It has been a warm week, complete with rain, sleet, and drizzle. Bleah – much of the beautiful snow we had last week has compacted, and the frozen ponds and rivers are looking rather soft. Nonetheless I was eager to get out on the trail, so I headed for an old standby, Mount Cube. The sky was cloudy but I was rewarded with views both close and distant. Read on!
Although the temperature hovered around freezing, this week’s rain and melt had created some runoff in the lower elevations, leading to some muddy spots on the lower trail. The snowpack had a solid base one foot deep, which was helpful, and soon I was striding up a well-traveled heavily packed trail in my microspikes. As I climbed I noticed the trees started to glisten, and by the halfway point they were covered in a fresh, light dusting of powder snow: it had snowed lightly overnight. I paused briefly to enjoy the panoramic view from the rocky outlook at the three-quarter mark, but pressed on up the trail. The dusting of snow never amounted to as much as half an inch, but it sure made the trees and trails pretty. Soon I was atop the mountain, the only person around, and enjoying the panoramic view [video] to the north and west. I scrambled on a bit further, beyond the summit, but decided not to make the trek to the north peak. By now, I assumed, the view of Mount Moosilauke (of which the north peak has a grand view) would also be in clouds. I turned and headed down.
Check out the gallery for more photos and for that video panorama.
Hike stats:
Distance: 6.7km
Time: 2h2m with stops
Gain: 469m
David Kotz 