A pretty sunny day with mild temperatures. Time for something different. It had been a long time since we had done Ragged Mountain and we had no idea what conditions would be like. Parts of the trail near the summit are difficult for Kelley even in summer. But we would just go as far as we were comfortable with and there was always Bald Mountain as an alternative.
Though not shown on the map the trail starts on the north side of the road ( from a small parking lot) and follows the road a short distance before crossing it and starting up the mountain. No one had been on the trail recently - at least not since the last snow fall and this trail was not as well marked as their trails usually are so we had to pick our way - odd that Kelley was also having a hard time picking up the trail as snow cover has not been a problem in the past.
Looking back down near the start.
This trail offers several nice views along the way ( better, I think, than the summit views) . There was a fair amount of snow but the footing was not bad most of the way and it was beautiful.
As we got closer to the top there was more ice and we had to watch our step more carefully.
At this point we are about 100 yards from the tower at the summit but there is a fairly deep ravine to go down into and then back up before you reach the actual summit . Kelley was already scouring the bush for an alternate route. Between the ice and the ravine we decided we didn't need to reach the actual summit this time and we turned back.
View from the point we reached.
Following the trail down was easier as we had our own tracks to follow. We stopped for lunch at an open sunny spot and this was our view while we ate.
Hint of things to come?
This ended up being an enjoyable hike. Kelley always likes being on the trails and the snow was mostly the fluffy type she prefers. 3 1/4 hours
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