Today didn't quite end up the way I had envisioned.. but the weather was amazing and I was in good company! Laura and I headed west to wander some more on the Wapack Trail. My original plan was to start where I had previously started at the Windblown XC Ski Center at the Wapack parking area and head up Kidder Mountain, over to Burton Peak and down the Berry Pasture trail to a car spot at the trailhead. As we were heading to spot the car, we discovered Mountain Road that the Berry Pasture trail is on is closed for Winter. Luckily there was an alternate parking area on Temple Rd for the Wapack Trail itself that would only cut off a couple of miles from our original route. We dropped my car there and headed to Windblown to get ready and head out. The weather really was amazing after the colder days we've had and I quickly had to stop and layer down as I was getting hot just moments into the hike. There are a few intersections along the Wapack Trail, most are signed so as long as you pay attention to where the Wapack Trail goes, it shouldn't be an issue to follow. We came up to a powerline swath and saw the sign for Kidder Mountain Trail. At first I thought it was going to be straight up the powerlines, but after a couple tenths, the trail turned into the woods and very gradually ascended, joining with a snowmobile trail and up to a really pretty view towards Massachusetts. I hadn't expected such an open clear view! The trail was a mixture of bare ground, hard packed snow and ice. We wore our microspikes and ended up taking them off and on as the terrain changed. They were definitely beneficial on the icy/snowy sections. We enjoyed the view for a few moments before heading back down and continuing on the Wapack Trail. The next section of trail was blah. We ended up on a really muddy road for a while passing a fairly new house and some other private land before it turned back into the woods and followed a brook. Thankfully this section was a little more pretty. One final stream crossing and we were on Temple Road. Another boring road walk and we were back at the car. We contemplated doing an out and back to Burton Peak, but both of us had some minor chronic pain issues surfacing and we had started a little later in the morning than usual, so we decided to call it. Despite the underwhelming hike itself, it's always good to be outdoors on a beautiful day.
Strava Activity
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| we did a little bushwhack from the view to the true summit |
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| the section of Wapack Trail I hiked a few weeks ago over on the ridge |
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| you never know what you'll find on the trails |
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