Bob Kittredge
Active member
Thought I'd do some new trails so a plotted a loop hike consisting of the Cabin, Lawrence, Old Paugus, and Big Rock Cave Trails. About 8 miles.
The Cabin Trail had one big blowdown near the beginning, but from then on was fairly clear. Lawrence was in good shape with a little bit of remaining snow and ice at aroung 2900'. Nice views from South Paugus to the west.
Up to now it had been an easy walk in the woods. Now I started down the Old Paugus Trail. Missed a couple sharp right hand turns and blundered about for a while before backtracking and finding where I'd gone wrong. Now I hit the rough, steep sections. Started edging down a steep, wet slab, lost it and slid a good 10 feet. No harm done. Found the top of the Big Rock Cave Trail and started down. The water in Whitin Brook was boiling merrily along, making the stream crossing a little hairy, but I did stay dry.
The Big Rock Cave is truly impressive. The boulders are immense and would dwarf my house. Very cool. But now I couldn't seem to find where the trail continued on. Had I brought the trail guide with me, I'd have had a much better idea where to look. But the map showed the trail passing close to the summit of Mount Mexico, so I started bushwhacking to the southwest looking for the summit. After an arduous, buggy half hour of bushwhacking through extensive blowdowns I did manage to reconnect with the trail and make my way out.
An interesting day and a bit of an adventure.
The Cabin Trail had one big blowdown near the beginning, but from then on was fairly clear. Lawrence was in good shape with a little bit of remaining snow and ice at aroung 2900'. Nice views from South Paugus to the west.
Up to now it had been an easy walk in the woods. Now I started down the Old Paugus Trail. Missed a couple sharp right hand turns and blundered about for a while before backtracking and finding where I'd gone wrong. Now I hit the rough, steep sections. Started edging down a steep, wet slab, lost it and slid a good 10 feet. No harm done. Found the top of the Big Rock Cave Trail and started down. The water in Whitin Brook was boiling merrily along, making the stream crossing a little hairy, but I did stay dry.
The Big Rock Cave is truly impressive. The boulders are immense and would dwarf my house. Very cool. But now I couldn't seem to find where the trail continued on. Had I brought the trail guide with me, I'd have had a much better idea where to look. But the map showed the trail passing close to the summit of Mount Mexico, so I started bushwhacking to the southwest looking for the summit. After an arduous, buggy half hour of bushwhacking through extensive blowdowns I did manage to reconnect with the trail and make my way out.
An interesting day and a bit of an adventure.
