We waited until afternoon to get started hiking, hoping that the clouds would lift from the mountains and they’d be as clear as town, but it wasn’t to be.  Still, we started up the Waterbury Trail to Mount Hunger.  The parking lot was almost full and another hiker coming out said we didn’t need snowshoes so we headed up in just spikes.

I was tired from staying up too late at a party last night so moving very slowly up the trail, and I slowed even more as it got steeper.  After stopping for something to eat, I was able to move a little bit faster.  The snow was mostly packed down enough for spikes, although a little loose in a few short spots.  It was very deep though, with blazes showing at or below our knees towards the top.

We had to add a bunch of layers just before treeline because the wind was whipping.  We finally reached the summit of Mount Hunger at 3539′ after 2.2 miles.   We didn’t hang out long in the wind, just grabbed a summit photo, bemoaned the lack of view, and turned around to head down again.

I’d had smaller gloves on for taking photos, but my hands very quickly turned to ice and I struggled to get my big mittens on while still hiking above treeline in the wind.  I sat down to start glissading down the trail and realized I’d dropped one so had to go back and get it.

There are a few steep sections of the trail that are perfect for glissading down so I enjoyed that for a while.  Eventually, the sections were too short to be worth it so we just hiked the rest of the way, moving a little faster than the way up, and with one more snack break.  There was only one other car still in the lot by the time we made it back down.

The weather in town was decent, just above freezing, but sometimes I just don’t feel like moving.  If I’m able to push myself out there anyway (or someone else pushes me), I’m always very happy that I went for a hike.