We started at the Route 118 LT crossing. This year has been a generally snowless winter, but there had been some snow on Belvidere earlier in the week. So, some wore snow shoes, some carried snoeshoes but never wore them, and some left the snow shoes in the car. It did not seem to matter – any method allowed reasonably easy walking.
We followed the trail into the spruce forest, at which point the markings became obscured by snow and the trail lost in the blowdown. (The trail was lost, not the hikers!) We continued up and northeast, finding portions of the trail or just open paths, until we came to Belvidere Saddle, from which it was an easy hike to the top.
The air temperature was about 10 degrees on top, but the summit had bright sun and no wind, so it felt quite warm. It was an excellent trip that took about 5 hours.
Participants – Marc and Peggy Faucher, Cilla Kimberly, Jerry Lasky, Jenny Lynch, Phil Hazen, Rachel Moulton, Linda Evans, Sheri and Rich Larsen.