We did Hale in May of 2019 up the Hale Brook Trail and really enjoyed it, even though many don't care for Hale (it is a viewless summit.)
Since it is Spring and the Zealand Rd is closed (access road to Hale Brook trailhead, among others) we hiked up the "bushwack" that is the Firewardens Trail. This involves parking at the Seven Dwarfs Motel in Twin Mountain (this little motel may be lovely during peak months, and it's so nice that we are allowed to park here (for $10) But off season, it's a tad spooky.)
From there you hike up Little River road (bearing right at the "Private Road" sign, you go over a couple small bridges and then turn left at the "trail" sign. This takes you up a footpath that connects to Haystack Road. You turn left, and continue to the North Twin Trailhead. From there, you take the North Twin Trail .8 miles until the water crossing. Instead of going right over the river, you bear left, and continue with the river to your right another .3 miles. At this point, on your left, the Firewardens Trail climbs a Rooty bank and bears sharply left. I'm sure this would be VERY easy to notice if you were following snowy footsteps- but you really need to keep an eye open for it this time of year when the ground is bare. (we met a couple at the motel planing to do the same route as us- and we suspect they could not locate this junction as we never saw them again.) FYI- the Gaia app is very useful and accurate (just make sure you have downloaded the trail and have plenty of battery, duh.)
Nice spring conditions until mile 3 when we spiked up. While this is an un-signed, un blazed, and un-maintained trail- someone must take care of it, as some major blowdowns had clearly been chainsawed away. The trail was actually easier to follow than some legit trails we have been on (but we suspect that once the plants grow and leaves develop some places could be much more difficult to follow.)
From mile 3 on, it was winter conditions again.
We did come across a lovely view, which was a nice surprise on this beautiful day!
We took a couple "shortcuts" along the way- there are lovely switchbacks, and some intrepid hikers had cut the corners off a couple with a more direct path.(bushwhacks within the bushwhack??) While it was steep in these areas, this generally was a very moderate trail. We enjoyed the lovely birch groves, as well.
Before we knew it, we were there! We spent about 15 minutes soaking up the warm sun and having a snack. Hale is lacking views, but we have never had a bad day on Hale, so it rates pretty high with us.
We cruised down quickly, and made it back to civilization in good time.
It was a very quiet day on the hill, despite the very decent weather (forecast to be cloudy- and it was overcast but all high clouds. And NO wind!) We saw 8 other hikers, and that includes the 2 in the parking lot that didn't seem t0 make it, and two others who we saw at the summit who had come from Zealand Road.
A very good day overall. Checked off Hale for April, and for this round of the 48.
Miles: 9.2
Elevation: 2541
Time: 3:38:39 (road walks make us fast)
Fun: 8.5 Eric and I agreed that it was a very fun day
No comments:
Post a Comment