You Are Here: Bear Brook - Pitch Pine, Bobcat, Salt Lick

Saturday, February 12, 2022

Bear Brook - Pitch Pine, Bobcat, Salt Lick

For as beautiful and well packed as the trails were last weekend. This weekend was the complete opposite. We have had warming conditions and the trails were a mess. Either ice, granular slush and even standing water. I tried to choose trails I thought might be in decent condition and for the most part these were. I parked in the hiker/biker lot on Podunk Road and was met with several horse trailers and a couple other brave souls. I started on Campground Road, which was mostly ice and continued to the Archery Range parking area. Here I picked up Pitch Pine Trail for a short distance, which was pretty and followed to Hemlock where I was last week. Today, however it was torn up. The snow had melted in a lot of places leaving a lot of Winter debris and just mess. There were still some pretty areas particularly when the sun came out bouncing between the trees. I took the Pitch Pine Hemlock connector back to Pitch Pine and followed back to Campground Road. I had expected Pitch Pine to be more well packed but it was a soft, slushy mess. I crossed Campground Road, staying on Pitch Pine and followed to the intersection with Broken Boulder Trail. This was definitely in better shape, more solid footing. I did the loop past the Smith Pond Shelter, which looked like a nice camping spot. I picked up Bobcat Trail, which was my favorite of the day. The sun kept coming and going creating a fun array of shadows and sparkles. Nothing to see, just a nice meander through the woods. I followed all the way to Podunk Road, then backtracked slightly to Salt Lick Trail. The first half of Salt Lick Trail was unbroken, except for what appeared to be horse tracks. It was wet and slushy and quite a slog at the end of my hike. Thankfully after half a mile or so, where Moose Trail intersects, it became more packed and easier going. I stayed on Salt Lick back to Campground Road and returned to my car. 3 more check marks on my redlining spreadsheet. About halfway through Bear Brook State Park. This place is big!

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