3/6/10 Perpendicular Trail

A glorious day--bright sunshine, temperatures climbing into the 40's, and a beautiful trail.Kelley had not done the Perpendicular Trail because the description includes iron rungs and I had not done the trail in years and could not remember them. We decided to give it a try and to just turn back if not passable.

We parked at the end of Long Pond and took the trail to the Perpendicular and began climbing. Much of the trail is composed of stones placed as steps and it's hard to imagine the work involved in constructing this trail. As the trail winds along the side of Mansell Mtn. you are afforded views of Long Pond and the ocean further off.



The rungs were not extensive ( but the rocks were icy) and Kelley was able to find a way around them though she still needed a little boost from me. There were no more rungs and the rest of the way up Mansell was not difficult.



One of the few flat sections on this trail.

This turned out to be one of the prettier trails we have done in awhile. Kelley was quite excited by the terrain and the snow and was mostly ahead of me. She would, however. wait for me to catch up. She also found running water to get into which always makes her happy.




The summit of Mansell is wooded but .2 of a mile before the summit is an overlook .







After an apple snack at the top we continued down to the Razorback Trail ( you can see how it got it's name) and had to do a little bushwhacking to reach the trail because of ice and snow.



After a nice view the trail drops steeply through the woods to Great Notch. From the notch we continued further down to the Long Pond Trail which starts in woods but then follows the pond. This is where we stopped for lunch.

Most of the Pond Trail was clear and dry except for two icy sections. The first was easily skirted but this one threatened to slide us inot the pond so we climbed into the woods and around it.

A really nice hike. 3 1/4 hours