woodland wanderings: Eastman Mountain

I set up the car for a car-camp and set off for the Baldface Circle Trail parking area with the intention of hiking up to Eagle Crag and over to Mount Meader in the morning.

the car

FYI there are some things you shouldn’t do when you car-camp in November:

Take off your socks
Wear a short sleeve t-shirt
Or unzip your sleeping bag because you don’t want feel like a stuffed sausage.

If you do these things you will wake up at 3 AM freezing but too lazy to get up, put on your clothes, and zip up your sleeping bag. Instead you will roll yourself up in your sleeping bag like a burrito.

I woke up at 6 AM tangled in my sleeping bag looking forward to my thermos of hot coffee. Note to self: If you put hot coffee in a thermos the night before, you will wake up to cold coffee. Sigh…No coffee, no sun, the clouds were thick, the air was cold and damp. Change of plans. Not sure about the weather so I decided to be safe and hike Eastman Mountain, saving Eagle Crag and Mount Meader for brighter day.

I took the Baldface Circle Trail, Slippery Brook Trail, to the Eastman Mountain Trail out and back. It is the shortest round-trip route to the summit, only 8.2 miles. The trail is easy to follow with the exception of a couple of areas of Slippery Brook where the leaves obscured the trail making it a little tricky in spots. Keep your eye on the yellow blazes, they will keep you on track. There are also some unexpected sections with deep leaves just waiting for a turned ankle and a knee buckle.

deep leaves waiting for its next victim

There are five water crossings none will cause you any problems. Three are small walk overs and two are small rock hops. The trail ascends gradually until you reach mile two of the Slippery Brook trail then it becomes a nice heart pumping ascent for about six-tenths of a mile until you reach the Eastman Mountain trail. From here it is an easy .8 trek to the summit. Even with the cloud cover it was a beautiful summit. It would be a beautiful winter hike for those new to winter hiking.

Only nine 52WAVs to go.