So after weeks of relatively short hikes - if any - I got a chance to head for something higher.
Gallery / slide show
But I didnt want something too hard, and I was anxious to get a foliage check ... haven't been up Hale, had heard there was one stellar view, and could stop at Zealand hut on the way. Cookies? ...
The Hale Brook Trail was about as easy as you could hope for in a 4K trail, the only rival I can think of is the Tecumseh trail along the ski slope side ...
There wasn't anything else remarkable about it, including the glades mentioned in the guide book. Except maybe for a set of stone steps fairly high up. Better than a road walk ... but <yawn> ....
Coming out of the trees into the clearing at the summit was a nice change, out in the open and a very nice cairn under gorgeous blue sky. But the trees completely blocked all views.
After a bit of lunch, and an attempt to check the alleged magnetic status of the summit - of which I saw NO evidence despite walking all around the area with my compass - I headed down the Lend a Hand trail.
The guidebook describes a view about 15 yds off the trail at a point of ledgy trail. I had been told a few years ago that this view was absolutely spectacular, one of the best in the whites. Well, gotta check it out, I thought.
I either missed the proper spot or the guy who told me that was pulling my leg. It was ... OK ... well, very nice ... but not THAT great.
So ... onward and downward the Lend A Hand trail. I found another herd path and followed it a little way to some boulders; climbing one of those gave an OK view of Zealand & South Twin ... and that was pretty much it for views on this trip.
Shortly along the path I encountered the bog bridges. The trail crosses a bog and there are many bridges. As in MANY bridges. Did not see a moose though it would not have surprised me at all :)
Eventually reached Zealand Hut, and there were no cookies :( Oh well, there were some nice cinnamon rolls, so the trip wasn't a complete waste...
Chatted around a bit with other travelers, then headed on out the Zealand Trail and a road walk back to the car.
The foliage around Zealand looked pretty drab, some maples had started to turn but their leaves in several instances were bordered in black. Hoping the year turns out well, but looks shaky to me at this point.
Oh ... the title .... I had a chat with a young woman and she mentioned that she really enjoyed a trip she took where there were a LOT of athletic men ... she was hoping to return and enjoy looking for a good one ... I guess I must have been like some avuncular confessor or something, there was no hint of flirtation or anything - I'm so old it wouldnt be May/December, it would be more like May/Ice Age :) ... Anyway, the conversation reminded me of a song by the Pointer Sisters with a lyric "It's raining men! Hallelujah! " :)
I hope she finds what she's looking for, she seemed a nice young person :)