I was surprised when I realized that there were still so much ice on the mountain when the ice of city had almost melted and cleared. We had a small group of six today. Hiking pole was really a must when approaching the downslope which had no grasses or stones that you could step on but only a clear and shiny surface. Joe walked back to his car to let me borrowed his extra hiking pole.
The trail on the valley was not easy though because ice melted and water remained. The flooded trail tested the quality of our water-proofed hiking boots. It was really important to keep our feet dry during hiking and luckily all of us passed the testing.
We crossed the bridge and toured in the Doodletown. There were some historical residential remain sites in that area. The lake was turned into an ice skating range but ice was breaking gradually. We took lunched at Bear Mountain Recreation Area outside the Merry-go-around house. No one seemed interesting to catch back his/her child dream.
Weather turned into cold when the sun was blocked by clouds. Freezing wind and rain drops started kicking in. I had decided to change the plan by cancelling the climb to Perkins Tower. We walked back on snowy and icy trails and finished 4 miles–our first winter hike by 3:00pm.
