First we drove up Duck Brook Rd. to see if we could find any of the old trails around Great Hill. After stomping around the woods for awhile we gave up but as we had never been there, went to the top of the hill and got this nice view.
We drove to park headquarters for another try at the McFarland Path. We started behind the fire trailer and hiked to the carriage road-an easy trail to follow that is still used by park staff. From that point it becomes much more difficult ( the trail man at the park said it would be impossible to follow the exact path) but at times we discerned pieces of trail and also found occasional cairns.
We had been told these cairns were sometimes inaccurate but thought we must be , at least, close to the path. We crossed another carriage road and then, after some time another and realized we were off course. Finding where we were on the carriage road we found we were not far off track and walking a short distance spotted a couple of cairns in the woods and started again from there. The orange sections on the map above show our approximate route.
As we climbed we got this view of Conners Nubble
Looking back down the way we had come. The start point is near the center of the picture.
At the summit we shared an apple and enjoyed the view and then started back down the way we had come. This boulder made me think of Easter Island.
The deer flies were driving us both crazy( and actually biting Kelley) so when we reached the carriage road, where there were far fewer flies, we decided to take that back. This had the added advantage of several streams for Kelley to get into ( the hike so far had none with water in them) and then Aunt Betty Pond for an actual swim.
A pretty interesting hike. 4-1/2 hours
Loved the pic's. Kelley had a great time I see.
ReplyDeleteThanks. Kelley loves to hike.
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