Mt Hale via Zealand Falls Hut

Saturday I was looking for some more color but also a hike away from the crowds so I headed up towards Zealand Falls hut after parking my car at the Hale Brook trail lot. There were a lot of people out including a group with a team of huskies that was heading up over Zealand mountain to camp. Wrong season if you ask me as the humans in the group could have had a free ride were there snow on the ground! The are several beaver ponds along the way that have interesting views along the valley formed by Zealand on one side and the Willey range on the other. I had been along here on a hut to hut hike several years ago. On that day it was a death march amidst a deluge and no interest in the passing scenery. I stopped in at the hut to check out the falls and the view from the hut as it is a couple hundred feet above the valley floor. On the way up I found a memory card that I handed in to the staff at the hut. It had more than 400 shots on it so I hope it gets back to its owner.

I had thought of hiking further down the trail to Thoreau Falls but it was so nice sitting in the warm sun on the deck outside the hut that I just lounged there and ate my lunch while chatting with some "locals". Instead of curling up for a nap I set off up the Lend a Hand trail for Hale mountain. This trail is reputed to wet but the extensive trailwork of bridges across swampy areas made it a joy to hike. I didn't see anyone until I got to the steep sections approaching the summit of Mt Hale. That summit is a small grassy meadow with a 6 foot cairn in the middle (no view). If you stand atop the pile you can just see the tops of various surrounding mountains. The Hale Brook trail is pretty steap, especially at the top. I ran into a lot of groups on their way up. I was a bit confused as Hale itself does not seem to me a good destination for a leap peeping hike. Nearer the bottom, I saw a windbreaker, and then a wicking shirt and lastly a nike hat on the side of the trail. Thankfully, there was no naked hiker further down!

This was my last visit to the WMNF until ski season but if the weather agrees I hope to get out to the Adirondacks before the snow flies!

More pics