Bear Swamp

 It is very, very cold today.  It would be a good day to go skiing if it wasn't a Saturday.  There's still a couple of inches of snow on the ground at home so it would be a good day to go snowshoeing if my snowshoes weren't broken or in the shop.  So I decide it is a good day for a winter hike to try and check another Trustees property off my list.

The objective today to get out, hopefully avoiding people and references to Covid-19.  If I go east, there will be more people, so I'll head west.  I decide on Bear Swamp out in Ashfield, MA.  The most recent snowstorm had us here in Central Mass as the "sweet spot" of the storm, so I expect there might be a little less snow where I'm going.  I take my micro-spikes just so I am prepared.

Here's the temperature when I'm getting out of the car:  13 degrees ...

... and here's the property.  Wow!  That's more snow than I was expecting.

I know this picture at left is sideways (it was an accident);  however, it has one of the best views of how narrow the "packed" part of the walking trail was.  The picture at right gives you a sense of the depth of the snow.

I wouldn't want to be climbing up the rocks on the left, and fortunately, the trail is leading around them.

This is the northern terminus of the Lookout Trail. 
If I try to cross this field, my boots will "post-hole" into the snow.

Looking toward the north, an apple orchard can be seen in the valley.

The signage on the property is pretty good.  The trails were well marked.  I checked the map to see if there was an alternate way back, as I had experienced quite a few ups-and-downs getting to this point (see elevation profile at bottom).  The path shown in the right photo was another way around, but because it looked like it hadn't been trod in a while, I decided to find another route.

The alternate way back means I won't have to climb up here.

Once back to the car, I check the time and mileage and decide that I should explore a little more of the property.  Across the street from the entrance is another trail leading to this vista.

Looking off the northwest, I can view the same apple orchard that I saw earlier.

Beautiful Sunshine!

The distance today was only 2.7 miles with 413 ft of elevation.  Still, it was exhausting.  So the thing about winter hiking is this:  it's not about the distance, it's about the calories.