Four of us met at the Richmond Park and Ride lot and we all carpooled using my RAV4.
There were a few no-shows and a few same-day cancellations, but the four of us were
determined to enjoy the beautiful day. The drive was ~1 hr from the Richmond Park and
Ride and we arrived at the Northern parking lot in Groton State Park at 10 AM. It was 10
degrees Fahrenheit when we started but there was no wind and it was quite sunny so it
felt warmer. We snow-shoed along the snowmobile trail for a little bit to reach the
trailhead. Fortunately, the snowmobilers we saw were courteous and slowed down as
they passed us. We crossed Route 232 from the snowmobile trail to the trailhead. We
snow-shoed along the telephone line trail for ~0.6 miles before reaching the Owl’s Head
Trail. We took the Owl’s head trail to the summit. Along the way, we encountered two
hikers with an aggressive unleashed dog that stopped us in our tracks. Fortunately, this
event was counterbalanced by a friendly hiker at the summit familiar with the GMC.
There is no true “ascent” on this hike until the last ~0.25 mile which is surprisingly steep.
The views of Spruce Mountain, Camel’s Hump, and Kettle Pond at the summit were
gorgeous. The stubby stone fire tower is always a pretty sight too. We enjoyed some
Oreos and lunch at the summit. We went back to the parking lot the same way we
came. At this point, the snow was packed down enough that some of us opted to ditch
the snowshoes for spikes. The trail conditions were great with light champaign powder.
We made it back to the parking lot at 1 PM and all drove back to the Richmond Park
and Ride. 5.0 miles hiked, 820 ft elevation gain, 9 Oreos eaten. Participants: Alex (first
GMC hike), Kate (first GMC hike), Rob, and Michael (trip leader).