Another week of almost completing my planned hike. We have had a little snow plus both freezing and warmer temperatures.. so conditions are just all over the place. I headed south thinking it may be less messy, but I was wrong. I parked on Old County Road at the intersection of Dean Farm Road, start of Section 3 on the Metacomet-Monadnock Trail. Starting out the trail was immediately very slushy. I had spikes on, but it was that kind of sticky, wet snow that balls up under the spikes rendering them pretty useless. I stuck it out for about a mile before taking them off. This section starts out up Dean Farm Road which had seen some vehicle action, so there were tire ruts which were a mix of standing water and ice. The road gradually ascends and at roughly 0.7 miles turns off the trail at a stake with 2 white rectangle blazes. Here it descends a little bit steeply into the valley. Conditions here were wet snow covering a lot of leaves covering some mud.. that was why I kept the spikes on for a little extra traction. The trail is really well marked in this area, which was good because the only prints I had to follow were animal prints.. sometimes helpful, but I had to keep reminding myself they weren't necessarily following the trail and to be careful not to wander off course! At the bottom of the gully there is an intersection with an alternate route to avoid a marshy area. Having seen how slushy the trail already was, I didn't take my chances and took the Dry Shod Bypass. This weaved in and out of some pretty forest with a couple of water crossings. The trail rejoined the main trail at Tully Brook where there was a trail logbook to sign. Here there was a larger water crossing that was somewhat tricky. The water was high and running fast. The rocks were slippery and a little further apart than my legs could reach comfortably.. I had to go upstream just a little until I found a section of rocks that I could more comfortably cross. From here the trail started a gentle climb up what I knew was heading towards Little Monadnock Mountain. My original goal had been to make it to the Widow Gage Forest access trails and turn around, but by the time I reached Morgan Road, I was so tired from trudging through the slushy, heavy snow... plus it had been off and on rain/snowing (which hadn't been in the forecast) I called it and turned around a little earlier than planned. I will get that remaining piece when I come back to do Section 4.
Strava Activity
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| where I parked/started |
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| turning off Dean Farm Rd |
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| I chose Dry Shod Bypass |
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| even the Dryshod Bypass was wet |
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| back at the main trail |
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| Tully Brook.. tricky water crossing today |
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| my turnaround point at Morgan Rd |
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