Mount Hale stands at 4,054 feet tall and is part of the Little River Range located in Bethlehem, New Hampshire. Mount Hale is not favored among peakbaggers due to it's view-less summit and lackluster approach using the Hale Brook Trail located on Zealand Road. I don't remember too much about my first ascent of Hale except how hot and muggy it was when my friend Seth and I commenced climbing it at 6:00 a.m. on the 4th of July (we tacked it on to our Zealand-Bonds Traverse because what's 2 more miles when you're already setting out to hike 20?!) While Hale Brook Trail is the most direct route to the summit most of year the story changes in winter when Zealand Road closes to motor vehicles. Adding in the road walk makes the approach via Hale Brook Trail 9.8 miles round trip versus 4.4 miles round trip when the road is open. A boring road walk to get to a boring trail...No Thanks!
A much nicer alternative (and the one primarily used in winter) is to use the abandoned Fire Warden's Trail which starts off of the North Twin Trail. The North Twin trail is located at the end of Haystack Road which is also closed in winter (are you starting to notice a pattern here?) so one must park at the end of Little River Road which is located just over a mile east on US 3 from Haystack Road and use the overgrown old Little River logging railroad to get over to Haystack Road.
After a less than decent nights sleep at the Villager Motel in Bartlett (I would not recommend staying here, e-mail me if you would like to know why) I was up and out the door at 7:30 to meet Chris and Matt on Little River Road. We wasted no time getting ready as the temperature was registering in at a big fat bagel on the thermometer.
A much nicer alternative (and the one primarily used in winter) is to use the abandoned Fire Warden's Trail which starts off of the North Twin Trail. The North Twin trail is located at the end of Haystack Road which is also closed in winter (are you starting to notice a pattern here?) so one must park at the end of Little River Road which is located just over a mile east on US 3 from Haystack Road and use the overgrown old Little River logging railroad to get over to Haystack Road.
After a less than decent nights sleep at the Villager Motel in Bartlett (I would not recommend staying here, e-mail me if you would like to know why) I was up and out the door at 7:30 to meet Chris and Matt on Little River Road. We wasted no time getting ready as the temperature was registering in at a big fat bagel on the thermometer.
From the end of Little River Road we crossed over a snowmobile bridge and turned left to follow the bed of the old Little River logging road. It is a little overgrown in spots but completely manageable and was actually quite beautiful as all of the overgrowth was encrusted in ice which shimmered in the sun's early morning rays.
After 1 mile the path ends at the bridge at the end of Haystack Road. The trail head for the North Twin Trail begins at the parking area on the other side of the bridge. The North Twin trail is basically flat for the entire mile leading up to the start of the abandoned Fire Warden's Trail (also once called the Mt. Hale Trail). The climb up begins immediately after hooking the left turn onto the abandoned trail. It was here that my legs screamed at me "what are you doing to us?! you put us through Hell [Mount Isolation] yesterday lady!!" I realized then that I was going to be a bit sluggish and it would probably take my legs a bit longer than usual to warm up on this hike.
Eventually the trail enters a giant section of Birch glades which are beautiful, especially surrounded by gleaming white snow. It was here that Matt and I decided to put on our snow shoes as the snow amount was increasing and was not consolidated. Chris was on a time schedule as he had to be back in Rhode Island for his New Year's Eve plans. Even though he still had another hour before his turn around time his feet were cold (time for new boots, Chris!!!) so he decided it would be best to turn around and head down. Matt and I pressed on and packed down the trail and reached the summit at Noon. The summit was in the clear under cloudy skies with very little to no wind present. Quite the change from the day before on Isolation. It was extremely cold though (roughly 1 degree) so we snapped a few pics and headed back down. We stopped for a quick snack and realized we were both quite chilled so we layered up and moved down at a fairly steady pace. The clouds started rolling in around us and snow flurries were starting to fall. Back at the car there was a fresh dusting of snow and the temperature had risen to 15 degrees! Wow what a heat wave!
Eventually the trail enters a giant section of Birch glades which are beautiful, especially surrounded by gleaming white snow. It was here that Matt and I decided to put on our snow shoes as the snow amount was increasing and was not consolidated. Chris was on a time schedule as he had to be back in Rhode Island for his New Year's Eve plans. Even though he still had another hour before his turn around time his feet were cold (time for new boots, Chris!!!) so he decided it would be best to turn around and head down. Matt and I pressed on and packed down the trail and reached the summit at Noon. The summit was in the clear under cloudy skies with very little to no wind present. Quite the change from the day before on Isolation. It was extremely cold though (roughly 1 degree) so we snapped a few pics and headed back down. We stopped for a quick snack and realized we were both quite chilled so we layered up and moved down at a fairly steady pace. The clouds started rolling in around us and snow flurries were starting to fall. Back at the car there was a fresh dusting of snow and the temperature had risen to 15 degrees! Wow what a heat wave!
All in all this was another great hike. I really enjoyed the Fire Warden's Trail as well as the old logging road from Little River Road to Haystack Road. My legs eventually woke up and felt great though the bitter cold temps did get to me and I do not get cold easily. Thanks Matt and Chris for another great hike and for helping me cross yet another peak off of my winter list!