This stretch of the trail was pretty much entirely treed over. Not much to see but the trail itself looked pretty. That said all of these flowering bushes can be deceiving. Hidden amongst them are hordes of stinging nettles. I spent the good part of the hike dodging them as best I could. Alas I couldn't dodge them all and as a result got a lot of searing, itchy sensations on my legs. Frustrating! In spite of that it made for a nice walk and I finally got to cross the stretch of trail from US 4 to the Brandon Gap off my list. Only 1 more mile to go to complete the trail!!
After a lunch at my favorite deli I decided to try an afternoon hike. I went for Mendon - a peak on the New England 100 highest list. I had read a couple of reports about how to approach it and it didn't sound too bad. Alas, my memory failed me. Trying to remember what I had read I thought there were 3 crossings of the stream and then start bushwhacking at the first cairn.... but there were four crossings of the stream and several cairns?!? Check the GPS. Look at the topo. I figured I was in the right place but there didn't seem to be any signs of a good herdpath and things weren't adding up. At that point - tired from my first hike and wanting to get a campsite before they filled up - on this the long weekend Friday - I decided to pull up stakes and head back down the mountain. Without proper notes, only a GPS point for the summit and a vague recollection of details regarding the bushwhack I decided to come back another day better armed to tackle this mountain. I felt a bit defeated but learned important lessons and will "get" to come back for another great hike in this area - never a bad thing.
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On a not-so private road to the woods
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