Post-wise, things may have been quiet, but I haven’t stopped hiking! I accomplished a few hikes that I haven’t posted about. My memory isn’t as sharp as it once was so I can’t give you much detail about the trails, but the pics are here, at least… I always take my camera the first time I hike a trail!
In July of last year, I hiked the Mudder Wet Path and the Spurwink Island Path as a pair, camping out overnight on the Spurwink Island Path at the Gallows Cove campsite. Here are a few things about this hike:
1. The map looks a little confusing for the Mudder Wet Path, but it’s a straightforward, easy to follow, and very scenic hike. The confusion lies with the route of a highly recommended side trail following Little River to a waterfalls. When I hiked it, the staircase down to this side trail was being worked on. The main trail is a pretty woods path above the river.
2. Berry Head is the highlight of the Spurwink Island Path. I honestly don’t remember a heck of a lot about it beyond that other than it being a spectacularly scenic walk, and that my knee died again about midway through and I was pretty wiped out by the end of the hike. This trail needs a rehike!
Anyhow, here are a few pics of those trails… more after this gallery:
Deadman’s Bay Path:
It had been a slow fall for hikes but one chilly day in early December I decided my knee had gotten enough rest. With the snows looming, squeezing in one last pre-snowshoe hike seemed like the thing to do, and cluing up the northern end of the ECT was an awesome accomplishment to end the year with!
The trail starts with a pretty significant climb, and it was icy, as you can see in the pictures below. I hiked it fast trying to keep up with another hiker (competitive streak, guilty) and was huffing and puffing by the top with full pack weight (I thought I could strengthen my knee by working it out with extra weight). I have since learned that going light and fast is a much more effective way to strengthen my knees.
From the top of the initial climb, much of the trail passes over the sparsely vegetated South Side Hills, dotted with small ponds and erratics. It was a chilly day and the still ponds were icing over. Descending to Freshwater, a bit of ice was forming on the Barachois. If you haven’t seen it, it’s another one of the jewels of the ECT: just a spectacular site to behold. I headed across and took a quick break to snack and rehydrate before getting back on the trail: the best way to keep warm on days like this is to keep moving.
By the time I got to Peggy’s Leg I was experiencing a bit of knee pain. Ugh. I was starting to feel like this was going to be a long-term issue.
No need to end on that note, though; check out these pics!