Fox State Forest - Part 4

 A glutton for punishment, I headed right back to Fox Forest, but this time on the East Side trails. We have had some more unseasonably warm weather and I figured it might be more traveled and easier going than last week. Partially true. I parked in the small parking area off Bog Road called Bog 4 Corners. It's not completely plowed out, but there is room for a few cars. Another car was just unloading as I arrived, but they took off before me and I never saw them again. I geared up and initially headed out in spikes on the Ridge Trail. This turned out to be a bad choice. The snow was very soft and while it had been traveled it was not packed at all. I slipped and slid and sunk into the snow for the first half mile or so before deciding to head back to my car and grab my snowshoes. Why I didn't bring them with me, I'll never know.. as I usually always carry them during Winter! Ridge Trail dips and climbs gently, through the woods.. that was the theme all day. Nothing of note to see, just more walking in the beautiful woods. When I reached Oak Lot Road, I turned onto it and headed back to Gould Pond Road, which would lead me back to the car. In all, I added a mile extra (half mile out and back) which was completely worth it for the snowshoes, that made life much easier. Back the way I came, I stayed on Gould Pond Road to Concord End Road. I turned right and did an out and back to the forest boundary. This was a steady climb up on the way out and I passed the only person I saw all day (besides the 2 in the parking lot) which was a local lady walking her 3 pups. I backtracked half way to where Ridge Trail crosses Concord End Road and turned right. This was the only section that was untouched. Of course it was the steepest section of the day also. A steep down, then steep back up, which was pretty exhausting in sometimes knee deep unbroken snow. When I reached Spring Road, I decided to cut my day short. The moral of my story is, always have bail out options.. particularly in the snow. I tend to bite off more than I can chew! So instead of turning right onto Spring Road and continuing around the forest, I turned left and headed back to Concord End Road, which was a nice descent. Back on Concord End Road, I did a quick out and back to the other end to complete that section. This area had been traveled but mainly by bare boots making it a bit post-holey.. thankfully it was softening quickly as the day warmed and I was able to just tromp through in my snowshoes. I followed Concord End Road back to Gould Pond Road and continued on Concord End Road back up to Ridge Trail. This time heading back towards my car. This side was much more pleasant than the other unbroken side. While not packed down, it had been traveled making it much easier going. The trail gently climbs up the side of Jones Hill with some peakaboo views through the leafless trees to the surrounding area, before descending back down to meet with Oak Lot Road. I repeated my steps from earlier in the day and turned onto Gould Pond Road back to the car. 6 miles total.

Strava Activity

Oak Lot Road

heading into the unbroken section

Spring Road