Saturday, December 16
Start: Zealand winter TH
Finish: Zealand Falls hut
Miles: 7.44
Elevation gain/loss: 2799′
After getting a ride back to my car, I quickly changed all of my sweat-soaked clothes and prepped my overnight bag. I then drove back around to park at the Zealand Road winter parking lot, and start hiking by 4:25pm. As night fell, I hiked Zealand Road to the start of Hale Brook trail and then headed up to the summit of Hale in the dark. It took me a little while, and my legs felt very tired so perhaps it felt longer than it was.
Once at the summit, I headed down Lend-A-Hand trail to get to the hut. That trail tends to be marshy with lots of standing and running water on trail, but thanks to 2 pairs of snowshoes that had come before me, I was able to keep my feet mostly dry. I arrived at the hut by ~8:30pm and settled in for the night. I had a bottom bunk, and the hut was almost completely full. Because of my later arrival, I was able to quickly rehydrate my dinner in an empty kitchen, even if the dining room was quite full. I hung some clothes up to dry, and went to bed by 9:30pm.
