You Are Here: Beaver Brook Part 3

I thought I was ready for all sorts of Winter hiking this year.. turns out I'm not. I'm already over it ;) There are definitely some pros with roots and rocks being hidden under an evenly packed down snow "highway" as I've seen it referred to.. but overall, I'm done. However, Mother Nature feels otherwise, so I'm working with what we have. With systems coming every couple of days over the last week, I wanted to go somewhere I knew was well traveled. Beaver Brook is just that. I covered 13 miles over the weekend and all but a couple tenths here and there were really well packed and easy to walk on. I was able to get by with spikes. Snowshoes wouldn't have been overkill, but spikes did the trick. I found navigating this time much easier, but still carried with me a paper map, screen shot of the trail map and the Peakbagger app on my phone for confirmation. Saturday, I headed back to Brown Lane barn and headed out on some more of the southern trails. I really enjoyed Big Tree Trail, Ashcroft Trail and Beaver Brook Trail. I find myself looking down so often when I walk to make sure I'm choosing a good line and not going to trip and fall, I have been forcing myself to stop and look around more. This is a really pretty area and while I saw several people on other trails and lots of cars in the parking areas, I only encountered a couple of people on the actual trails I was on. The only issue I had was coming off Porcupine Trail onto Maple Hill Ridge Trail. I inadvertently started following an established footbed which wasn't on a trail at all. This is where my Peakbagger app came in handy. A little way down the "trail" it didn't feel right, based on how it looked on the map, so I was able to look at the app and see I wasn't on a trail at all. I was also able to use it to "bushwhack" over to the actual trail and continue on the right path. Thankfully I only added a tenth or so extra in trying to figure out what had happened, no harm no foul. It appears lots of others had done the same thing, the footbed went across a field and back to the parking area at Maple Hill Farm. For a redliner though, it matters that you cover all the trails, so I made sure I got back to the point where I had gone off course and headed in the right direction! Sunday was supposed to be inclement weather early, but we woke to nothing. I hadn't made definite plans so got a later than usual start. I headed back to Beaver Brook knowing the conditions were premium. The day was perfect as far as temperatures but the bluebird skies had given way to overcast grey skies.. it was also Valentine's Day. It was much busier today, but everyone was gracious and allowed the necessary space for passing. I really enjoyed Nichols Trail. It was like a rolling rollercoaster with a couple of peekaboo views over the trees. I saw no one on that trail and enjoyed the solitude. I have about 7 miles left to complete all of the trails over there. I have really enjoyed my exploration and may have to consider going back in the Summer and see what all the snow has been hiding!

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