Bear Brook - Hemlock Trail

 An unexpected Covidcation had me off the trails for a couple of weeks. Feeling more human, I was anxious to get outside, but knew I had to be careful as my fitness would not be where it was. Also, we had a blizzard last weekend, so breaking trail wasn't something I had any desire to do. I opted for more redlining at Bear Brook State Park. There are a LOT of trails there, so I had plenty of options. I chose Hemlock Trail and Camp Trail knowing that area is very popular with the fat bikes and I anticipated well packed trails. I chose wisely. Parking at the Hiker/Biker lot on Podunk Road, I set out. Again, I found the trail signs vs the map to be inconsistent, but had a downloaded track to follow to make sure I stayed on course. Right at the gate, Camp Trail (which is a groomed snowmobile trail) began and Pitch Pine Trail forked off after maybe a tenth of a mile. I followed that to Hemlock. This was a beautiful walk through the woods, past a rather steep ravine with Bear Brook meandering far below. I didn't see any blazes of any kind the entire length of the trail, but it was so well packed with bike tracks I had no issues following. I did wonder what it was like in Summer without the blazes. Turns out the bike track is well established amongst the greenery, so it doesn't appear it would be an issue then either. At the end, I opted to do the Old South Road Connector, which was only broken out half way before the bike tracks veered off the trail and went elsewhere. The section I had to break wasn't too deep and the snow was often so frozen, it was like walking on pavement. I wore spikes the entire hike, carrying my snowshoes, but never needing them. This trail passed a dilapidated old cabin which was a little freaky and connected to South Road which just had a chained gate at the end. Back on Hemlock Trail, I picked up Camp Trail (or Campground Trail as I've also seen it named) and followed that past the Archery Range pond parking area and back to the parking area. Nothing scenic along any of these trails, but it was a bluebird day and the snow does make everything very pretty. I passed 7 bikers total, 2 ATVs and 2 snowmobiles!

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