Liberty (Shortcut?)

Planning on doing Liberty either Fri or Sat and if nice enough include Flume on an in & out. Going up Liberty Springs as most do, however I just saw Mohamed"s posting on his website as follows:

Mt. Liberty in Winter
The only approach to Mount Liberty alone is by the Liberty Spring Trail, with the shorter winter days some hikers prefer to do the extra driving to the Basin to have a shorter hike. If the old logging road described above is broken out its lower end, which is obscure in summer, will be obvious! The final short section above the trees may well be icy, use care! It is possible to save quite a bit of distance (0.7 miles each way) by bushwhacking down from the hairpin bend, very clear both on the map and on the trail, to the bike path just south of the Basin parking lot.


Does anyone have any recent comments re: this potential shortcut or is it safer to assume, hike the traditional route from the Flume parking Lot.

Thanks

I'm not sure of the distance down the bike path/snowmobile trail it is from Basin (3/10's?) but you should see the trail and a crossing log in this vicinity on the left. It is easy to follow from there (broken out) until it connects with the actual trail. Just keep your eyes open. I'm sure someone will give the exact distance.

Looks like the Basin bushwhack has been used recently (newenglandtrailconditions.com) so you should not have any problem finding it and using it and it does save time...only issue is parking, if you park on northbound Basin you need to go all the way to the Tram exit to get back southbound on 93...some go early and park southbound Basin so when they come back out they are already facing homeward bound

We heard about the bushwhack last winter and thought we'd give it a shot if we spotted the herd path. About 5 minutes down the bikepath from the Northbound Basin parking area, we spotted the it:



The woods were open and it was very easy to follow. It came out at the hairpin turn. We liked this shortcut so much, we used it again in the spring. The path is very obvious once you know where to look for it.

Its broken out and solid! About five minutes down the bike path and the crossing log is easy to spot from the bike path. From the northbound Basin lot to the top of the bushwhack was twenty minutes at a gentle pace and then another ten to the Flume Slide Trail junction.
Dave

And for reference, I like to say "In Mohamed we Trust!" his site is great and so many have used it for so long it would be hard to find any errors that need correcting! We are privileged with the technology and generosity of information sharing! Thank you Mohamed Ellozy!

Awesome!!!!