last wednesday sawyer took me along with him for a hike he and colin had planned. colin and eliza are having a house built over on 4A between mcdanials marsh and aaron ledge.
we were going to hike west to the marsh--the low point on the left side of the picture above--then back to the house site, cross 4A, and head up to aaron ledge--the high point, those tiny blue spots to the east in the upper right.
tuesday evening, it had snowed a couple of fluffy inches and made the world winter-beautiful. we got out to 4A and the new frame sheathed in plywood. colin showed us around as the crew ate muffins and drank coffee--their morning break just delivered by eliza's father, mike, a local house builder-mover. the rafters were not up yet, but we got a good sense of the floor plan and could look out the 'windows' to visualize things. to the south outside the bedroom there was a frozen brook winding by which promised some lovely bubbling once it thawed come spring. i put a mark on the google shot about where the house is being built, left of the large plowed land. the former owner had grown corn there. the site was very pleasant, and colin's excitement was obvious.
we were also excited about the hike too so we shouldered our packs and headed out towards the marsh. as we wandered up the drive, mike invited us to stop in at his shop when we were going by towards aaron ledge. as we turned down an old woods road, the snow got a bit less crusty under the fresh inches on top. it made for good walking. colin had scoped things out pretty well, both on foot and virtually on google maps. he hiked us right to the feeder stream coming in from the southeast (toward the bottom right on the picture below). we found a spot to cross at an old beaver dam and picked our way over. nobody got wet feet.
the plan was to stay dry and make a clockwise loop coming back to the stream and walking onto the open marsh. we dipped in and out of the woods, marshy openings, and isolated little hollows, some with frozen 'ponds', some dry. at one point soy and i put on our creepers before heading down a slippery slope. with a bit of bushwhacking through balsam loaded with fresh snow--poised to dump down the back of your neck--we met up with the stream again and followed it toward the marsh. an otter had the same idea and alternating foot prints and belly slides led us on. i had found an old topo map and we figured to come out right at the long-ish island where the stream enters the main body of water. that seemed to work.
once we stepped out onto the ice, we were able to take stock, match up the map with the surroundings, and point ourselves back along the shoreline until we found another water entry. the picture above is oriented north at the top, which meant we walked northeast-ish past the two large copses of trees and then cut back toward the stream. once we got past that point of trees sticking out into the marsh grass, we angled through the woods and rejoined the trail we started on.
as we came out into the field next to colin's house site, we found a downed tree, brushed off space to sit, and ate a spot of lunch. the sun came out warming our backs and casting our shadows down in front of us. after lunch, we crossed 4A headed toward the ledges. we cut through a field and hooked up with shad hill road. another short cut over a snowmobile trail and we found the road again along with mike's shop. outside, the giant house moving wheel sets and i-beams were impressive. inside, amidst the usual jumble of everything but the kitchen sink, was a horse drawn sleigh project mike was finishing. as we left we picked up woody the "handsome" dog who bolted from the cab of mike's truck where he had been waiting for us.
woody tore off in front of us as we kept on back the road, now called carter brook rd. we passed by mike and nancy's house, and one other year rounder before the plowing ended and the woods closed in. snowmobiles used the track, but none had been over it recently. as we came to a turn, i pointed off road and asked, "shall we?" without giving anybody much time to say no, i took off into the woods on a more direct line toward the top. as we went up, woody bounding ahead, i took note of the glade like terrain and fairly deep snow coverage. with a foot of fluff on top, this would be a sweet ski. in the moment, the hiking was just as good as the crust kept you up, but allowed for some traction.
we worked our way up and through some fresh logging (you can see a road scar to the left on the google picture) and came out on the ledges through some thicker softwoods. before getting too close, colin put woody on a lead to keep him from skittering over an edge.
the picture colin snapped, is us standing on summit ledges (the rock with a white stripe toward the top right of the google image). i am looking pretty much east, sawyer and woody are mostly north. all the tracks were ours, made as we snacked and looked about.
after our snack and some water, we turned around and let woody loose so he could lead back along our footprints. on the way down woody and i got in a good amount of stick time, each of us running flat out for short bits, letting gravity work us until we had to stop and regain some control. it was a much faster down than it had been up and in no time we were back on the snowmobile trail. as we were coming on to the plowed road, we met the last house owner walking his two dogs. while we talked with him, woody chased about and wrestled with the dogs.
back on the road we came up to mike and nancy's and dropped off woody with nancy who came out to say hi before she went to water the horses. we backtracked on our shortcuts and came to 4A and the house site. at the cars we hugged goodbyes and turned toward home. it was a grand day out and i was thankful for the 'boys' letting me tag along. now, if we just got some snow, i would come back and test out some of those trails.
we were going to hike west to the marsh--the low point on the left side of the picture above--then back to the house site, cross 4A, and head up to aaron ledge--the high point, those tiny blue spots to the east in the upper right.
tuesday evening, it had snowed a couple of fluffy inches and made the world winter-beautiful. we got out to 4A and the new frame sheathed in plywood. colin showed us around as the crew ate muffins and drank coffee--their morning break just delivered by eliza's father, mike, a local house builder-mover. the rafters were not up yet, but we got a good sense of the floor plan and could look out the 'windows' to visualize things. to the south outside the bedroom there was a frozen brook winding by which promised some lovely bubbling once it thawed come spring. i put a mark on the google shot about where the house is being built, left of the large plowed land. the former owner had grown corn there. the site was very pleasant, and colin's excitement was obvious.
we were also excited about the hike too so we shouldered our packs and headed out towards the marsh. as we wandered up the drive, mike invited us to stop in at his shop when we were going by towards aaron ledge. as we turned down an old woods road, the snow got a bit less crusty under the fresh inches on top. it made for good walking. colin had scoped things out pretty well, both on foot and virtually on google maps. he hiked us right to the feeder stream coming in from the southeast (toward the bottom right on the picture below). we found a spot to cross at an old beaver dam and picked our way over. nobody got wet feet.
the plan was to stay dry and make a clockwise loop coming back to the stream and walking onto the open marsh. we dipped in and out of the woods, marshy openings, and isolated little hollows, some with frozen 'ponds', some dry. at one point soy and i put on our creepers before heading down a slippery slope. with a bit of bushwhacking through balsam loaded with fresh snow--poised to dump down the back of your neck--we met up with the stream again and followed it toward the marsh. an otter had the same idea and alternating foot prints and belly slides led us on. i had found an old topo map and we figured to come out right at the long-ish island where the stream enters the main body of water. that seemed to work.
once we stepped out onto the ice, we were able to take stock, match up the map with the surroundings, and point ourselves back along the shoreline until we found another water entry. the picture above is oriented north at the top, which meant we walked northeast-ish past the two large copses of trees and then cut back toward the stream. once we got past that point of trees sticking out into the marsh grass, we angled through the woods and rejoined the trail we started on.
as we came out into the field next to colin's house site, we found a downed tree, brushed off space to sit, and ate a spot of lunch. the sun came out warming our backs and casting our shadows down in front of us. after lunch, we crossed 4A headed toward the ledges. we cut through a field and hooked up with shad hill road. another short cut over a snowmobile trail and we found the road again along with mike's shop. outside, the giant house moving wheel sets and i-beams were impressive. inside, amidst the usual jumble of everything but the kitchen sink, was a horse drawn sleigh project mike was finishing. as we left we picked up woody the "handsome" dog who bolted from the cab of mike's truck where he had been waiting for us.
woody tore off in front of us as we kept on back the road, now called carter brook rd. we passed by mike and nancy's house, and one other year rounder before the plowing ended and the woods closed in. snowmobiles used the track, but none had been over it recently. as we came to a turn, i pointed off road and asked, "shall we?" without giving anybody much time to say no, i took off into the woods on a more direct line toward the top. as we went up, woody bounding ahead, i took note of the glade like terrain and fairly deep snow coverage. with a foot of fluff on top, this would be a sweet ski. in the moment, the hiking was just as good as the crust kept you up, but allowed for some traction.
we worked our way up and through some fresh logging (you can see a road scar to the left on the google picture) and came out on the ledges through some thicker softwoods. before getting too close, colin put woody on a lead to keep him from skittering over an edge.
the picture colin snapped, is us standing on summit ledges (the rock with a white stripe toward the top right of the google image). i am looking pretty much east, sawyer and woody are mostly north. all the tracks were ours, made as we snacked and looked about.
after our snack and some water, we turned around and let woody loose so he could lead back along our footprints. on the way down woody and i got in a good amount of stick time, each of us running flat out for short bits, letting gravity work us until we had to stop and regain some control. it was a much faster down than it had been up and in no time we were back on the snowmobile trail. as we were coming on to the plowed road, we met the last house owner walking his two dogs. while we talked with him, woody chased about and wrestled with the dogs.
back on the road we came up to mike and nancy's and dropped off woody with nancy who came out to say hi before she went to water the horses. we backtracked on our shortcuts and came to 4A and the house site. at the cars we hugged goodbyes and turned toward home. it was a grand day out and i was thankful for the 'boys' letting me tag along. now, if we just got some snow, i would come back and test out some of those trails.
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