Crow Hills, MA 12/28/13

[RoySwkr]

After reading about icy conditions in White Mtns, decided to go the other direction instead. Parked at rock climbers lot at S end. Starting off on the level was fluffy snow over hard ice and I wished I'd gone to Gorham instead, but as grade steepened there was only snow and finally the ground was bare but with some wet oak leaves. The stone steps on the Mid-State Trail are substandard size and not really suited to pac boots and there were a couple of ice pockets easily avoided. After the STAY ON TRAIL sign I wound up instead on a herd path which led to the S summit, then bushwhacked NE through laurel to rejoin the trail. The N and E sides had crusty snow which gave excellent traction, but the grade up to the N peak was mostly bare with once again a few ice spots easily stepped over. I made the short bushwhack to the N peak with laurel only at the top.

I decided to make the loop for variety and proceeded downhill mostly in snow. Where the connector turned off the Mid-State, there was a sign for the Mid-State but not the connector, and the connector wasn't blazed with no previous tracks and I wasn't sure I could follow it but I did. The next junction did have signs, and halfway down from there the trail began some up-and-down sidehill where blazes suddenly appeared. Eventually I hit the road and walked back to my car, there was just enough shoulder to avoid being scary. The picnic area just S of where I parked even had an unlocked outhouse.