After hiking Hayes and eating some dinner, the stomach pain
from my unfortunate lunch had mostly receded.
Prior to the hike, my husband removed the third row of seats out of my
car turning the back into a full size bed.
Ready for an overnight in my car, I drove to Success Pond Road with the
intention of sleeping at the Mt. Success trailhead. Just a
few miles into the drive, a large deer jumped directly in front of my car. I
thought it best to turn around and sleep at the Success Trail ATV parking
area. I drifted off to sleep to the
sound of ATV’s zooming around me and the snores of my chihuahua.
I let myself sleep until 7:00. Feeling much better, I let the ERD out and
checked out my surroundings. Lots of
bullet holes in the Success ATV sign…glad I didn’t notice that last night.
Success Pond Road was much better than I anticipated. It was a well maintained dirt road and there
were signs at the ATV parking area advertising it as through-road from Berlin
to Grafton. That being said, the turnoff
to the Mount Success Trailhead was not well maintained. Having been stuck for 5 hours with my kids a
few years back, I could feel my lungs constrict as I started down this
road. When I reached the small
‘official’ parking area, I decided to continue down the road to the big field
(the second parking area) I had read about in other blogs. This is a heart-pumping narrow road with a
large rise in the middle just aching for a chassis to get stuck on it. I drove up onto the rise tilting my sequoia a
good 30 degrees just to keep my car from getting stuck. I arrived at the field and what do I
see? A small Honda CRV from Ohio!!!
What? This little car has low
clearance and the wheels are on the same axle!
I can’t for the life of me figure out how Mr. Ohio got to the
trailhead. Apparently, if you are a
person who has a small car and daredevil
personality, I say go for it.
Before you get to the difficult section of the road :)
The trail is rated difficult/very difficult on Franklinsites
and as I hiked up I couldn’t figure out why.
I thought it was a moderate hike and it felt like a gradual ascent. On the way down however, I thought “Who the
heck climbed this mountain? It couldn’t
have been me?” It seemed like an endlessly steep descent. There were a number
of sections of slippery rock face covered with a thin layer of moss, two small
scrambles (one I had to help the ERD get up and down) near the summit. The trail was pretty eroded at 2900
feet. I recommend being careful on the
cut log pathways. They are slippery and I
did an involuntary split on one of them.
There were a few muddy sections between the log pathways, be careful not
to step in them. I tested the depth in
one section with my hiking pole and it was surprisingly 2 feet deep!
Don’t miss the Outlook path!
It is has stunning views and a nice ledge walk back to the trail. Note: As you continue hiking toward the summit, you
will come to a fork in the trail, stay right on the ‘blue blazed trail’.
The Mt. Success summit was beautiful with views all
around. I called my husband to let him
know I was still alive and he reminded me his cousin from Italy was visiting
and we are going to dinner. I completely
forgot. Ugh..
I quickly set off to look for the plane crash. I crossed the
log pathway through the field but didn’t know where to go from there. Was it off of the main path? Was it one of the small narrow, overgrown
foot paths. I had no idea. There weren’t any details in anything I
read. I chose the main path down the
mountain. Using my GPS, I got as close
as 300 feet but the main path veered away from the site. I decided to bushwhack through the
woods. It was the thickest bushwhack I
have ever done. It was so thick I thought
I may not get out alive and my bones would be discovered years later tangled up
in the tree branches. I got as close as
100 feet but couldn’t see any way of getting closer. Forty five minutes had passed, I was going to
be late for dinner. My (mostly) patient
husband (who on a daily basis wonders why I do these things) would not be
happy. So I bushwhacked back up to the
summit. I emerged covered with small
branches, pine needles and a few spiders. Disappointed, I headed back down the trail.
About 10 minutes from the parking lot I see two friends and
their pooches heading up the trail. I
tell them of my failed attempt to the crash site. ‘Oh, didn’t you know there are markers
leading you down to the crash site?”
Groan…
Well it gives me a reason to go back.
39 (52WAVs) down 13 to go.
Early morning drive on Success Pond Road to the trailhead
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