Holly and Tam Tam met David at the Underhill Center commuter lot at 8:30, and we all drove to the Stevensville trailhead in David’s car.

It was a very cold (close to 0°F) and overcast morning. We got on the trail by about 8:50. The trail was well packed, so no snowshoes were needed. Tam Tam’s winter equipment was pretty marginal, but with some toe warmers in her shoes and hand warmers in her gloves she managed to stay warm enough. Holly and Tam Tam used traction (micro spikes and Yaktrax), while David carried snowshoes and micro spikes, but used neither. We held a pretty fast pace for the whole hike. The wind started picking up a bit as we reached the beaver ponds, and we were all bundled up with our faces at least partly covered from there to Taylor Lodge and all the way back.

We stopped for a brief early lunch at Taylor Lodge, but the cold weather didn’t make sitting still much fun, so we started back pretty quickly. We got back to the car at about 11:20, making the whole hike a short 2 and half hours.

Trip leader: David Hathaway