Nonotuck hike

So today I got a bit stir crazy. The superbowl was on a bit later in the day and Bernard hadn't called yet to split firewood. So, I grabbed a bottle of water, my jacket, hat, gloves, and headed out.

I parked at the first parking lot past the pavilion at the Mt Tom park. In winter the pavilion area is not plowed, and the cul de sac parking was full. I walked across the field and took the Dynamite trail as a cut through back to the closed portion of Christopher Clark road. (Information: Christopher Clark road has been, and will remain, closed to all vehicular traffic indefinitely starting at the pavilion and going to the Eyrie House. You are still welcome to walk the road)

Dynamite trail still has a small amount of snow on it right now. Gaiters are not needed, and even yak-trax/microspikes would be a bit overkill.

After reaching Christopher Clark Road I crossed to the other side and followed the McCool trail, heading northward towards the Eyrie House. McCool is still covered with snow in most spots, and there is a bit of ice under the snow. Yaktrax would come in handy here but I was able to navigate with my summer Merrils (of which most of the tread is worn off) without much slippage.

McCool give you a choice to dive down the mountain toward the power lines, join up with the M&M, or hop back onto Christopher Clark Road. I took the latter choice and headed straight up the road to the Eyrie House.

At this time the road up to the Eyrie house is mostly fine, with no ice and hard packed snow. The final push to the top, however, is somewhat difficult right now due to sheer and thick ice under a thin cover of loose snow. Yaktrax would help but microspikes would be a much better choice, especially for your descent. Most likely the heating of the day combined with wind blowing the snow off has caused minor melting and refreezing cycles. This would almost certainly be the same reason that they cannot repair the road anymore and it has fallen into complete disrepair.

The woods path up to the Eyrie house is also difficult. Again we have smooth sheer ice on top of rock, with a deceptively safe looking layer of snow on the top of it. A slip here could mean a quick trip over the edge; A nasty fall and slide until a tree stops you. This is not high on my list of fun things!

I then explored the woods for a bit, looking for an artifact that I believe to be located somewhere in generally unexplored area. Said artifact is related to the Eyrie house. Unfortunately the clock was running against me. With the park closing at 4PM I made it back with about 20 minutes to spare.

Stats from today:
Temp: 30
Wind: 5-10 MPH
Sunny

Clothing:
Jeans, EMS jacket, wool hat, gloves. Tshirt and light sweatshirt. Comfortably warm. Slightly overheated/sweat when I had to walk doubletime back to the car.