Sunday, December 2, 2018
Miles: 6.9
Elevation gain: 1983′
Start/end: Rusk Mt Trailhead
GaiaGPS track
This morning, I was up and out of my house by 6:25am, arriving at the Rusk Mt trailhead around 9:15am. I booted up and started hiking in a light mist at 9:30am. The beginning of the trail was a single-track woods road and had a very light amount of snow present. It was warm enough that the snow was partially melted and very sloppy. The footing was exhausting, as it moved and shifted nonstop.
Once the trail became more steep, I put on my microspikes and that helped with some of the shifting snow. Right around 3000′, the snow cover became much more pronounced, with ~16 inches of snow that grew to ~24 inches near the summit. The light mist at the trailhead turned into gusting wind and snow showers at the summit.
I took a few pictures and then turned tail and headed back the way I’d come. I passed by two other people on their way up the mountain, hiking in LL Bean boots. I hiked nonstop from beginning to end until I returned to the trailhead around 12:15pm, averaging 2.6 MPH.
Transcending Mountains 