Today, Tredhed and I decided to brave the chilly temperatures for an early season equipment shakedown. We wanted a short and somewhat mellow walk to check out our snowshoes, bindings, poles, winter packs and layering system. Since we were going to be at the cabin for some minor maintenance, Georgia Creek in the western Wilcox Lake Wild Forest fit the bill quite nicely.
We arrived mid-morning at the large Georgia Creek parking area on Rt. 8 and suited up.
It had been a few years since I had been to this infrequently visited trailhead. However, we were surprised at the dozen or so people who had signed in the register the last few months. The Moose's Hoof ledges seemed to be a pretty popular destination.
Since we weren't headed there today, we made our mark and headed up the overgrown trail to the junction with the abandoned snowmobile trail. There was plenty of blowdown that we had to re-learn how to negotiate with our snowshoes.
The blue disked connector trail, was fairly easy to follow. The snow conditions today were perfect as there was about 8 inches of loose powder in the woods.
The trail climbed about 100' to the junction with the old snowmobile trail.
We turned east on the old trail and headed towards the Georgia Creek marshes. Other than deer and coyote tracks, ours were the only ones in this stretch of the woods today.
After a half mile of level walking, with a few more blowdown to negotiate, we came to the frozen marshes along Georgia Creek.
The late morning sun reflected off the fresh snow and made us forget (for a few moments) that the air temperature was somewhere around +6°.
There was an abundance of winterberries in this little marsh sandwiched between Georgia and Moose Mountains. Tredhed was able to capture a great photo of a large grouping of these colorful attractions.
We explored the marsh for quite some time. Unfortunately, the clouds were starting to roll in and the views of the frozen Georgia Creek, while still spectacular, were a little muted.
Too soon it was time to depart. About three minutes after we re-entered the woods, two UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters flew down the Georgia Creek valley at about 100'. Kind of neat to see them that close up. The rotor noise quickly died down and all that was to do was follow our tracks back down the trail to Route 8.
It was a great shakedown hike this morning. We tweaked our gear, shed layers and got used to the rhythm of the snowshoes. All that was left to do was to head up to Speculator and grab a pint of Beaver Bite IPA and a burger. A great ending to a great hike.
We arrived mid-morning at the large Georgia Creek parking area on Rt. 8 and suited up.
It had been a few years since I had been to this infrequently visited trailhead. However, we were surprised at the dozen or so people who had signed in the register the last few months. The Moose's Hoof ledges seemed to be a pretty popular destination.
Since we weren't headed there today, we made our mark and headed up the overgrown trail to the junction with the abandoned snowmobile trail. There was plenty of blowdown that we had to re-learn how to negotiate with our snowshoes.
The blue disked connector trail, was fairly easy to follow. The snow conditions today were perfect as there was about 8 inches of loose powder in the woods.
The trail climbed about 100' to the junction with the old snowmobile trail.
We turned east on the old trail and headed towards the Georgia Creek marshes. Other than deer and coyote tracks, ours were the only ones in this stretch of the woods today.
After a half mile of level walking, with a few more blowdown to negotiate, we came to the frozen marshes along Georgia Creek.
The late morning sun reflected off the fresh snow and made us forget (for a few moments) that the air temperature was somewhere around +6°.
There was an abundance of winterberries in this little marsh sandwiched between Georgia and Moose Mountains. Tredhed was able to capture a great photo of a large grouping of these colorful attractions.
We explored the marsh for quite some time. Unfortunately, the clouds were starting to roll in and the views of the frozen Georgia Creek, while still spectacular, were a little muted.
Too soon it was time to depart. About three minutes after we re-entered the woods, two UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters flew down the Georgia Creek valley at about 100'. Kind of neat to see them that close up. The rotor noise quickly died down and all that was to do was follow our tracks back down the trail to Route 8.
It was a great shakedown hike this morning. We tweaked our gear, shed layers and got used to the rhythm of the snowshoes. All that was left to do was to head up to Speculator and grab a pint of Beaver Bite IPA and a burger. A great ending to a great hike.
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