of snow, but the monorail was wide enough and solid enough to afford only minimal postholing. When we finally made the summit I tried to muster up a Whoo-hoo, but I was pooped. I just wanted to be back at the car...so we quickly headed down. We took a mish-mash of ski trails down, searching out the patches of snow where we could do a little boot skiing.
So, back at the car, Meb and I are very excited to have accomplished our goal. We headed off to the Common Man for some great food and beverages and free cheese and crackers! On a final note, we saw a beaver crossing the Kanc on the way home...Meb thought there must be something wrong with it??
Anyway...super fun day as always!
