We saved Mt. Hale for a rainy day. (actually, we really saved Mt. Hale until Zealand Rd opened, which it did last week!)
Mt. Hale, by general opinion, seems to be very unpopular. My Dad (and many others) referred to it as "a very disappointing hike." Hence, we saved it for a crapy day, AND had zero expectation. Basically I was like "Hey Evan, Mt Field was a shit hole and you hated it, NOW we are going to go hike Hale!"
The first thing that went right: The staff at Dunkin was friendly to us. Randomly, we have concluded that how the pre-hike Dunks experience is directly relates to how our hiking experience is. (ok!)
The second thing: The weather (contrary to the forecast) was somewhere between decent, and spectacular.
The third thing: It was just a REALLY terrific hike. Go figure.
We arrived! The little lot at Hale Brook trail was almost full, but because luck was on our side, we snagged the last spot. The sun was (almost) shining, the birds were singing, it was warm (62!) and we could tell the sun wanted to break free.
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| And WE WERE OFF |
The trail was in great shape, extremely easy to follow, and well marked. And it was warm!!!
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| Sun's out, guns out |
There were a couple little water crossings to hippty hop over, but very low key. All of us enjoyed the stream that could be seen many times, lots of nice little falls and flumes. It was quite lovely.
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| At a crossing, so pretty! |
We were literally .2 miles into the hike, and all of us were like "this trail is the BEST! We love it here! We need to make sure to tell NOBODY or EVERYONE will be here!" It actually is a really great trail, but stay away, haha.
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| Hiking puppy |
There was no snow for ages. We saw a dab here and there, but we were completely through the switchbacks before we considered traction. And Evan bare booted it.
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| First switchback, first dab of snow |
So there's a decent bit of climbing (like 1k feet in the first mile) but it's a short hike, with actual switchbacks, so it is not demanding or relentless. It's a mountain, and mountains go up. But this is not a hike that is a bitch and a half. Even in the snow (and yes, there was some snow.) but it was also warm, and it got warmer throughout our hike.
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| Some snow, but not a ton |
And after a bit of snow, there was plenty of bare trail. It was a gift from the hiking gods after the miles of snow the previous day/week. I think mayyyybe there was one posthole made all day!
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| Ellie loves the bare ground |
And just like that (after meeting a pretty ornery trail dog, which is rare) We made it to the summit.
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| And there is a huge pile of stones! |
It was super nice out. Warm. We sat around for over 20 minutes and had lunch. We had the place to ourselves, and it was really pleasant.
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| Summit photo!! Crazy hair, don't care |
On the descent, we even saw a view. See? Hale totally has views!
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| That is totally a view |
It was a pleasant, and warm hike down. When we reached the base, it was a staggering 75 degrees, blazing sun, and just gorgeous!!
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| WE MADE IT! WE LOVED IT!!! |
We enjoyed quite a bit of picnic table/parking lot time, soaked in the sun, made some new friends and had the obligatory post hike brew.
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| As always. |
Ellie also enjoyed some R&R and a snack.
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| So comfy. |
This was a shockingly good way to wrap up binge hiking week. We did Hale just to "get it out of the way" but found it to be truly enjoyable. Definitely a solid choice for a first 4k climb, to escape the bigger crowds at the more popular mountains, or to simply enjoy a great trail.
We had a great day, and the kids were wiped out.
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| Exhausted!!!! |
So that's it from hiking insanity week 2019. It was a GREAT time and really fun to see so many new trails!
Stats
Total elevation: 4054 (back to squeakers!)
Strava data: (we take this with a grain of salt)
-elevation climbed: 2,303
-miles covered: 4.1 (book is 4.4)
-elapsed time: 2:54 (included 20 minute break on summit. many leisurely stops. basically a casual day enjoying nature.) (Book is 2:15, I believe. I plan to doublecheck this though, as I'm surprised it's that little time.)
Difficulty: Easy for a 4k footer. But you still must go up, and cross several small streams.
Views: Decent if limited
Bugs: There were a few, mostly in the lot
Dog friendly trail? Yes, unless your dog hates streams (or other dogs. then seriously people....)
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