Trails Used
Sandwich and Drake’s Brook
Trail Conditions
Notes
Fabulous hike.
Parking
Good parking
Water Crossings
Drakes Brook is swift and fast. 28 inches of water crossing it. Wading through it. Poles are a must. There is no rock hopping. But water was not cold.
Wildlife
None of any significance
Trails Used
Sandwich and Drake’s Brook
Trail Conditions
Notes
Fabulous hike.
Parking
Good parking
Water Crossings
Drakes Brook is swift and fast. 28 inches of water crossing it. Wading through it. Poles are a must. There is no rock hopping. But water was not cold.
Wildlife
None of any significance
Trails Used
Bennett Street Trail
Trail Conditions
Notes
The trail was dry down low. I first encountered snow/ice on the upper portion of the logging road section at about 2900 feet. From there, patches and short stretches appeared intermittently - some just a few feet long, others as much as 20-30 yards. Some were avoidable by walking the dry edge, but some were not circumnavigable, so I carefully walked the hard-packed middle, which is still discernible for the most part. My micro-spikes stayed in the backpack. In the early going, the crossing of Pond Brook is poorly marked. You have to look for two small cairns on the FAR side of the stream. If you miss it, you'll wander up a herd path for a hundred yards before it peters out, and it dawns on you that you must have missed the crossing. Of course, you might be more perceptive than I was. In general, the trail could use a few more blue paint markers. There are a couple of ash trees in the first part of the trail that are sad examples of the infestation of the emerald ash borer. Look for the extreme 'blonding' of the bark. It was a quiet day. I saw no one all day.
Parking
Big, empty lot
Water Crossings
Streams are seasonally high, but no problems crossing.
Wildlife
A few just emerging and floating around trying to figure out what to do. No bites yet.
Trails Used
Flat Mtn Pond Trail, Bennett Street Trail, Gleason Trail, Jose's Bridge
Trail Conditions
Equipment
Notes
There is still a lot of snow. Almost enough to wear snow shoes, but not quite. So we sank...a lot. There are many crossings, and all were doable, but in the next two weeks I suspect the flooding from the snow melt might change that. Until mid-April, do yourself a favor and hike elsewhere until the trails melt off and the water levels go down.
Parking
The final half mile or so of Bennett Street is now plowed.
Water Crossings
Crossings were signficant. I would avoid anything on this route until mid-April,since there is significant snow and the ice bridges will be non-existent