A fine Sunday was forecast, with temperatures at 1-2 C. (33 F) Feeling a bit lethargic, but not wanting to waste such a nice hike day, I texted my daughter Fiona and confirmed our plan to hike, but changed the mountain!
I had originally planned to head north to New Hampshire. A lack of accurate trail reports wasn’t something I wanted to gamble on, considering the three hour drive to the trailhead. I awakened later in the day than planned, so a daylight was also going to be in shorter supply and a deciding factor.
Wachusett Mountain is just an hour away. I knew it would be busy with skiers getting their last fix before the coming melt, but the trails around the mountain provide a nice stretch of the legs and I was fairly certain we wouldn’t need snowshoes.
I parked in the ski parking lot and we crunched off on a loop around and over the summit.
Wachusett is not a tall mountain by any means but more fun than the flat landscape of Rhode Island, where much of the snow had melted away in the last week. There are ski slopes on the mountain and lifts to the 2000 foot summit. Years ago I visited to try my hand at skiing. It only took one day to realized my future would be in hobbies that allowed me more traction and less action.
We hiked a “lolipop” route and returned to the car after a few hours. Snow depth on the trails was only about 15cm, and well packed from regular trail use. Unbroken snow off trail was covered with a light frozen crust that would not support our weight. If we’d wanted to bushwack, we’d have needed the snowshoes.
With about 1000 feet of elevation gain from the base, we climbed to the observation deck of the tower at the summit. 360 degree views from the top will allow you to see Mount Sunapee in New Hampshire, and various Massachusetts peaks on a haze free day.
In our travels we touched upon several trails. I was reminded of my last visit here a few years ago as a group section hiking the Midstate Trail in fall. The trail runs north/south across Massachusetts, and over the summit of Wachusett. Now that I’ve hiked it in both late summer/fall and winter, but I definitely prefer it with a little snow.
An Unmapped Route: A Hiker's Blog 